TODAY IN ROTTEN HISTORY:
Feb 7 1812
New Madrid earthquake shakes Missouri with an estimated magnitude of 8.2, as strong as any in the West. The quake destroys 150,000 acres of forest, and would have caused massive damage had it occurred in modern times.
Feb 7 1845
A drunken visitor to the British Museum smashes the irreplaceable Portland Vase into over 200 pieces. The elaborate glass amphora was created when Augustus was Caesar and is about ten inches high. It takes months to repair.
Feb 7 1968
"It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." -- U.S. Army Major, regarding the village of Ben Tre, Vietnam, in an AP dispatch.
Feb 7 1969
Beatle George Harrison has his tonsils removed. He had them destroyed to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
Feb 7 1989
Washed up tennis player Bjorn Borg has his stomach pumped after he overdoses on sleeping pills in Madrid, Spain.
Feb 7 1991
Mortar rounds are fired by the IRA at No. 10 Downing Street, the residence of British Prime Minister John Major. No injuries resulted but the door was severely dented.
Yesterday in Rotten History
Feb 6 1911
Ronald Reagan, who appeared in such films as Jap Zero, Girls on Probation, and Bedtime for Bonzo, born in Tampico IL.
Feb 6 1917
Zsa Zsa Gabor born in Budapest.
Feb 6 1943
Actor Errol Flynn acquitted of raping an adolescent. The woman had actually tried this shakedown with other celebrities and wasn't quite an adolescent despite her testifying with pigtails and a lollypop. Flynn had just finished a film called "Gentleman Jim" and at the end of the film when he says to Maureen O'Hara: "I never said I was a Gentleman." Peals of knowing laughter rang out from audiences.
Feb 6 1951
Radio personality Paul Harvey is arrested for trying to break into Argonne Atomic Lab.
Feb 6 1983
Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyon" who had been living as a mild-mannered Bolivian businessman, charged with Nazi war crimes. He is later sentenced to life imprisonment and dies in 1991.
Wait there's more
Feb 5 1861
The "Peep Show" machine patented by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati.
Feb 5 1979
Woodrow Bussey files suit against the Adolf Coors Brewing Company for failing to warn him that their product, Coors Beer, is an intoxicating beverage.
Feb 5 1998
The cold war era Checkpoint Charlie sign -- "You Are Leaving The American Sector" -- is stolen in Berlin.
Feb 7 1812
New Madrid earthquake shakes Missouri with an estimated magnitude of 8.2, as strong as any in the West. The quake destroys 150,000 acres of forest, and would have caused massive damage had it occurred in modern times.
Feb 7 1845
A drunken visitor to the British Museum smashes the irreplaceable Portland Vase into over 200 pieces. The elaborate glass amphora was created when Augustus was Caesar and is about ten inches high. It takes months to repair.
Feb 7 1968
"It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." -- U.S. Army Major, regarding the village of Ben Tre, Vietnam, in an AP dispatch.
Feb 7 1969
Beatle George Harrison has his tonsils removed. He had them destroyed to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
Feb 7 1989
Washed up tennis player Bjorn Borg has his stomach pumped after he overdoses on sleeping pills in Madrid, Spain.
Feb 7 1991
Mortar rounds are fired by the IRA at No. 10 Downing Street, the residence of British Prime Minister John Major. No injuries resulted but the door was severely dented.
Yesterday in Rotten History
Feb 6 1911
Ronald Reagan, who appeared in such films as Jap Zero, Girls on Probation, and Bedtime for Bonzo, born in Tampico IL.
Feb 6 1917
Zsa Zsa Gabor born in Budapest.
Feb 6 1943
Actor Errol Flynn acquitted of raping an adolescent. The woman had actually tried this shakedown with other celebrities and wasn't quite an adolescent despite her testifying with pigtails and a lollypop. Flynn had just finished a film called "Gentleman Jim" and at the end of the film when he says to Maureen O'Hara: "I never said I was a Gentleman." Peals of knowing laughter rang out from audiences.
Feb 6 1951
Radio personality Paul Harvey is arrested for trying to break into Argonne Atomic Lab.
Feb 6 1983
Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyon" who had been living as a mild-mannered Bolivian businessman, charged with Nazi war crimes. He is later sentenced to life imprisonment and dies in 1991.
Wait there's more
Feb 5 1861
The "Peep Show" machine patented by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati.
Feb 5 1979
Woodrow Bussey files suit against the Adolf Coors Brewing Company for failing to warn him that their product, Coors Beer, is an intoxicating beverage.
Feb 5 1998
The cold war era Checkpoint Charlie sign -- "You Are Leaving The American Sector" -- is stolen in Berlin.