Volume 268 | No. 15

2004—NORAD reveals it once ran a training exercise based on a hijacked airliner crashing into a building. 1995—A Right Wing “militiaman” murders 168 souls in Oklahoma City. 1993—For the good of the children—who end up among the 80 dead anyway—the FBI attacks David Koresh’s Waco, Texas compound. 1989—The USS Iowa’s Gun Turret Two explodes, killing 47. First the Navy blames an innocent sailor, then, disregarding ancient powder, malfunctioning equipment, and unauthorized experiments, says it’s stumped. 1971—President Nixon, recipient of a $200K pledge from ITT—which is being prosecuted for anti-trust violations—tells Deputy A.G. Kleindienst “The ITT thing—stay the hell out of it. Is that clear? That’s …

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2002—A U.S. F-16 pilot on “go pills” drops a 500-pounder: Four are KIA, eight are WIA in Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry regiment. 1986—“[W]hen you meet…President [Reagan],” says Henry Kissinger, “you ask yourself, ‘How did it ever occur to anybody that he should be Governor, much less President?’” 1985—President Ronald Reagan says Waffen SS troops buried at Bitburg were “victims, just as surely as the victims in the concentration camps.” 1977—The federal frame-up of Leonard Peltier succeeds. 1974—As Professor Irwin Corey accepts Thomas Pynchon’s National Book Award for Gravity’s Rainbow, a streaker dashes across the stage. 1968—The Army admits that nerve gas from Dugway Proving …

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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 First Amendment notwithstanding, SCOTUS OKs a law banning religious use of peyote. 1970—Apollo 13 makes it home. 1967—“[T]he defeat of the Communist 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 New York City, 25,000 …

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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—Reverend 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—Hiroshima survivor Shigeki Tanaka wins the …

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2015—Doug Hughes, a USPS mailman, lands a gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn to deliver 535 letters to Congress: “Overturn Citizens United.” 2015—Texan and safari guide Ian Gibson is crushed to death in Zimbabwe by the elephant he was stalking. 2013—This year’s Boston Marathon ends with two big, bloody bangs. 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—Washington Post: though Nancy had the house number changed to 668, officially the street …

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