Sat, Dec 19

2007—A fire breaks out near “Dick” Cheney’s office. Probable cause: spontaneous inhuman combustion. 1998—As Bill Clinton is being impeached for some hanky-panky, Speaker-elect Bob Livingston resigns to cover up a bit of his own. 1984—Due to a work speedup, 27 coal miners are killed in Utah. 1974—Norris Cotton finagles a bill giving New Hampshire’s senior Senator the right in perpetuity to commandeer Daniel Webster’s old desk. 1973—Johnny Carson makes a joke about a non-existent toilet paper shortage, inadvertantly causing one. 1946—The Viet Minh take on the French in Indo-China. 1944—Primarily due to bad generalship, two-thirds of the 106th Infantry, comprising 8,000 men, must surrender during …

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Fri, Dec 18

2019—Donald Trump is impeached. 2005—“Not only can we win the war in Iraq,” says George W.[MD] Bush 962 days after Mission Accomplished, “we’re winning the war in Iraq.” 2004—“America’s Most Wanted’s” John Walsh says he most wants Jahbir and Alfonso Fowle caught. 2000—“If this were a dictatorship,” says George W.[MD] Bush on CNN, “it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” 1996—Kenyan students protest the killing of a student the previous day. Police kill two more students. 1996—G-Man Earl Pitts is arrested for moonlighting for the KGB. 1972—Richard Nixon begins Operation Linebacker: 12 days of B-52 strikes against …

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Thurs, Dec 17

2010—Street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself afire, thereby igniting the Tunisian Revolution and the subsequent Arab Spring. 2006—Bill Kristol predicts on “Fox News Sunday,” “Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single Democratic primary.” 1998—Impeachment pending, Bill Clinton wags the dog: half the Pentagon’s cruise missiles explode in Iraq. 1967—“I know this beach like the back of my hand,” says Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt, before disappearing in heavy surf. 1960—A U.S.A.F. C-131 hits a Munich steeple, then falls onto a trolley. All 20 on the plane die, along with 18 in the trolley, and 11 on the street. 1951—Black Americans …

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Wed, Dec 16

2005—The New York Times reports that the NSA has been tapping U.S. telephones without a warrant. 2001—U.S. troops at Tora Bora ask for  help catching Osama bin Laden. Donald Rumsfeld denies their request; Osama walks. 1988—Bush #41 nominates notoriously boozy womanizer Sen. John Tower [R-Texas] to run the Department of  Defense. His confirmation hearings do not go well. 1988—Perennial Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche—Rochester, N.H.’s most famous native—is convicted of tax and mail fraud. 1973—Protestors celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party by hanging Richard Nixon in effigy. 1970—Big Milk offers Nixon a $2 million “campaign contribution” if he’ll cut milk imports. A fortnight …

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Tues, Dec 15

2000—Sen. Phil Gramm gives Enron the energy futures deregulation it wants, hidden in an appropriations bill. One year later Enron is bankrupt. 1997—Paula Jones’ lawyers maneuver Bill Clinton into signing a legal document claiming he’d not had sex with government workers. 1986—Bill Casey, CIA director, suffers a handy seizure, preventing him from testifying about Iran/Contra. 1983—Ed Meese denies Ebenezer Scrooge exploited Bob Cratchit. 1969—The Mormon Church reaffirms its “no Black priests” policy. 1967—A 2.5 mm-deep defect in a part collapses the 39 year-old Silver Bridge over the Ohio River, killing 46. 1960—Police in Palm Beach arrest N.H. resident Richard Pavlick before he can kill John …

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Mon, Dec 14

2012—N.H.-born Adam Lanza shoots his gun-enthusiast mother, six other adults, and 20 kids at a Newtown, Conn. school. 2008—“This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog,” yells Muntadhar al-Zaidi, as he flings his shoe at George W.[MD] Bush. 2005—George W.[MD] Bush blames his Iraq War on “faulty intelligence.” He doesn’t say whose. 1987—Chrysler admits it sold thousands of used cars as new ones. 1986—Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager begin a nine-day, non-stop, around-the-world flight. 1981—Secretary of the Interior James Watts, defending taxpayer-funded cocktail parties he’s held at the Lee Mansion, says “Mr. Reagan has the White House. I have Arlington.” 1973—Richard Nixon …

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