Wed, May 31

2020—Irene Triplett, the last recipient of a Civil War pension (via her pop), dies at 90 in Wilkesboro, N.C. 2009—Dr. George Tiller, while ushering in a Wichita, Kansas church, is shot dead to uphold the sanctity of life. 2007—New Hampshire becomes the first state to honor same-sex unions without court intervention. 1989—As Newt drives him from the Speakership, Jim Wright [D-Texas], denounces “mindless cannibalism.” 1921—A Black WW I veteran in Tulsa refuses a demand to surrender his pistol. During a struggle it fires; a massive “race war” ensues. 1921—The mistrial of Sacco and Vanzetti begins under Judge Webster “Did you see what I did with …

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Tues, May 30

2019—The state Senate overrides Gov. Sununu’s veto: New Hampshire’s out of the killing business—except for that one Black guy on death row. 2007—Florida man Dale Rippy, a ’Nam vet, is attacked by a rabid bobcat. He strangles it with bare hands. 1962—Missionary Archie E. Mitchell, sole survivor of a Bly, Ore. picnic devastated by a Japanese fire balloon, is captured, along with two others, by the Viet Cong. He’s never seen again. 1961—Plotters using CIA-supplied weapons assassinate Rafael Trujillo. They fail to neutralize his secret police, though, and will pay with their lives. 1937—Police attack strikers at Republic Steel in Chicago: 10 are shot dead, …

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Mon, May 29

2020—A U.S. President, scared by a protest against a Minneapolis cop’s murder of George Floyd, hides for an hour in the White House bunker. 2017—A U.S. President asks an aide, at a Memorial Day observance, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” 2015—The Washington Post prints ex-Gov. John H. Sununu’s confession that in 1988 he bartered state assets—low numbered license plates—to buy support for G.H.[H.]W. Bush. 2008—Senator (and candidate) John McCain [R-Ariz.] says “Mosul is quiet” on a day when 30 die there. 2002—FBI head Robert Mueller says 9/11 might have been preventable. 2001—The Bush twins, charged with underage boozing, plead nolo. …

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Sun, May 28

2009—Jonathan Trappe crosses the English Channel suspended from a cluster of 54 multicolored balloons. 1987—W. German Mathias Rust, 19, lands a rented Cessna in Red Square. 1986—The DOE calls off its search for a site to dump high-level nuclear waste from power plants; southwestern N.H. had been a candidate. 1972—Third time’s a charm for Nixon’s “Plumbers,” finally breaking into DNC HQ in the Watergate Hotel. 1962—The stock market plummets 5.7 percent, the worst drop since 1929. 1959—The U.S. Army sends Able and Baker, two monkeys, into space. 1946—The Pentagon begins working on a long-range bomber to be powered by a nuclear reactor; 15 years and …

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Sat, May 27

2017—It’s the last “Last Call” at Portsmouth’s Coat of Arms. 1994—Charles Rodman Campbell does his best to dodge it, but Washington State’s hangman finally manages to get a noose around his neck. 1972—Nixon’s “Plumbers” fail a second time trying to break into Democratic National HQ at the Watergate. 1962—To clear an underground landfill, Centralia, Pa. officials set a fire. It spreads to a coal seam, forcing abandonment of the town 30 years later. The fire still burns. 1959—NBC’s Today Show reports straight-faced on the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals’ satirical campaign to clothe quadrupeds. 1944—NBC censors Eddie Cantor: his song, “We’re Having a Baby, …

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Fri, May 26

2020—Minneapolis says a suspect died after “suffering medical distress.” 2004—The NY Times admits that its pre-war Iraq coverage was “not as rigorous as it should have been.” 1989—Future Veep J. Danforth Quayle predicts, “We are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy, but that could change.” 1972—Nixon’s “Plumbers” first effort to gain entry to Democratic National HQ at the Watergate fails. 1970—The destroyer U.S.S. Richard B. Anderson’s departure for Vietnamis delayed due to sabotage by the crew. 1947—An FBI memo duly notes that It’s a Wonderful Life  is communistic. 1938—The House Un-American Activities Committee begins carrying out its un-American activities. 1937—Ford’s thugs beat …

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