Showing posts with label Dirty War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dirty War. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Thursday, September 16, 1976. Noche de los Lápices.

Teenage members of the Unión de Estudiantes Secundarios were rounded up by masked agents of the Argentine government and would continue for the next several days.   The victims would be tortured, raped, and in most instances, murdered.

The victims were:

  • María Claudia Falcone, age 16. She is missing and presumed murdered. According to her brother Jorge Falcone, she was a Montoneros militant.
  • Claudio de Acha, age 17.  Missing and presumed murdered.
  • Gustavo Calotti "Francés" age 18 He was a police cadet.  He survived.
  • María Clara Ciocchini, age 18.  A Catholic school student, she was murdered.
  • Pablo Díaz, age 18.  He survived.
  • Francisco López Muntaner "Panchito", age 16.  Missing and presumed murdered.
  • Patricia Miranda, age 17.  He did not belong to any militant organization and was ultimately released.
  • Emilce Moler, age 17.  She survived.
  • Daniel A. Racero, age 18.  Missing and presumed murdered.
  • Horacio Ungaro, age 17 Missing and presumed murdered.

Quite frankly, with the US on the very eve of an upcoming attempt by populist extremist to steal the 2026 election, things like this are now quite imaginable here in the US.

The first angioplasty on a human being was performed by West German surgeon Andreas Gruentzig.

Mao's widow Jiang Qing altered the Chairman's final directive with the help of three others giving rise to the Gang of Four which would briefly rule Communist China.

The House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church of the United States voted to permit the ordination of women into the Episcopal priesthood. 

1976 was at the height of the first wave feminist movement and the Episcopal Church, traditionally the richest and most powerful Church in the United States, had taken a definitely liberal bent.  Nearly all American Christian churches were going through a left wing wave at the time.  In the case of the Episcopal Church, this was effectively the beginning of its downfall.

Last edition:

Tuesday, September 14, 1976. Last foreigners out of Vietnam.

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Wednesday, August 4, 1976. Assassination of Bishop Enrique Angelelli.

Argentinian Bishop Enrique Angelelli, of the diocese of La Rioja in Argentina, was assassinated by the Argentinian army.

Sudan executed 81 people for participation in the July 2 attempt to overthrow the government of Jaafar Nimeiry.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 1, 1976. Flown out of Vietnam.

Sunday, December 28, 2025

Sunday, December 28, 1975. Conflict in the Third Cod War.

The Icelandic Coast Guard vessel ICGV Týr rammed the Royal Navy frigate HMS Andromeda which was escorting two British fishing trawlers in what Iceland claimed as its territorial waters in the first confrontation of the Third Cod War.

The Týr is still in service.  The HMS Andromeda went on to serve in the Falklands War and was decommissioned in 1983.

Argentine guerilla commander Roberto Quieto was captured by soldiers in Martinez, Argentina during a raid on a warehouse. He'd betray his confederates under torture.

Quieto was a lawyer by training and would disappear while in Argentine captivity in 1976.


Both Chile and Argentina went through a period like this, called the Dirty War in Argentina.

Down 14-10 with  32 seconds remaining on  the clock, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach threw a long pass to win the game.  Interviewed later, he'd say:

It's a play you hit one in a hundred times if you're lucky.  It's a Hail Mary pass.  You throw it up and pray he catches it.

Staubach thereby coined, unintentionally the phrase that's irreverently used to refer to such desperate passes in football today.  I dislike the phrase so much I thought about not posting it here, but it's so frequently used, I relented.

Last edition:

Tuesday, December 23, 1975. Going metric.