JUNE 20, 1975

Full News Archive

• Headline: Postal Workers Stage Protest for Pay Talks. Impact: The protests by postal workers were the catalyst for a nationwide trend of workers thinking they could actually have a say in their contracts. This led to the invention of the term 'workplace negotiation'—a phrase often confused with 'let's just complain about it in the break room.'. Fact: Postal workers are often credited with perfecting the art of complaining while being completely ignored. Some say it's an Olympic sport..
• Headline: HOUSE UNIT BACKS OIL PRICE CURBS. Impact: Back in the day, raising the national debt ceiling was as common as raising the stakes in a poker game, leading future generations to believe that 'debt' was just a fancy word for 'I owe you one.' This cavalier attitude towards spending would eventually inspire countless sitcoms about broke millennials.. Fact: The national debt ceiling has been raised so many times that it has more stretch marks than your average pair of yoga pants..
• Headline: A Stylish British Lord Is Named as a Killer. Impact: The scandal surrounding Lord Lucan sparked a fascination with aristocratic crime dramas, leading to a slew of British television shows that would romanticize the idea of being posh and murderous. Who doesn't love a good whodunit over tea?. Fact: As it turns out, missing people aren't just the plot of a mystery novel; sometimes they're just hiding from the tabloids..
• Headline: A RECORD IS SET IN MONEY SUPPLY. Impact: The massive jump in money supply was a precursor to the 'easy money' policies that would eventually give rise to credit card debt and the phrase 'it's not a real purchase if I can't see the bill until next month.'. Fact: If only the Fed had known that pumping money into the economy would eventually lead to a generation obsessed with spending money they don't have. Thanks, inflation!.
• Headline: HARRINGTON CALLS FILES CURB ‘PETTY’. Impact: Harrington's comments about classified files led to the establishment of 'congressional gossip' as a new genre of political commentary. This would eventually lead to talk shows where politicians act more like celebrities than public servants.. Fact: Politicians often say that transparency is key, yet they have more secrets than a teenager with a diary..
• Headline: Colby Says He Rejected All Suggestions for C.I.A. Assassinations. Impact: Colby’s rejection of assassination suggestions accidentally made him the hero in a series of spy novels where the protagonists are always saying 'no' to violence. This inspired a generation of writers to think that espionage could be wholesome.. Fact: Turns out, the CIA's most effective weapon was just saying 'no'—a tactic that might be useful in every negotiation from parenting to political debates..
• Headline: STAFF UP SHARPLY IN STATE SENATE. Impact: The sharp increase in staffing in the state senate led to future generations assuming that government jobs were synonymous with unlimited coffee breaks and endless paperwork. This would pave the way for the classic trope of the lazy bureaucrat in movies.. Fact: It's a little-known fact that state government workers have perfected the art of 'looking busy' while actually just playing solitaire on their computers..