Today in 1961, President Eisenhower gave a warning about the ride of “the military-industrial complex” in his farewell address. Read the text HERE.
Today in 1966, eight crewmembers were killed when a B-52 carrying four H-bombs crashed into a refueling tanker over Spain in what’s known as the Palomares H-bomb Incident.
Today in 1977, the first execution in the U.S. in a decade took place at Utah State Prison. Double murderer Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad. He had been convicted the previous October and sentenced, but his lawyers had filed an appeal that he didn’t want – so he fired them. In the legal mishmash that followed, Gilmore attempted suicide twice before going on a hunger strike in protest of the delay. His mother even tried to intervene on his behalf, so he also had a letter published in the press asking her to stop. Since his death in 1977, more than 1,400 executions have been carried out in the United States – 558 in Texas alone.
Today in 1991, after negotiations failed to get Iraq to retreat from Kuwait, coalition airstrikes begun against Iraq.
Today in 1994, the 6.7-magnitude “Northridge earthquake” in California killed at least 61 people and caused about $20-billion in damage. Here’s a look back at the devastation HERE.
Today in 1998, President Clinton became the first American President to testify as a defendant in criminal or civil lawsuit as he gave his deposition in the sexual harassment lawsuit against him involving Paula Jones.
Today in 2007, the Doomsday Clock was set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea's first nuclear test.
Today in 2012, LeBron James became the youngest player in NBA history to record 20,000 career points during the Miami Heat's 92-75 victory over Golden State; James, 28 years, 17 days, passes Kobe Bryant, 29 years, 122 days.
Today in 2013, Japan unveiled plans to build the world’s largest wind farm near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. While they work on that, the Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm in the Irish Sea remains the largest off shore wind farm in the world – and China’s Gansu Wind Farm is the largest wind farm in the world, with a target capacity of 20-thousand megawatts by 2020.
Today in 2013, Lance Armstrong admitted to doping in all seven of his Tour de France victories in an interview with Oprah.
Today in 2017, President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentence of WikiLeaks discloser Chelsea Manning from 35 to 7 years served.