Sat, Jan 15

1992—George H.[H.]W. Bush, in N.H. for votes, says “[W]e are blessed. So don’t feel sorry for … don’t cry for me, Argentina.” 1989—TV guest Donald Trump asks host Larry King, “Do you mind if I sit back a little…your breath is very bad.” 1989—The Gipper, on MLK Day, says some civil rights leaders are “doing very well…keeping alive the feeling that they’re victims of prejudice.” 1977—Bill Murray makes his debut on SNL; the host is Ralph Nader. 1970—The Washington Monthly tells U.S. citizens 1,000 U.S. Army spies have been watching them since 1965. 1968—Near Dak To, SP/5 Dwight H. Johnson engages so fiercely in a …

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Fri, Jan 14

2000—“This is still a dangerous world…of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses,” warns George W.[MD] Bush. 1969—After warnings from enlisted men aboard the nuke-powered U.S.S. Enterprise go unheeded, the exhaust of a flight deck tractor cooks off a Zuni rocket. It hits an F-4’s fuel tank, causing a fire which detonates 4.5 tons of bombs. The whole farrago kills 27, injures 85, and nearly sinks the ship. 1967—The First Human Be-In is held—in San Francisco, of course. 1963—Standing on a gold star marking the spot where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederacy, George Wallace, being sworn in as Governor of …

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Thurs, Jan 13

2018—Hawaiian authorities issue an alert: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND … SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” A retraction comes 38 minutes later. 2017—N.H. State Rep. Carolyn Halstead [R-Milford] drops a loaded handgun on the floor during a packed public hearing at the State House. 1987—Lee Atwater admits the Reagan anti-drug campaign was “the epitome of the fad issue, a classic really. It came and went in three weeks, max.” 1975—The N.Y.Times reports that USAF Maj. Harold L. Hering was discharged for asking, during Minuteman training, “How can I know that an order…to launch my missiles came from a sane president?”  1964—The tail falls …

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Wed, Jan 12

1991—Congress authorizes the first Bush vs. Hussein War. 1984—Reagan Deputy Secretary of Defense W. Paul Thayer resigns after being charged with insider trading. He ends up in the can. 1971—Rev. Philip Berrigan is indicted for conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and bomb federal buildings. 1968—Lima Site 85, a tiny USAF navigational facility on a remote mountaintop in Laos, is rocketed, bombed, and strafed by two NVA-piloted, Soviet-built Antonov biplanes. One, damaged by groundfire, crashes. A flight mechanic in a CIA Huey shoots down the other with an AK-47. 1962—U.S. helicopters fly their first combat mission in South Vietnam. 1951—For bombing an airliner, Albert Guay goes …

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Tues, Jan 11

2008—“There will be a signed peace treaty [between Israel and the Palestinians] by the time I leave office,” says George W.[MD] Bush. 2003—“You can count on this,” Donald Rumsfeld tells Saudi Prince Bandar, showing plans for the Iraq War. “This is going to happen.” 2002—Joe Foss, 86, ex-Governor of South Dakota, is detained at a Phoenix airport; security personnel mistake his Medal of Honor for a weapon. 2000—“Rarely is the question asked,” says George W.[MD] Bush, “is our children learning?” 1986—The CIA polygraphs Ollie North’s co-conspirator Manucher Ghorbanifar. Two answers out of 15 are true: name and birthplace. 1974—Joint Chiefs Chair Admiral Moorer is reported …

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Mon, Jan 10

2017—CNN reports on the Steele dossier; Buzzfeed publishes it. 2002—George W.[MD] Bush denies ever meeting Enron CEO Ken Lay, his largest campaign donor. 1992—A busted shipping container releases 28,000 floating toy animals in the mid-Pacific, which are then tracked by oceanographers; the gripping tale is told in Moby Duck. 1984—Responders to a false alarm about an accidental missile launch at Warren AFB, Wyo. park an armored car atop the silo as a precaution. 1967—Lester Maddox, a school dropout who gave ax handles to his restaurant customers to ward off integration, becomes Governor of Georgia. 1957—Four Black churches and homes of two Black leaders in Birmingham, …

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