From time to time I am reminded of bizarre things that have happened in my lifetime. This usually happens when talking to my kids. The curious thing is that when these events happened, they didn’t seem so odd.

For example, consider the bizarre story of a Georgia cracker named Lester Maddox who owned a restaurant called the Pickrick Cafeteria. A staunch segregationist, Maddox refused to honor the 1964 Civil Rights Act and stood his ground with a pick handle to ward off any blacks who might try to integrate his establishment. Maddox lost that fight, sold his restaurant and ran for governor. He won.

Not only did he become governmenr, he mellowed and appointed more blacks to government positions than any of his predecessors.

But that pales in comparison of the bombing of a Philadelphia house in 1985 by the police. The city’s first black mayor had dropped a bomb from a helicopter on a black neighborhood.

PHILADELPHIA, May 13-A state police helicopter this evening dropped a bomb on a house occupied by an armed group after a 24-hour siege involving gun battles. A 90 -minute shootout this morning came after a week of growing tension between the city and the group, known as Move. Residents in the western Philadelphia neighborhood had complained about the group for years. The only known survivors from within the house were a woman and a child. The fire spread to 50 to 60 other houses in the neighborhood, said the Fire Commissioner, William Richmond. He declared the fire under control about 11:40 P.M.

Aimed to Hit Bunker

The Police Commissioner, Gregore Sambor, said tonight that it was was his decision to drop the charge, a square package of explosives designed to destroy a bunker atop the house and drop it through to the second floor. He said the charge succeeded in eliminating the threat from the roof, but touched off the fire. Steve Harmon. a resident of the area, said: “Drop’n a bomb on it residential area? I never in my life heard of that. It’s like Vietnam.”

Read the full story for the why’s and wherefores. For a slideshow of photos from the event, click here.