Talk about swift justice: Leon Czolgosz (left), the assassin of President McKinley, was executed (electrocution) on this day in 1901 - just 45 days after the president's death 
As Franklin D. Roosevelt looked on, the first peacetime draft in American history was held on this day in 1940. Five weeks earlier, FDR had signed the Selective Service and Training Act, requiring men aged 21-35 to register /1
Nazi Germany’s swift defeat in the spring of 1940 of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France—leaving Britain all alone to fight Hitler—accelerated U.S. plans to have a military draft; defense spending also began to rise sharply
Everyone thinks President Ford uttered the phrase "Drop Dead" when New York City officials asked the federal govt. for a bailout. But Ford - on this day in 1975 - did reject a request for aid, urging city officials to to tighten their belts instead
WATCH: a 26 year-old Colorado man sprayed the White House with gunfire - on this day in 1994. President Clinton was in the residence (watching a football game) and a bullet pierced a window, but no one was hurt. The gunman got 40 years in prison
