Today in History:
August 8 1925 -
40,000 robed Klansmen march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. -- a bit less than 1% of total Klan membership (and the Klan membership included about 15% of the nation's eligible voting population.)
Very scary, boys and girls, very scary. Remember, don't confuse the Birthers movement with the Klan (the Klan, at least, springs for uniforms.)
August 8 1945 -
Wanting to help their allies, USSR declares war against Japan in WW II after confirming the situation in Hiroshima.
A large nuclear explosion is a great way to clear one's mind.
August 8 1960 -
Brian Hyland's song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" reaches number one on the pop charts.
August 8 1963 -
The Kingsmen release the song, Louie, Louie.
Inexplicably radio stations around the county label it obscene, even though no foul or suggestive language can be found in the song.
Here are (purportedly) the lyrics -
Louie Louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
Louie Louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
A fine girl, who waited for me.
I catch a ship across the sea.
I sailed the ship all alone.
I wondered when I'm gonna make it home.
Louie Louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
Louie Louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Three nights and days I sailed the sea.
I think of the girl constantly.
On the ship, I dream she there.
I smell the rose that's in her hair.
Louie Louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
Louie Louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
I see Jamaican moon above.
See the girl I'm thinking of.
I take her in my arms and then
Say I'll never leave again.
Louie Louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
Louie Louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Oh, I gotta go now.
Uh-huh I gotta go.
August 8 1963 -
By tampering with railway signals, a 15 man team halts the Glasgow-to-Euston Royal Mail train in Buckinghamshire. The criminals make off with 120 sacks containing £2.6 million in cash. The incident goes down in history as "The Great Train Robbery."
For some bizarre reason, Phil Collins stars in a movie based on one of the men involved in the robbery.
August 8 1973 -
VP Spiro T Agnew branded as "damned lies" reports he took kickbacks from govt contracts in Maryland.
He vowed not to resign (Right!)
August 8 1974 -
Richard M. Nixon resigned the office of the presidency on this date, the first American president in history to do so (actually Millard Fillmore had resigned from office several times but as no one in the country took any notice of him, he had no one to turn his resignation in to, so he remained in office). His policies as president had been rather liberal. He began arms control agreements with the Soviet Union. He eased relations with China. He established the Environmental Protection Agency, expanded Social Security and state welfare programs and tried to create a national health insurance system. He was also a chronic alcoholic, suffered from a raging persecution complex and had overly active sweat glands
He won re-election in 1972 in a landslide, but in that same year a group of men broke into the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, and in that break-in were the seeds of his downfall.
August 8, 1988 -
Believe it or not, NYC hits a record high of 88 on 8/8/88.
And so it goes.
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