Volume 269 | No. 5

1981—R. Reagan signs a secret directive creating the [illegal] Contras. 1976—Jerry Lee Lewis is arrested outside Graceland for waving a pistol and demanding to see Elvis. 1970—A Lithuanian radio operator jumps from a Russian trawler onto the deck of the Coast Guard cutter Vigilant. Commander Ralph Eustis allows Soviet sailors to board the cutter and seize the radioman. 1958—On TV: Ron & Nancy Reagan in “A Turkey for the President.” 1946—To teach “a severe lesson”—that Vietnam is ruled by France—the cruiser Suffren shells the bejeezus out of Haiphong, killing 6,000 and beginning the First Indochina War. 1936—In San Antonio, bluesman Robert Johnson begins a legendary …

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2003—AP reports on JFK conspiracy theories, including one claiming he orchestrated his own assassination. 2000—Two dozen well-dressed hooligans, many on the GOP’s payroll, intimidate Miami election officials into shutting down a Presidential recount. 1975—USS John F. Kennedy and USS Belknap collide in the night near Sicily. A two-hour fire aboard the Belknap stops 30 feet short of the weapons magazine where they store the nukes. 1963—In Paris, a CIA man hands a lethal pen to a Cuban for use on Fidel Castro, at the behest of Bobby Kennedy. 1963—In Dallas, Texas, President John F. Kennedy is assassinated; at whose bidding is a matter of dispute. …

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2016—The Guardian reports that D. Trump’s grandfather was refused re-entry to Germany in 1905 because he had dodged military service. 1974—The Freedom of Information Act passes over Gerry Ford’s veto. 1973—Nixon Chief of Staff Alexander Haig ascribes an 18½ minute gap on an audio tape to “sinister forces.” 1967—Commies in the ’Nam are “unable to mount a major offensive,” says Westy, 71 days before Tet. “The end begins to come into view.” 1964—The FBI sends a blackmail letter to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., urging him to commit suicide. 1927—The first Columbine Massacre: state cops in civvies machine-gun striking coal miners; six die. 1922—Rebecca Felton …

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2020—“What is the downside for humoring him,” says an anonymous high GOP official to Washington Post reporters. “It’s not like he’s plotting how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on January 20th.” 2008—Sarah Palin is interviewed on live TV while, in the background, turkeys are being slaughtered. 1980—In Louisiana, an oil rig drilling in the wrong spot hits a salt mine under Lake Peigneur. The rig, 11 barges, and a tugboat disappear. 1979—Fundamentalists seize Mecca’s Grand Mosque, full of hostages. The CIA blames guiltless Iran. 1975—The Senate’s Church Committee issues its report on U.S. efforts to assassinate foreign leaders; 349 pages make it past …

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2005—Marines in Haditha murder 24 unarmed Iraqi men, women, and children. One Marine is tried for and convicted of dereliction of duty. 1967—A 500 lb. bomb from a Marine jet goes astray during the Battle of Dak To; 45 men from the 173d Airborne die, 45 are wounded. 1963—In Havana, Frenchman Jean Daniel, sent personally by JFK, finds Fidel Castro “cautiously receptive” to a rapprochement with the U.S. 1962—Dick “Dick” Cheney racks up his first drunk driving conviction, in Cheyenne, Wyo. 1960—At a party in New York City to celebrate the launch of his mayoral campaign, Norman Mailer stabs his second wife, Adele Morales, twice. …

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2020—Feds indict Kansan Shawn L. Parcells for wire fraud. He collected $1.1 million from 375 clients for performing autopsies, yet was neither a physician nor a pathologist. 2005—Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) apologizes to ’Nam combat vet Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) on the House floor for implying he’s a coward. 1999—Texas A&M’s student-built Bonfire—a 59-foot stack of vertical logs—somehow collapses; 12 die. 1997—Operation Northwoods is exposed: the 1962 plan would have murdered U.S. citizens on the street to build support for an invasion of Cuba. 1988—Congress jacks up penalties for smoking crack. Lighter penalties for powder cocaine are unchanged. 1978—Jim Jones and 913 followers drink cyanide-laced …

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