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2016—Darcie Rae Hall, 36, of Troy, N.H., is arrested in Keene for selling “Donald Trump” brand heroin. 2009—Laid off Caterpillar workers in Grenoble, France take four bosses hostage. They get better severance. 2004—Four American contractors are ambushed and killed in Fallujah, their bodies displayed from a bridge. 1980—The American banking industry is deregulated with bipartisan support. What could possibly go wrong? 1969—By his orders, the body of Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower is carried by baggage car, like any other G.I., to its final resting place in Abilene, Kan. 1968—LBJ says he won’t run for re-election. Millions rejoice, having no inkling of who will replace him. …

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2023—An ex-U.S. President is indicted for paying hush money to a porn star without declaring it as a campaign expense, which it clearly is. 2016—School bus mechanics in Virginia discover plastic explosives inadvertently left behind by the CIA. 2003—Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announces “we know where” Iraq’s WMDs are: “the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.” 2000—Fred Trump III, whose son is chronically ill and needs special care, learns his family’s health care is being terminated by his uncle Donald. 1981—John Hinckley Jr. empties a six-shooter at Pres. Ronald Reagan. A richochet off the armored limo hits Ronnie. …

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2003—Newsweek publishes a poll saying 74 percent of Americans believe that the Bush administration has “a well thought-out military plan.” 1995—Rep. Dan Burton [R-Ind.] says the U.S. “should place an aircraft carrier off the coast of [land-locked] Bolivia and crop dust the coca fields.” 1973—Army Master Sergeant Max Beilke becomes the last U.S. combat soldier to leave Vietnam. He will die at the Pentagon, a civilian, on 9/11/01. 1972—In anticipation of a $100,000 “contribution” to the Nixon re-election campaign, the EPA eases up on enforcement at a lead smelter in Idaho. 1971—Lt. William Calley gets “life in prison” for 22 My Lai murders, i.e., three …

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2007—Phyllis Schlafly explains to Bates students that a married woman “has consented to sex, and I don’t think you can call it rape.” 2003—“The enemy we’re fighting [in Iraq],” General William S. Wallace admits, “is different from the one we’d war-gamed against.” 1979—After a stuck valve dumps too much coolant, an emergency cooling system kicks in, but it’s overridden by operators who fail to see a hidden indicator light. The nuclear reactor core at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania partially melts, releasing 43K curies. 1967—The RAF drops bombs on Torrey Canyon to mitigate an oil spill in the English Channel; most miss. 1920—Thirty-eight tornadoes in …

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2014—Receipts in hand, the UN accuses the U.S. of civil rights violations. 2003—Iraq “can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon,” U.S. Undersecretary for Defense Paul Wolfowitz tells Congress. “There’s a lot of money to pay for this that doesn’t have to be U.S. taxpayer money.” 1990—SCOTUS says it’s OK to limit corporate campaign spending—a flicker of sanity snuffed out in 2010. 1986—Congress slashes welfare while approving $100 million for a drug gang called “The Contras.” 1980—A bad weld drops the oil platform Alexander L. Kielland into the North Sea: of 212 aboard, 123 perish. 1964—History’s 2nd largest earthquake hits Anchorage; 115 die. 1956—Alleged …

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2021—Under a painting of a plantation, flanked by white men, Gov. Brian Kemp signs a law restricting voting. Rep. Park Cannon, who’s Black, is arrested and dragged from his office. 2006—Justice Antonin Scalia is photographed on the steps of a Boston church, making an obscene gesture. 1983—Bob “Bob Dole” Dole calls Ford, Carter, and Nixon “Hear no evil, see no evil, and evil.” 1982—Ground is broken in D.C. for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 1972—Gen. John D. Lavelle loses two stars and command of the 7th Air Force for obeying Nixon’s secret orders and bombing North Vietnam. 1968—A dozen “Wise Men” finally tell LBJ it’s time …

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