Sun, Oct 18

2017—U.S. President Donald Trump signs a check for $35,000 to repay his lawyer for buying the silence of a porn star with whom he had an affair. 2014—Thousands of college-age cretins, urged on by social media company Finnarage, set fires, throw billiard balls, and overturn cars, putting an end to the Keene Pumpkin Festival. 2011—Ohioan Terry Thompson releases his menagerie of 56 exotic animals, including lions, leopards, and tigers, then kills himself. 2004—In game four of the ALCS, 12th inning, Big Papi puts the Yankees out of their misery and brings joy to the World Series. 2003—The president of Bolivia is driven out of office …

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Sat, Oct 17

2004—In game four of the ALCS, 9th inning, Dave Roberts steals 2nd, then scores on Bill Mueller’s single. 1999—Lissa Roche commits suicide after confessing she had a 19-year affair with her father-in-law, George Roche III, the president of Hillsdale College, “the most conservative college in America.” 1973—OPEC turns off the oil tap. 1967—Lt. Col. Terry Allen Jr. leads two companies of the 28th Infantry, outnumbered 10 to 1, into a VC ambush at Ong Thanh. Casualties exceed 92 percent, 64 are KIA; the U.S. Army declares it a victory. 1960—The sit-in movement pays off big: several chain stores with locations in 10 southern states desegregate …

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Fri, Oct 16

2002—George W.[MD] Bush signs the law he demanded giving him permission to start an unprovoked war. 1973—Fred and Donald Trump are sued by the Justice Dept. for discriminating against minority renters. Their lawyer, Roy Cohn, countersues, claiming the victims are the Trumps. 1973—Henry Kissinger gets the Nobel Peace Prize; Tom Lehrer declares political satire obsolete. 1972—Majority Leader Hale Boggs [D-La.], Rep. Nick Begich [D-Alaska], aide R. Brown, and pilot D. Jonz vanish while flying over Alaska. 1968—Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Mexico City Olympic winners, raise fists in the Black Power salute. 1962—At breakfast, President John F. Kennedy finds he’s got a Cuban Missile Crisis …

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Thurs, Oct 15

2008—The Dow loses 7.8 percent of its value in its 2nd worst day ever. 2004—Jon Stewart appears on CNN’s “Crossfire” and begs Tucker Carlson to “stop hurting America.” Less than 90 days later CNN announces the show is over. 1997—On Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, RAF pilot Andy Green breaks the sound barrier in a jet-driven, 110,000 horsepower car. 1969—In the U.S., two million march in the first Vietnam Moratorium. A demo in Boston draws 100,000. 1966—Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale form the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. 1965—David Miller becomes the first American to publicly burn his draft card in Vietnam War protest. 1963—The …

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Wed, Oct 14

2018—RIP, Emilio V. Maddaloni. 2011—Weeks after a U.S. drone smites his dad, a U.S. citizen in Yemen, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, also a U.S. citizen, meets the same fate. Neither got a trial. 2001—Delta Flight 458 is diverted to Charlotte after two praying Orthodox Jews are mistaken for terrorists. 1984—Having fired talk show barker Morton Downey Jr., KFBK in Sacramento replaces him with someone even worse: Rush Limbaugh. 1968—The Pentagon orders 24,000 troops back to Vietnam for an involuntary second tour. 1968—At the Presidio stockade, 27 soldiers are arrested for mutiny. 1962—A U-2 over Cuba detects ballistic missile sites being built. 1947—Broken ribs be damned: Chuck …

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Tues, Oct 13

2004—Andrea Mackris sues her ex-boss, Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, for making lewd phones calls. Two weeks later O’Reilly pays her $9M to shut up. 2004—George W.[MD] Bush claims during a televised debate, “Gosh, I don’t think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama bin Laden. That’s kind of one of those exaggerations,” directly contradicting his own statement of March 3, 2002 that he’s “not that much concerned about him.” 1991—A lie detector test suggests Anita Hill is telling the truth about Clarence Thomas. 1988—Experts call the Shroud of Turin a 13th century fake. 1972—Seventy-five years after the land for it was allocated, the Burns Paiute …

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