April 6, 2001: Politicians pull off one of history's greatest marketing heists—and we're still living with the consequences.

It's a Friday in April 2001, and the House of Representatives votes to kill the "Death Tax." Sounds dramatic, right? That's the point. It was actually called the Estate Tax, but calling it the "Death Tax" made it sound like Uncle Sam was mugging you on your way to the afterlife.

The Bush administration was 77 days in and needed a win. They rebranded a 100-year-old tax, sold the image of grieving farmers forced to sell family land, and passed a $1.6 trillion tax cut. The Estate Tax would shrink every year until 2010, when it would disappear entirely. Then, like a zombie in a suit, it was supposed to jump back to life in 2011.

Spoiler: it never came back.

Here's what actually happened: ...