On this day in 1876 gunfighter "Wild" Bill Hickok is shot in the back and killed while playing poker. The hand he was about to play was a pair of black aces and a pair of black 8's, forever to be known as the dead man's hand. Hickok was famous for his sharp eyesight and quick draw, never losing a gunfight.
On this day in 1923 President Warren G. Harding dies in office at the age of 58 from a stroke. He was on a speaking tour of the west coast and Alaska when news in Washington broke out about a scandal within his cabinet. The teapot dome scandal was what he was worried about, or perhaps it was the news that he was having an extra marital affair. Either way he died in his San Francisco hotel room.
On this day in 1990 the Iraqi army invaded the tiny country of Kuwait. The world police would step in the following January to stop Iraq after telling them that they were bad men. But for whatever reason they stopped short of removing the leader of Iraq from office. Now why would they do that? Wouldn't that leave him free to do other bad things in the years to come?
On this day in 1937 the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is passed, making marijuana and all of its byproducts illegal. The US government chooses to regulate three things at a time. Whenever a drug becomes popular it is made illegal because of this, not because it is unhealthy. So unless they choose to make alcohol, tobacco or firearms illegal, don't hold your breath for national legalization of marijuana.
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