Volume 265 | No. 19

2005—Congress apologizes for having failed to pass 200 anti-lynching bills between 1882 and 1968. 1985—Thomas L. Slade and son William are among passengers hijacked on a flight from Beirut, their second such experience in three days. 1983—Pioneer 10 exits the solar system. 1971—The Pentagon Papers arepublished. Because they cover only the Kennedy and Johnson years, Kissinger and Nixon laugh in the Oval Office. 1968—A U.S. helicopter crew blasts a Vietnamese command post, accidentally killing Saigon’s Chief of Police. 1966—The Supreme Court rules that cops can’t make you talk. 1944—News reports say Rep. Francis E. Walter (D-Penn.) gave FDR a letter-opener made from the arm bone …

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2000—The Energy Department admits that two hard drives holding top-secret data on nuclear weapons have been missing for over a month. 1991—White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu takes a government limousine from D.C. to New York City to attend a rare stamp auction. 1981—Failing to recognize the only Black person in his Cabinet, President Reagan, calls Housing Secretary Samuel Pierce “Mr. Mayor.” 1971—As N.Y. Times presses roll with the “Pentagon Papers,” Daniel Ellsberg and Howard Zinn, in a theater, watch “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”—completely stoned. 1969—The Army Corps of Engineers stops the American Falls at Niagara. 1967—The Supreme Court rules interracial …

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1995—In Claremont, N.H., Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich shake hands and pledge to reform lobbying and campaign financing. Yeah, right. 1990—The Supreme Court rules flag desecration laws are unconstitutional. 1984—The Supreme Court gives prosecutors a new loophole for using illegally-obtained evidence. 1963—In Saigon, motionless, burning, Thich Quang Duc bends history. 1963—Briefly, George Wallace takes a stand for segregation in the schoolhouse door. Then he scuttles away. 1962—John and Clarence Anglin, with Frank Morris, escape from Alcatraz. Maybe they drown, maybe not. 1929—Forget Article One, Clause 3 of the Constitution, says Congress, the House shall have 435 members. 1920—Republicans meeting in the original “smoke-filled room” select, …

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1990—British Airways pilot Tim Lancaster is sucked half-way out of Flight 5390 when its windshield blows out over Oxfordshire. The plane lands safely; Lancaster resumes flying. 1988—The Justice Dept. says “no entry” to a bike messenger in a T-shirt saying “Experts agree: Meese is a pig.” 1975—The Rockefeller Commission finds that the CIA’s CHAOS operation spied on 300,000 Americans and infiltrated political movements. 1968—The Supreme Court says cops can “stop and frisk” based on “reasonable suspicion.” [Or racist whim?] 1964—Muted by a tumor, weeks from death, Sen. Clair Engle [D-Calif.] points to his eye; his “aye” vote ends the filibuster of the Civil Rights Act. …

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2016—Donald Trump’s son, son-in-law, and campaign manager meet at Trump Tower with a whole slew of Russians with peculiar associations. 1989—James Watt, Ronald Reagan’s Interior Secretary, admits to a House committee that he was paid $400,000 for making a few phone calls on a topic about which he knew nothing. 1978—The Mormon Church drops its policy of excluding black men from the priesthood. 1963—Under orders from Winona, Miss. cops, jail inmates beat civil rights pioneer Fannie Lou Hamer, 45, nearly to death. 1958—Atop an armored car in Cyprus, British writer Auberon Waugh shakes the barrel of a malfunctioning machine gun, accidentally shooting himself in the …

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2003—Condoleeza Rice admits Pres. George W.[MD] Bush’s State of the Union claim that Saddam tried to buy uranium from Niger was “wrong.” 1991—In a National Victory Celebration, Abrams tanks and 85° heat wreck D.C.’s Constitution Ave. 1967—Israeli planes and boats attack the unarmed U.S. spy ship Liberty with rockets, machine guns, and napalm; 34 sailors are killed, 171 wounded. 1966—Five U.S.A.F. jets fly in formation over Barstow, Calif., for a photo requested by GE marketers. Two crash, including the Valkyrie, worth $5 billion in today’s money. Two pilots die. 1956—Tech. Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr. becomes the first U.S. serviceman to die in Vietnam. He’s …

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