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On This Day: Would-be Ford assassin escapes from prison

On Dec. 23, 1987, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a sentence for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford, escapes from a West Virginia prison.

By UPI Staff
Secret Service agents rush President Gerald R. Ford toward the California State Capitol following an attempt on the president's life by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme -- a disciple of Charles Manson -- on September 5, 1975, in Sacramento, Calif. Fromme escaped from prison on December 23, 1987. File Photo courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library
1 of 3 | Secret Service agents rush President Gerald R. Ford toward the California State Capitol following an attempt on the president's life by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme -- a disciple of Charles Manson -- on September 5, 1975, in Sacramento, Calif. Fromme escaped from prison on December 23, 1987. File Photo courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library

Dec. 23 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1620, construction began on the first permanent European settlement in New England. It was one week after the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Harbor in present-day Massachusetts.

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In 1783, Gen. George Washington resigned his commission with the U.S. Army and retired to Mount Vernon, Va. He became the new nation's first president in 1789.

In 1913, the U.S. Federal Reserve System was established.

In 1928, the National Broadcasting Co. established a permanent U.S. coast-to-coast radio hookup.

In 1947, the transistor was invented, leading to a revolution in communications and electronics.

In 1948, former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were hanged in Tokyo under sentence of the Allied War Crimes Commission.

File Photo courtesy Wikimedia

In 1972, a series of earthquakes killed about 5,000 people and left the Nicaraguan capital of Managua in ruins.

In 1973, the shah of Iran announced that the petroleum-exporting states of the Persian Gulf would double the price of their crude oil.

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In 1982, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the residents of Times Beach, Mo., to evacuate the town, which was contaminated with the chemical dioxin. The government bought all but one house in the town, which was disincorporated.

In 1987, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yaeger landed the experimental aircraft Voyager at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., completing a record nine-day, 25,012-mile global flight without refueling.

In 1987, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a sentence for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford, escapes from a West Virginia prison. She was captured two days later.

In 1995, fire engulfed a tent set up for a school ceremony in Mandi Dabwali, India, killing more than 500 people.

In 2003, the first case of mad cow disease was reported in the United States when a Holstein in Washington state tested positive for the ailment.

A Canadian cow living at the Sunny Dene Ranch near Mabton, Wash., was the first cow in the U.S. to have a confirmed case of mad cow disease. File Photo by Jim Bryant/UPI
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In 2004, China reported its Bohai Bay Basin in the north may contain 20.5 billion tons of offshore oil reserves.

In 2008, officials in Guinea's army announced the country's government had been dissolved and the Constitution suspended after the death of President Lansana Conte, who had ruled the African nation for 24 years.

In 2009, Mexico City voters approved a sweeping gay rights measure allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.

In 2013, two members of the Pussy Riot punk band, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, were released from prison in Russia in an amnesty program. They had served most of their two-year sentences after being convicted of hooliganism for participating in a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin.

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

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