Sat, July 17

2020—Asked if he’ll concede if he loses, #45 says “I’ll have to see.” 2015—Portsmouth cops grill Mike Thiel at his office about a letter in which he complains about helicopters. 2014—Detained for selling loose cigarettes, Eric Garner, 43, suffocates as he tells NYPD cops, “I can’t breathe.” 1979—Anastasio Somoza flees Nicaragua for Miami, bringing family caskets and much of the national treasury. 1965—An American press officer in Saigon tells Morley Safer “if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you’re stupid.” 1962—The U.S. conducts its last near-ground atmospheric nuke test: the .018 kiloton “Little Feller.” A company of soldiers …

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Fri, July 16

1991—The Trump Taj Mahal files for bankruptcy 467 days after opening. 1979—A dam, badly built on shaky ground, collapses in Church Rock, N.M. It spills 1,100 tons of radioactive mill waste, 93 million gallons of effluent, releasing as much radioactivity as the Three Mile Island meltdown. 1973—Nixon aide Al Butterfield reveals he’s been bugging the Oval Office at the behest of The Man himself. 1964—A white cop shoots James Powell—15, 112 lbs., and Black—dead. The Harlem riots begin. 1963—In NYC, Tom Cornell and Chris Kearns stage the first anti-Vietnam War demonstration. 1945—The Atomic Age starts with a big bang at Alamagordo, N.M. 1934—Workers in San …

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Thurs, July 15

1995—A derecho sends hurricane force winds through New York and New England, toppling thousands of trees and killing three people. 1979—President Carter delivers his infamous “malaise” speech, which does not include the word “malaise.” 1974—In Florida, on live TV, newsreader Christine Chubbuck pulls a loaded pistol from a shopping bag and shoots herself dead. 1971—Nixon says he’ll go to China. 1964—The Republican Party saddles itself with Barry Goldwater as a presidential candidate. 1919—The War Department—accurately named, at least—says 337,000 Americans dodged the recent draft. 1877—John W. Garrett, President of the B & O Railroad, gives his shareholders a 10% dividend and his workers a 10% …

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Wed, July 14

2004—The GOP tries to ban gay marriage but can’t rise to the occasion. 2000—Five tobacco companies are ordered to pay $145 billion in damages, but they wiggle off the hook. 1989—Alabama tries twice, 19 minutes apart, to electrocute Horace F. Dunkins, who’s Black and developmentally-disabled. The first try fails because the chair is wired wrong. 1981—New Hampshire businessman Max Hugel’s stint as Deputy Director of Operations at the CIA ends after 64 days due to revelations of unseemly stock market shenanigans. 1976—Persons unknown in Traves, France celebrate Bastille Day by burning the home of Nazi war criminal Joachim Peiper—while he’s in it. 1975—Boss Clarence Kelley …

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Tues, July 13

1999—Senator Bob Smith [R-N.H.] drops out of the Republican Presidential primary race—and the Party, to boot. Delusional, he’ll run for President as an Independent. 1987—Senator Warren B. Rudman [R-N.H] sets Ollie North straight during the Iran-Contra hearings: “The American people have the constitutional right to be wrong.” 1977—During a heat wave and a financial crisis, with Son of Sam on the loose, lightning strikes cause a blackout in New York City. Chaos ensues. 1959—A sodium-cooled nuclear reactor in Simi Valley, Calif. has a partial meltdown, releasing 300 times more radiation than Three Mile Island—a fact kept secret for 20 years. 1950—A B-50 Superfortress crashes in …

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Mon, July 12

1982—FEMA pledges that the mail will get through, even in a nuclear war. 1979—The White Sox are forced to forfeit on Disco Demolition Night: the field was damaged by explosives.  1973—A fire in St. Louis, Mo. destroys the service records of 16 to 18 million Army and Air Force veterans. 1917—After 30 hours in cattle cars without food or water, 1,286 striking copper miners are left stranded in the New Mexico desert. No relief comes until the next day. 1908—Milton Berle is born, America’s first transvestite TV star. 1892—The Pennsylvania militia arrives at Homestead, Pa. to protect Andrew Carnegie’s right to make a buck. 1872—Orangemen …

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