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1630 - The village of Shawmut in Massachusetts changed its name to Boston.

1810 - Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bells of his church and uttered El Grito (the cry or shout), calling Mexicans to revolt against Spain and declare their independence.

1940 - Sam Rayburn of Bonnham was first elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He served more years than any other speaker in history.

1968 - Richard Nixon, running for president, chanted, "Sock it to me," on Rowan and Martin's "Laugh-In" TV show.

It was one of his more embarrassing attempts to appeal to young people during the campaign. I'm sure you can find it on YouTube.

1974 - President Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War draft dodgers and deserters.

- Jim

Here is the clip of President Nixon. I couldn't find any longer clips with context on it, so maybe since I wasn't alive at the time someone can tell me why that is so funny.

Not trying to ruin the thread, but here is another this day in history bit:

In 1908, General Motors Corp. was founded in Flint, Mich., by William C. Durant.

"Laugh-In" was a comedy show that was edgy for its day. (TV was socially conservative at that time.)

It had a number of running jokes, including characters chanting, "Sock it to me!" and "Here come da Judge." Various celebrities, usually actors, would more or less make fools of themselves by appearing in these short scenes. A few could actually make them uniquely funny.

I can't recall Nixon ever saying or doing anything that was laughing-out-loud funny. He took himself much too seriously (which was the root of many of his problems).

I'll leave it to someone else to identify a comparable gimmick in a show that is currently on TV.

- Jim