E Howard Hunt

TODAY MARKS the 35th anniversary of one of the most famous and most misunderstood events in modern American history: the break-in at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in the Watergate office building on June 17, 1972. The break-in set off a chain of events known as "Watergate," which led ultimately to Richard Nixon's forced resignation as president -- and which is also misunderstood. For history's sake, it's important to set these things straight.

Oliver Stone, apparently chagrined over the paucity of controversy, box office and year-end awards surrounding his film "Nixon," announced that he would try again with his next project, "Natural Born Nixon." Despite tight security measures, a copy of the script has been secured. Herewith, a few of the more potentially controversial moments: * Nixon (Anthony Hopkins) and wife, Pat (Juliette Lewis), drive out into the desert in a convertible.

Bernard Barker, a Cuban-born CIA operative who participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion and was later a Watergate burglar, died Friday in suburban Miami. He was 92. Barker died at his home after being taken to the Veterans Administration Medical Center on Thursday night, his stepdaughter, Kelly Andrad, told the Associated Press. He appeared to have died from complications of lung cancer, and he had also experienced heart problems.

Richard Griffin, media-relations director for the Montreal Expos, recently devised the Watergate 20th anniversary all-star team. Included were Manager Russ (Richard) Nixon, starting pitcher Dizzy (John) Dean, reliever John Mitchell, catcher Bill (White House) Plummer, first baseman Dan (Gerald) Ford, second baseman Ron (E.

1972 June 17: Five men--including James W. McCord Jr., security director for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President--are arrested at the Watergate office building for breaking into Democratic National Committee headquarters. Soon, G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt Jr., two others with connections to the president, are linked to the break-in. Sept. 15: Hunt, Liddy and the Watergate burglars are indicted by a federal grand jury. 1973 Jan.

John D. Ehrlichman, former President Richard M. Nixon's chief domestic adviser, has asked President Reagan to pardon his conviction for conspiring to cover up the Watergate scandal, Justice Department officials said Thursday. Now a writer in Santa Fe, N.M., Ehrlichman, 62, applied for presidential clemency on May 28 and is the subject of an FBI background investigation, according to David C. Stephenson, the Justice Department's pardon attorney.

William O. Bittman, a Washington trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor whose celebrated cases included the prosecution of Teamsters President James R. Hoffa, has died. Bittman died of cancer Thursday at his home in Potomac, Md. He was 69. Bittman made his reputation as an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago in the 1960s, when he successfully prosecuted Hoffa and eight other defendants on charges of stealing from the Teamsters pension fund.

Angry over disclosure of the Pentagon Papers for heightening opposition to the Vietnam War, President Nixon vowed to embarrass the Kennedy family and get even with liberals by declassifying secret documents relating to foreign affairs fiascos of the 1960s, according to new Watergate-era tape-recordings released Thursday. "There's something we can really hang Teddy [Sen. Edward M.