Volume 265 | No. 14

1989—In her Porsche, reaching for her cellphone while speeding to the bank she owns, Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton hits and kills Oleta Hardin, a 50 year-old Arkansas cannery worker. Walton is not charged. 1984—Congress nixes Contra funding. President Reagan sells arms to the Ayatollah to make up the difference. 1975—Operation Babylift begins with a C-5A flight out of Tan Son Nhut. It crashes into a nearby rice paddy killing 154, including 78 kids. 1972—His EPA having OK’d lead poisoning in Idaho, Nixon’s relection campaign duly collects its $100K. 1970—On the National Mall, 50,000 followers of a radio televangelist hold a “March for Victory,” protesting the …

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2014—Sen. Jerry Moran [R-Kan.], whose top contributor is Koch Industries, reads into the Congressional Record a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which Charles Koch defends his right to spend millions buying elections. 2004—Asked to name his biggest mistake, George W.[MD] Bush is unable to supply an answer. 2003—U.S. Marines cross the Tigris River on their way to Baghdad. 1996—Ted “Unabomber” Kaczynski is arrested in his Montana cabin. 1974—Hit by 148 tornadoes, 13 states lose 315 people; 5,484 are injured. 1973—The first mobile phone call is made, on a 2.4 lb. device, by a Motorola employee to a rival at AT&T. 1968—“I may not get there …

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2014—In McCutcheon v. FEC, the Supreme Court rules that rich folks deserve to have more influence in elections than the unwashed proletariat. 1982—U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Jeanne Kirkpatrick dines at the Argentine embassy hours after Argentina invades the Falklands. 1970—Massachusetts passes a law stating its citizens may not be forced to fight an undeclared war. 1969—President Dwight D. Eisenhower is buried in an $80 G.I. coffin. 1969—Chicago riots are quelled by National Guard troops. 1963—Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a voter registration drive in Birmingham. Police Chief “Bull” Connor responds with dogs and fire hoses. 1958—San Francisco columnist Herb Caen introduces his readers and …

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2013—In Portsmouth Harbor, the tanker Harbour Feature allides with the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge. 2004—Britain declassifies “Blue Peacock,” a 1957 plan to bury nukes in Germany with live chickens keeping the electronics warm. It’s not a joke. 2003—Bush administration propagandists claim Special Forces have “rescued” PFC Jessica Lynch. It’s a lie. 1997—A blizzard dumps 18 inches of snow on Portsmouth. 1994—Steve Bannon, accompanied by federal marshals, arrives via limo to manage Biosphere 2, an ecological experiment in the Arizona desert. A break-in, lawsuits, and failure ensue. 1974—Sitka residents are alarmed by smoke rising from Mount Edgecumbe, a nearby volcano thought to be dormant. No eruption, …

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2016—Darcie Rae Hall, 36, of Troy, N.H., is arrested in Keene for selling “Donald Trump” brand heroin. 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. 1966—In New York City, 200,000 gather to protest the Vietnam War. 1960—A B-47 explodes over …

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2008—As he throws out the first pitch at Washington’s new National Park, George W.[MD] Bush is met with a resounding chorus of boos. 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.” 2003—During a live Fox “News” broadcast from Iraq, Geraldo Rivera reveals the 101st Airborne’s current location, where they’re going to attack next, and when. 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 …

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