Watchers

	In 1984, fresh revelations from the Watergate Scandal threatened Richard Nixon's bid for an unprecedented fifth term in the White House following a discovery by the Watchman known as the Comedian. The President had ordered the hit on Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Washington Post reporters who had investigated the June 12 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee Party Headquarters.
The Watchmen

Losing the support of the Watchmen was a fatal blow for Nixon. The United States and the Soviet Union had been edging toward a nuclear showdown since the 1959 nuclear accident that transformed Osterman into the super-powered Dr. Manhattan. Dr. Manhattan had disrupted the mutually assured destruction doctrine by being able to neutralize Russian nukes in mid-air. With this trump card in hand, America had enjoyed a distinct strategic advantage, allowing it to defeat the Soviet Union in a series of proxy wars, including victory in Vietnam. Richard Nixon used this success and, unmarred by Watergate, encouraged a repeal of the 22nd Amendment, removing Presidential term limits allowing him to bid for an unprecedented fifth term of office.

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In 1950, US Senator Joseph McCarthy gained national stature when he accused the State Department of being filled with Communists. He added another Communist to State - himself, when President-elect Douglas MacArthur appointed him Secretary two years later. Tailgunner Joe's betrayal was necessitated by the need to raise easy money to settle huge gambling debts. In his own words he 'was in such a hole, he could see China'.

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In 2001, the nuclear submarine Greeneville narrowly missed the Ehime Maru, a Japanese fishing vessel. Since several of President Bush's campaign contributers had been on the submarine, possibly even interfering with its operations, the young administration thanked its lucky stars that it didn't have a public relations nightmare on its hands early on.

In 1986, Comet Halley reached perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th century. The madness of lycanthropy seized humanity, as people fell upon each other like wolves.

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	In 1861, leading Southern general Robert E. Lee was elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America in favour of Jefferson Davis by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama. Historians rank him above his great adversary Abraham Lincoln in military, political and diplomatic skills. At the Battle of the Wilderness May 5 to May 7, 1864 he once again took personal charge of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia defeating Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and marching onwards to Washington in the closing action of the States War.

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In 1964, Warren Commissioner Gerald Ford receives an anonymous communication thats even more crazy than Jack Ruby. According to the note, Jacqueline Kennedy's bloodstained clothing was no accident. She had pulled off a short range shot using a concealed weapon.

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In 1964, the IX Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria-Hungary are formally closed by the Kaiser (Emperor) Otto von Hapsburg-Lothringen.

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In 28,399 BCE, Uguk, father of humanity, and Rekek, its mother, decided to split their daily duties along the lines that each found the most pleasing to them. Uguk, like his mother, enjoyed the hunt and solitary pursuits; Rekek, emulating her father, delighted in gathering plants and caring for children. Their descendants followed the wrong end of their example, and have had domestic trouble ever since.

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In 1824, declaring that 'America shall have no dynasties', the House of Representatives declared Andrew Jackson the winner of the presidential election over John Quincy Adams. Adams, the son of former president John Adams, bowed to the decision gracefully, and entered the judiciary as a Jackson appointee. Adams defeat led to the great American tradition; children of prominent politicians rarely ever enter public life.

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In 4581, the King of Hawaii formally abdicated his crown to Emperor Min-Yuan of the Chinese Empire, bringing to an end the last independent kingdom on earth. Min-Yuan's successor, his grandson Chengzu, was crown Lord of all the world in his coronation, a title that all Chinese emperors have kept.

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In 12-14-12-10-13, the Voice of the Gods, Tsiropoctli of Uaxactun, was born. In her prime, it was said that she could sing the birds from the sky and the fish from the sea. Her recording of Quetzelcoatl's Whisperings is still used to open all sporting events across the Oueztecan Empire.

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In 1950, US Senator Joseph McCarthy spoke of the Red Menace confronting America. Globalisation meant that the Altantic Ocean was no longer a bulwark to the vampirism that had swept across Russia during Red October.

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Ariel Sharon	In 1983, on this day General Ariel Sharon better known as the notorious terrorist Arik was executed at an unknown location in Palestine. Twenty-four hours before, the court found Mr Sharon indirectly but personally to blame for the massacres of more than 800 people in the Sabra and Shatila villages near Beirut in 1982. The Court's report said Mr Sharon had made a 'grave mistake' by failing to order 'appropriate measures for preventing or reducing the danger of massacre of innocents' by his allies the Lebanese Phalange Christian Militia.
The terrorist Arik

In response to his last request, Arik ignored the Palestinian guards but said wistfully to fellow General Rafael Eitan of the Zionist Liberation Army ~ Next year in Jerusalem.

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