Sat, July 13

1999—Sen. Bob Smith [R-N.H.] drops out of the GOP Presidential primary—and the GOP, to boot. Delusional, he runs 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 Lebanon, Ohio, killing …

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Fri, July 12

2022—Seabrook sirens go off in error. 2020—A fire, likely arson, turns the billion-dollar USS Bonhomme Richard into a $3.6 million heap of scrap. 1982—FEMA pledges that even in a nuclear war, the mail will get through. 1973—A fire in St. Louis, Mo. destroys the service records of 16 to 18 million Army and Air Force veterans. 1917—In Bisbee, Ariz., a 2,000-man posse herds 1,300 striking miners into cattle cars and sends them eastward, with no food and little water. 1892—The Pennsylvania militia arrives at Homestead, Pa. to protect Andrew Carnegie’s right to make a buck. 1872—Orangemen avoid casualties by refraining from marching through Irish tenements …

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Thurs, July 11

2003—Condi Rice lies about White House knowledge of Joe Wilson’s Niger investigation; Ari Fleischer outs Valerie Plame as a CIA officer; Karl Rove lies to Time about Wilson’s wife, Plame; and CIA head George Tenet takes the rap for the White House’s lies about Iraq buying uranium. 1998—Arkansas Governor “Mike” Huckabee’s son David, working as a counselor at a Boy Scout Camp, breaks the Oath by killing a dog. 1991—A defective heater sets a loaded ammunition carrier afire at Camp Doha in Kuwait. It explodes, scattering bomblets; blasts and fires consume 102 other vehicles, including four M1A1 Abrams tanks. The fires injure 49, three die …

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Wed, July 10

2007—China executes its Director of the State Food and Drug Administration for taking bribes that resulted in 40 deaths. Hmmm… . 2001—A Phoenix FBI agent sends a memo to FBI HQ warning of “an inordinate number” of suspicious characters in local flight schools, possibly as part of a bin Laden plot. It’s ignored. 2001—CIA boss George Tenet tries to warn George Bush and Condi Rice about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, but can’t get their attention. 1985—French secret police in the South Pacific blow up Greenpeace’s boat, Rainbow Warrior. 1985—Seventy-seven days after announcing New Coke, Coca-Cola announces Old Coke, aka Coke Classic. 1972—Water being used …

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Tues, July 9

2004—“I trust God speaks through me,” George W.[MD] Bush tells a group of Amish people. “Without that, I couldn’t do my job.” 1993—To prove it’s unbreakable, Toronto lawyer Garry Hoy hurls himself against a 24th floor window. It pops from its frame; he falls to his death. 1986—Ed “Meese is a Pig” Meese publishes a 1,960-page report on pornography packed with obscene titles. 1964—Senator Strom Thurmond [D-S.C.], 61, wrestles Senator Ralph Yarborough [D-Texas], also 61, to the floor to prevent a committee quorum. 1958—A 1,700-foot mega-tsunami hits Lituya Bay, Alaska. 1951—For his reticence, the House Un-American Activities Committee sentences Dashiell Hammett, the tubercular, 57-year old …

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Mon, July 8

2016—Police in Dallas use a bomb-armed robot to kill a man suspected of having murdered five officers. 1981—“I think every good Christian ought to kick (Jerry) Falwell right in the ass,” says Sen. Barry Goldwater. 1976—The State of New York yanks Richard Nixon’s law license. 1969—The U.S. begins withdrawing troops from Vietnam. 1962—The U.S. detonates a nuke 250 miles up, knocking out phones in Hawaii, 900 miles to the east, and crippling seven satellites. 1959—VC attack Bien Hoa air base, killing two U.S. advisors as they watch the film noir “The Tattered Dress.” 1947—Radio reports say a UFO has crashed at Roswell, N.M. 1945—At a …

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