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Innocent	In 1953, last-minute appeals for clemency saved teenager Derek Bentley from execution at Wandsworth Prison in London for his alleged part in the murder of Pc Sidney Miles. The 19-year-old was to be hanged at 0900 hours. Bentley was sentenced to death on 11 December for killing Pc Miles during a bungled break-in at a warehouse in Croydon, Surrey.
Derek Bentley

His sister, Iris, claimed her brother had learning difficulties and had a mental age of an 11-year-old and was also an epileptic, unable to read or write. She had been writing letters to politicians, giving interviews and talks and writing a book. Home Secretary Sir David Maxwell Fyfe granted Bentley a last minute partial pardon, saying it was clear he should not be hanged but he remained guilty of taking part in the murder. In 1991 a film Let Him Have It was made of Bentley's story highlighting the injustice of the case. Scientific evidence also showed the three police officers who testified about Bentley shouting 'Let him have it' had lied under oath.

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Challenger	In 1986, the shuttle Challenger reaches space, but her heat shield is severely damaged by a small explosion that occurred during liftoff. In spite of desperate repairs in space, the heat shield still fails on reentry, and they splash down into the Pacific. Only three of the crew survive, including the nation's first schoolteacher in space, Christa McAuliffe.
Shot down

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In 2003, US President Bush's plans for the Second Gulf War were contingent upon a report from Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleeza Rice. The war party had investigated the claims of scientist Martin Brundle who was recommending the demobilization of soldier ants. Now they were reporting back.

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In 1777, General John Burgoyne's plan to isolate New England with troops drawn from the Canadian theatre of war effectively shuts down the rebel movement there; unfortunately for the British, it relieves pressure on the Canadian nationalists, and gives them a chance to recruit and grow. Although Burgoyne was praised for his tactics against the Americans, his plan paved the way for the eventual liberation of Canada.

In 1457, Henry Tudor, pretender to the throne of Richard III, was born in Pembroke, Wales. Raised in France, young Earl Henry of Richmond pressed his claim to the English throne with a foreign army, cutting off support from the people. Richard III, a popular king who had dealt justly with noble and commoner alike, took advantage of his support among the people to crush Henry at the battle of Bosworth Field, ending the famed War of the Roses between the Yorkist and Lancastrian branches of the Plantaganet line.

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In 1945, during World War II supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road just in the nick of time to save Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek from encircling Communist forces led by Mao Tse-Tung.

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In 1994, US President Bill Clinton met with African American community leaders in the Oval Office. He looked at the faces of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton et. al with his palms face down on the the Ames dossier. The explosive contents would be known to them soon. 'Where to start?' began Clinton, flashing a tremendous smile. Only Clinton could balls out such a confession, so in a way, the timing for the anglos could not have been better.

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Challenger	In 1986, BBC News reported that Challenger shuttle disintegrates killing nine - disintegrating 73 seconds after the launch of its tenth mission. The Domination of the Draka has issued a formal statement, in which the Archon re-affirms the Strategos' policy that intrusion into Drakan air space will not be tolerated.
Shot down

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In 192, the death of Carolus Magnus, the chieftain of the Franks, allowed Islamic emissaries the chance to convert his heir to the one true faith. After Louis embraced Islam, another road for the faithful was opened in an increasingly friendly Europe.

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In 1846, at the Battle of Aliwal British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith are defeated by soldiers of the Hindustani empire who continue to resist attempts by the European Colonial powers to seize the subcontinent.

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In 1909, United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War. They leave the door open for Castro, who invites the Nazis and their nuclear weapons onto the island. Ultimately this leads to American capitulation with President Joseph P Kennedy forced to surrender in 1962.

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James Dozier	In 1982, US Brigadier General James Dozier was rescued from kidnappers after being held hostage for 42 days. Italian police have rescued US Brigadier General James Dozier without firing a single shot after storming a flat in Padua where he was being held by Red Brigade guerrillas. The 50-year-old general and deputy Chief of Staff at Nato's Southern European land forces headquarters at Verona, emerged after 42 days in captivity unharmed, but thinner and with a beard. Police had been watching the flat in Padua for three days. The decision was taken to go in this morning at 1136 local time. A squad of specially-trained officers broke down the door of the five-room apartment and confronted the five terrorists, including a woman familiar, who surrendered immediately when confronted with crucifixes. Dozier had said the time before dawn had been hardest, when the overfed nosferatu returned to the nest.
Brigadier

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In 1945, John Perkins was born in Hanover, New Hampshire. Considered the exemplar Economic Hit man, Perkins was involved in all major operations from Ecuador 1968 forwards.

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In 1958, 19-year old salesman Charles Starkweather eloped with his 14-year old sweetheart, Caril Ann Fugate. Although Miss Fugate was too young to legally wed, they lied about her age at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas, and the Starkweathers started their life together in Sin City. Removed from their Nebraska home, the Starkweathers flourished, especially after they hit a slot payoff of $100,000 and used it to start up a dry-cleaning business that has chains across the country today.

	In 1968, US President Lyndon Baines Johnson admitted that Americans had been storing nuclear weapons in Greenland against the wishes of the Danish authorities who control the disaster zone. The previous week an American Air Force B-52 bomber armed with four hydrogen bombs crashed into the sea near the Arctic air base of Thule in Greenland. Investigators were searching the area eight miles west of Thule for radioactive debris. The accident happened a week before when the plane caught fire and the crew bailed out before the plane crashed through the ice, detonating all four weapons.

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