Volume 266 | No. 15

2013—A fertilizer plant located next to a middle school in West, Texas, uninspected since 1985, explodes. Fifteen are killed, mostly volunteer firemen, 250 others are injured. 2002—G.W.[MD] Bush flip-flops again, vowing to rebuild Afghanistan. 1986—Peace is declared between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly, ending a bloodless 335-year war. 1981—The Supreme Court rules a law banning religious use of peyote is just fine. What First Amendment? 1970—Apollo 13 makes it home. 1967—“[T]he defeat of the Communists forces in South Vietnam is inevitable,” says ex-Veep Richard Nixon. “The only question is, how soon?” 1966—Timothy Leary is busted for pot possession by G. Gordon Liddy. 1965—In …

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2008—“Thank you, your holiness,” George W.[MD] Bush says to Pope Benedict, “Awesome speech.” 1992—Afghanistan’s commie President Najibullah resigns, making way for a more enlightened government. 1992—The House Ethics Committee—no laughing, please—releases the names of 303 check-kiting Reps. 1969—Rev. Billy Graham advises Nixon: bomb North Vietnam’s dikes; estimated casualties: 1 million. 1963—Martin Luther King, Jr., writes “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” defending civil disobedience. 1954—“There is no reason why French forces should not remain in Indo-China and win,” says Richard Nixon, three weeks before the Viet Minh overrun Dien Bien Phu. 1953—Ike says militarism hangs humanity “from a cross of iron.” 1951—Shigeki Tanaka, Hiroshima survivor, wins the …

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2015—Ex-postal worker Doug Hughes lands a gyrocopter on the White House lawn with 535 letters to Congress: overturn Citizens United. 2015—In Zimbabwe, big-game hunter and Texan Ian Gibson is crushed to death by an elephant. 2013—Two bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. 2003—George W.[MD] Bush installs Gen. Jay Garner to administer Iraq “until an Iraqi government can be formed.” He lasts less than a month. 1994—Dick “Dick” Cheney tells C-SPAN G.H.[H.]W. Bush didn’t topple Saddam because that would have created a “quagmire” in Iraq. 1987—The Washington Post reveals that, though Nancy had the sign changed to 668, the official number of …

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2006—Six  retired generals sign an Op-Ed calling on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign. 2004—Attorney General John Ashcroft blames Bill Clinton for terrorist attacks that took place seven months after Clinton left office. 1999—Dan Quayle throws his little propeller beanie into the ring. 1994—Over Iraq, U.S. fighter jets shoot down two U.S. helicopters. 1988—An Iranian mine nearly sinks the missile frigate U.S.S. Roberts. 1975—Idaho’s Bunker Hill Mining Co. says all female workers at its smelter must get sterilized to keep their jobs. 1945—A new high-tech head floods U-1206 on its 1st patrol. Commander K.A. Schlitt scuttles the boat; four crewmen die, the rest are …

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2002—Venezuelans overrule the generals and their CIA advisors; Hugo Chavez is restored to the Presidency. 1981—Rep. Jon Hinson (R-Miss.) resigns three months after being arrested for attempting to commit oral sodomy in a House restroom. He becomes an advocate for gay rights. 1970—The Apollo 13 moon shot lives up to its numeral. 1962—Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is published. 1953—CIA boss Allen Dulles says it’s MKUltra time: start washing brains. 1919—British troops massacre at least 379 unarmed Indian men women and children at Amritsar. 1917—Prescient President W. Wilson establishes the Committee on Public Information, 67 years prior to 1984. 1901—French anarchist Clement Duval, after 14 years …

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2007—#43’s minions say official emails about fired U.S. Attorneys, sent from RNC servers, are now “lost.” 2001—Veep Dick “Dick” Cheney files his 2000 return; 14% of his adjusted gross came from Halliburton. 1937—Sixty thousand U.S. students demonstrate against war. 1933—In Oakland, brothers George and William Besler test fly a Travel Air biplane powered by a Doble steam engine; nearly-silent, it works fine. 1927—Shanghai’s Green Gang begins slaughtering as many as 10,000 Communists on orders from Chiang Kai-shek—famous hero of our GOP. 1888—When D.C. cops raid his soirée, William Dorsey Swann, born into slavery, becomes the first recorded female impersonator ever arrested. 1867—William Bullock, inventor of …

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