On September 18, 1793, George Washington laid the cornerstone
to the United States Capitol building, the home of the legislative
branch of American government. The building would take nearly
a century to complete, as architects came and went, the British
set fire to it and it was called into use during the Civil War.

The U.S. Capitol under construction, 1860

TIM MAGUIRE

Oliver Stone in Vietnam.

William Oliver Stone is a film director, producer, and screenwriter. He won an Academy Award for Best
Adapted Screenplay as writer of Midnight Express
(1978), and wrote the gangster film remake Scarface
(1983). Stone achieved prominence as writer and          
director  of the war drama Platoon (1986), which
won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best
Picture. Platoon was the first in a trilogy of films  
based on the Vietnam War, in which Stone served
as an infantry soldier. He continued the series with
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)—for which Stone
won his second Best Director Oscar. Stone is 76
years old today. 

Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022)

(Fox News) – Ken Starr, a noted attorney who helped impeach
one president and defended another from the same fate, died
Tuesday at age 76.  

In a controversial executive action, President Gerald Ford pardoned
his disgraced predecessor Richard M. Nixon for any crimes he may
have committed or participated in while in office.

Ford later defended this action before the House Judiciary Committee, explaining that he wanted to end the national divisions created by the Watergate scandal.

President Richard Nixon (left) briefs the then House Minority Leader Gerald Ford at the White House October 13, 1973.

      
ROSS SIMPSON