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Almanac for Oct. 16, 2026

Today is Friday, Oct. 16, the 289th day of 2026. There are 76 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 16, 1962, the Cuban missile crisis began as President John F. Kennedy was informed that reconnaissance photographs had revealed the presence of Soviet nuclear missile sites in Cuba. Also on this date: In 1758, American lexicographer Noah Webster was born in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1793, Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, was beheaded during the French Revolution. In 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown and his small force raided the U.S. arsenal at Harpers ...

Not fine at all

Imagine government demanding $400,000 because you didn't know to fill out a single-page form. Or you get slapped with a $100,000 fine for parking your car ... on your own property. It sounds absurd, but as my newest video shows, that's really happening. How can that be? Doesn't America's ...

Who is Ilhan Omar?

Much of Ilhan Omar's family story is a black box, but we are presumably about to learn more about it. Federal authorities raided her Washington, D.C., residence in what's reportedly a probe related to her immigration paperwork. The congresswoman has alleged an effort to weaponize federal ...

Almanac for Oct. 15, 2026

Today is Thursday, Oct. 15, the 288th day of 2026. There are 77 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 15, 2017, actor and activist Alyssa Milano tweeted that women who had been sexually harassed or assaulted should write "Me too" as a status. Within hours, tens of thousands had taken up the #MeToo hashtag (using a phrase that had been introduced a decade earlier by social activist Tarana Burke). Also on this date: In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte, the deposed French emperor, arrived on the British-ruled South Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he spent the last 5 1/2 ...

The Greece speech

Back in my college days (American University, Washington, D.C.), required reading included the works of Greek playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Long after graduation they remained on my bookshelf. It was believed for generations that these men, along with philosophers Plato, ...

Almanac for Oct. 14, 2026

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 14, the 287th day of 2026. There are 78 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 14, 1947, U.S. Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager flew a Bell X-1 rocket engine-powered aircraft over a California desert, becoming the first person to break the sound barrier. In 2012, Yeager marked the 65th anniversary of that flight by breaking the sound barrier anew at age 89, this time in the backseat of an F-15. Also on this date: In 1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings. In 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots, went on trial ...