...or should August 9 be a national holiday?

I'm thinking "Bomb Day". After all, August 9 has been littered with explosions since before the birth of Christ. To whit: 48 BC Julius Caesar defeats General Pompey at the battle of Pharsalus. Granted, no bombs were used but the outcome created quite an explosion in Roman politics. The republic was dealt a mortal blow and individual rights were all but eliminated when Caesar declared himself emperor. For a parallel, think George W. Bush after 9/11. By the way, Pompey fled to Egypt which, 2000 years later, gave us Osama bin Laden. Coincidence? 1930 Betty Boop (America's first animated bombshell) makes her debut in a short feature called Dizzy Dishes. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Boop checks into the rehab facility that now bears her first name. Her addiction to India Ink was never fully explained. 1936 Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the XI Olympiad in Berlin. America goes wild for Jesse until, of course, the newsreel footage reaches the States at which time Americans notice that Mr. Owens is black. Adolph Hitler, then German Chancellor, refuses to shake hands with Mr. Owens thus beginning a trend that would survive in the American South for the next 45 years. 1944 The United States Forestry Service introduces Smokey the Bear for the first time. The law firm of Tharrington, Smith & Hargrove of North Carolina (later to employ John Edwards) immediately filed a four billion dollar law suit alleging that the bear in the ranger hat and blue jeans is the property of someone else. They charge the Forest Service with propagating (wait for it) "second hand Smokey." 1945 Basically not a good day to be a tourist in Nagasaki. Harry Truman put an exclamation point on World War II by convincing Japan that if they didn't surrender right now, today, Japan would be converted into a parking lot for the first Asian WalMart.

1969 Quiz time. What happened on Aug 9 in 1969? That's right you sickwads - psychotics under the direction of Charlie Manson brutally murdered Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski and Steven Parent in Los Angeles. Manson, who is now 73 and still crazy as a loon is, thankfully, still incarcerated. So are Leslie Van Houton, Susan Atkins, Patrica Krenwinkel, Bobby Beausoleil and Charles Tex Watson. Should any or all of these lovely folks ever get out of the joint, they are planning a reunion at the Spahn Ranch which will be converted to a hospice for the occasion.

1974 Everybody's favorite pinata, Tricky Dick Nixon finally, mercifully resigns the Presidency. Having noticed that even Checkers, the White House dog, was pissing on his administration, Mr. Nixon decided that a permanent vacation in San Clemente was preferable to a guest appearance on Court TV. Two additional indignities ultimately followed. In 1976 New York revoked his law license and in 1981 he was forced to live in New Jersey. Oh death, where is thy sting?

1993 Prince Albert II of Belgium is sworn in as king prompting a new round of interrogatories regarding tobacco, tobacco containers and Belgian monarchs.

2007 The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 387 points. Ouch! If this trend continues, isitjustme could be forced to accept advertising... except, of course, on National Bomb Day.