September 8, 1977 - Judge Archie Simonson found himself suddenly out of a $36,000 a year position as A Dane County, Wisconsin (Madison) Judge. The first time a judge was recalled in Wisconsin in 30 years, in fact. And for what? For innocent comments such as, “Whether women like it or not, they are sex objects,” from the bench while releasing a 15 year old convicted rapist on probation. The soft sentence, he explained, was a warning to women to “stop teasing.” Simonson went on and on like this in the press in the weeks and months following, culminating in telling a UPI reporter that he was the one being “gang-raped” by the media.
Judge Simonson: All-around swell guy
A warning of a different sort debuted this day, the Interpol Warning Screen on video cassettes. It has survived for 33 years now. I wonder how effective it is? I know that I would never flout International Law, not after seeing something like this…
The other INTERPOL 
35 - Old Enough to be President:
September 8, 1975 - Leonard Matlovich comes out of the closet onto the cover of TIME magazine. Matlovich is immediately discharged from the Air Force. During the administrative hearing he was asked to sign a document declaring he would “never practice homosexuality again.” He replied, “I am done ‘practicing.’ I’ve moved on to the real deal.” Well, that’s what I would’ve said anyway. Despite refusing to sign the insane pledge, Matlovich was given an honorable discharge… eventually. The fact that he had earned the bronze star and purple heart during three tours of duty in Vietnam probably had something to do with that.
Leonard Matlovich
Leonard continued to be active in the gay rights movement, despite the militaries “Hush hush, keep it down” policy on gays. He died in 1988. His headstone at the Congressional Cemetary reads, “When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.”
September 8, 1960 - President Eisenhower dedicated a new center for continuing exploration of German vengeance weapons on this day in 1960. The Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville became a civilian agency, officially ending military dominance of space exploration. Werner von Braun was finally out from under the thumb of 40 years of military control to engage (along with 100 of his Nazi friends) in what we must believe were his intentions all along: the peaceful exploration of space for warm, fuzzy reasons (slave-made V-2s notwithstanding). And indeed, we have continued in the fine German tradition of using advanced technology exclusively for peace!
“My skin is crawling.” - Ike 
The next time someone asks you, “How long has the exploration of space been an exclusively civilian activity?” you now have a quick rule-of-thumb. Just say, “For as long as Aimee Mann has been alive.” Aimee Mann (Til Tuesday, The Big Lebowski–where she portrayed a pinky-toeless German nihilist) was born on this day. Aimee is still performing regularly and well, when she is not criticizing Ice-T’s acting ability on twitter.

Aimee Mann at 25 and 50… Is she an elf or something?
September 8, 1926 - Here’s a headline: Weimar Republic Joins League of Nations. Now, if you read that headline in 1926, it sounded optimistic. Imagine a secular government leader from Afghanistan addressing the United Nations in 2018 and saying, “Our literacy programs are reaching all the way up the valley passes. School attendance is near 100%, and our solar power grid is operating at maximum efficiency. I am happy to report that the Afghan electric car industry is booming providing good jobs for 50,000 people. Praise Allah, and peace be with you.” That’s roughly what Weimar Republic Joins League of Nations sounded like in 1926.
Any resemblance between the Weimar Republic, Werner von Braun, Eisenhower, the Nazi vengeance weapons, the American space program, the Predator drone, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is strictly coincidental…
Quickly…
4 - I’m This Many: Shuji Nakamura awarded Millenium Prize for blue and white light LEDs. Does this not seem like a big deal to you? Have you ever used an electric light? Now imagine that every electric light you’ve ever used was 100 times more efficient.
16 - Old Enough to Drive: US Air Flight 427 crashes in Pittsburgh. I recall seeing the test flights to determine the cause of the crash for years afterward.
100 - A Shout-out from Willard: The East River Tunnels open allowing rail transport between Manhattan and Long Island City in Queens. They have been in more or less continuous operation for 100 years today.
It is inevitable that I will miss stunningly important events from time to time. So, I guess I will have to inaugurate a MISSED IT! section.
MISSED IT!
September 7, 1968 - Hotwheels are introduced. At 42 years old the die-cast metal cars are No Spring Chicken. The record selling price for a Hotwheels car is $72,000 for a “Volkswagen Beach Bomb” van with surfboards.
$72,000 ???