PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR MAY 9

On this day in 1874, British archaeologist Howard Carter is born. In 1922, he would discover the tomb of 14th century BC Boy Pharaoh, King Tutankhamen, thus sparking a worldwide frenzy of "Egyptomania" in the years between the First and Second World Wars.

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On this day in 1950, pulp magazine writer L.Ron Hubbard's book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health hits store shelves for the first time. Today, May 9th is regarded as an important Church of Scientology holiday: the "Anniversary of Dianetics."

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On this day in 1960, the FDA announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid - otherwise known as "the pill" - making it the world's first government approved oral contraceptive. Depending on who you ask, it is also another giant step down the slippery slope of NWO-sponsored eugenic population control... but I'm not quite ready to buy into that argument yet, myself.

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On this day in 1974, the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon. Tricky Dick resigns in the face of overwhelming evidence of his guilt in the Watergate affair (among other, far worse things), therefore robbing the committee of their chance to make history.

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On this day in 1989, Vice-President Dan Quayle delivers a speech to the United Negro College Fund board of governors. In it, he mangles that institution's motto - "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" - by declaring: "What a waste it is to lose one's mind, or not to have a mind is being very wasteful." You know, after experiencing Preznit Dubya's suspiciously familiar verbal locutions, it kinda clears up some of the mysteries surrounding his Poppy Bush's choice of running mates way back in 1988... Potatoe-head Dan reminded Herbert Walker of his own first-born son!

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On this day in 2004, Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed by a land mine under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya. 30 others die in the blast, which came from a bomb that was actually built right into a bridge earlier that year in long-term anticipation of this particular event. Watch any  video of the event to see why they say that the "Russian Panic Button" is the trigger on an AK-47.