That's blasphemy.

April 15.

1892. General Electric corporation is formed.

1920. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.

1923. Insulin becomes generally available for diabetics.

1947. Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The first African-American MLB player.

1952. Maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress.

1986. The United States bombs Libya, which among other things results in the cancellation of Amnorix's school trip to France and leaving him annoyed for the rest of his life about it.

57 years later it's STILL flying, and will for the foreseeable future...Amazing :eek:

That was a helluva ricochet.

ROFL

omg, leave it to you to make the connection.

I swear you missed your calling as a standup ROFL

April 16

73 BC. The Jewish fortress of Masada falls to Roman forces after a siege lasting many months. The Roman besiegers finally gain access to teh fortress only to find that the Jews have committed suicide rather than permit themselves to be captured.

1945. The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces in Berlin.

1947. Bernard Baruch coins the term "the Cold War" to describe Soviet-US relations.

Incidentally -- anyone else seen the Masada miniseries? I remember it being truly excellent, but I haven't seen it since I was a kid. If anyone saw it when they were an adult, I'd appreciate hearing their thoughts. Now that I have it in mind, I might go out and get it.

They made a movie out of it -- some 2 hour deal -- but it was stupid. So abbreviated as to be useless.

I know the most basic elements of the Masada story, but I don't know why they committed suicide. Were the Romans going to do gruesome things to them? Were they really, really not wanting to become slaves? Was it a weird religious thing? I'm curious.

Here we go. Not a very pragmatic thing to do, but I'll give them credit for standing on principle.


http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...sm/masada.html


Once it became apparent that the Tenth Legion's battering rams and catapults would soon succeed in breaching Masada's walls, Elazar ben Yair, the Zealots’ leader, decided that all the Jewish defenders should commit suicide. Because Jewish law strictly forbids suicide, this decision sounds more shocking today than it probably did to his compatriots. There was nothing of Jonestown in the suicide pact carried out at Masada. The alternative facing the fortress’s defenders were hardly more attractive than death. Once the Romans defeated them, the men could expect to be sold off as slaves, the women as slaves and prostitutes.

Ironically, the little information we have about the final hours of Masada comes from a man whom the Jews there considered a traitor and happily would have killed: Flavius Josephus. When he wrote the history of the Jewish revolt against Rome, he included an extensive, largely sympathetic section on Masada’s fall. According to Josephus, two women and five children managed to hide themselves during the mass suicide, and it was from one of these women that he heard an account of Elazar ben Yair's final speech. Josephus probably added some rhetorical flourishes of his own, but Elazar’s speech clearly was a masterful oration: "Since we long ago resolved," Elazar began, "never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God Himself, Who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice.... We were the very first that revolted [against Rome], and we are the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God has granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom." Even at this late juncture, Elazar could not accept that the main reason the revolt had failed was because Rome's army was vastly superior. Instead, he dwelt on his belief that the Lord had turned against the Jewish people. Finally, he came to an inescapable conclusion: "Let our wives die before they are abused, and our children before they have tasted of slavery, and after we have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually." Elazar ordered that all the Jews' possessions except food be destroyed, for "[the food] will be a testimonial when we are dead that we were not subdued for want of necessities; but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery."

:clap:

Given the primitive weapons of the time, it must have been a slightly tougher thing to do than just chugging some koolaid.

April 17.

1397. Commonly accepted date on which Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the Court of King Richard II.

1521. Martin Luther speaks before the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his theories and teachings.

1949. 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth, forming the Republic of Ireland.

1961. A group of Cuban refugees trained by the CIA invades Cuba, resulting in the Bay of Pigs fiasco.

1970. Apollo 13 returns to Earth safely.

1975. The Cambodian Civil War ends with a Khmer Rouge victory. Over the next four years they will commit mass genocide on their own population. Estimated at 1.5 million, the deaths total nearly 20% of the country's population.

April 18

1506. The cornerstone of St. Peter's Basilica is laid.

1775. The British decide to advance "by sea". Paul Revere rides.

1783. Fighting in the American Revolution ends -- 8 years to the day after it began.

1906. San Francisco suffers a tremendous earthquake.

1923. The original Yankee Stadium opens.

1924. The first crossword puzzle is published.

April 19.

1770. James Cook first sights Australia.

1770. Marie Antoinette marries King Louis XVI.

1775. The battles of Lexington and Concord.

1782. Future President John Adams obtains Dutch recognition of the independent sovereignty of the United States. The house that he purchased in the Hague becomes the first American Embassy.

1861. A mob of succession supporters in Baltimore, Maryland, attack Union troops marching through the city.

1943. German troops enter Warsaw to round up the last of the Jews, beginning the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

1971. Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin a five day protest in Washington DC.

1987. The Simpsons premiers as a short cartoon on the Tracy Ullman Show.

1993. The 51 day siege of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, ends when a fire breaks out. 81 people die.

1995. The Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City is destroyed in an act of domestic terrorism. 168 people are killed.

2005. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected Pope Benedict XVI.

April 20.

1861. One day after Virginia secedes, General Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army to fight for his home state.

1862. Louis Pasteur completes the first pasteurization tests.

1912. Tiger Stadium and Fenway Park open.

1918. Manfred von Richtofen, a/k/a the Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, a day before his death.

1945. Adolf Hitler leaves his bunker for the last time, to award Iron Crosses to members of teh Hitler Youth.

April 21.

753 BC. The traditional date on which Romulus and Remus founded Rome.

1509. Henry VIII ascends the throne of England.

1836. The decisive battle of the Texas Revolution, the Battle of San Jacinto -- Texans under Sam Houston defeat the Mexicans under Santa Anna.

April 22.

1864. The US passes the Coinage Act, mandating that US minted coins bear the inscription "In God We Trust"

1915. The use of chemical weapons in World War I expands dramatically with the use of chlorine gas by the Germans at the Second Battle of Ypres.

1954. The Army-McCarthy hearings begin during the Red Scare. They last for some time, and ultimately severely undercut McCarthy's popularity. It is during these hearings that the lawyer for the Army, Joseph Welch, uttered his famous phrase to McCarthy:

I've been to Ypers (Ieper), walked through some of the battlefields, cemetaries, and memorials of WWI there. Even had a waffle.

But the highlight was the Menin Gate Memorial. Every single night they have a Last Post ceremony there. That's incredible.

Here is a link of the class trip my old school has for the European History class where you can see the Menin Gate Memorial.

http://columbushigh.org/Organization.../MeninGate.mov

Various groups can ask to be part of the ceremony, and lay the wreath down. And although my group didn't, I think every class after me has.

Here is a link to a few of the pictures of when I went: http://columbushigh.org/Organization...APEURO05.shtml

I'm in two of the them, wearing the blue Royals hat, the grayish-green coat, and really white shoes, leaning against a cannon and looking at a memorial at a cemetary.

I can't wait to go back. Maybe next year I'll tag along with the class.

Cool pictures, Jenson71. :thumb:

I assume that zig zag gully is an old trench from the war? That's my favorite picture. It must have been pretty horrible to fight in those wars.

Yeah, that's a trench. Now nature has run its course on some of them and they are looking less like trenches.

In some of the more regulated ones, you are no longer able to walk through them. In others, they have built walkways through them to support more tourists. My teacher says he sees this more and more each year most likely because they are planning for large events being that it will soon be the 100th anniversary of the Great War.

We also went to Normandy. That's Omaha Beach where my two classmates made the "USA" with rocks. And the four below that one were also taken at Normandy. Like Menin Gate, there is a ceremony every day involving the hoisting of French and American flags, and the class now takes part in that each year. And last year they met an American veteran who had fought on D-Day right as they were doing the ceremony.

April 23


1661. Charles II is crowned King of England. This ends the Interregnum (or English Commonwealth), the 12 year period immediately following the beheading of King Charles I (the new king's father) that ended the English Civil War. During the Interregnum, England was effectively a republic, led by Oliver Cromwell. Following Cromwell's death in 1658 and some internal problems, the Parliament invites Charles back to to restore the monarchy. Charles goes on to do a reasonably decent job as ruler, and is nicknamed the Merry Monarch, a term designed to capture both the relief of Britons over a return to normalcy and the lively and somewhat hedonistic character of Charles II's court. Leaving no legitimate heir, but 12 illegitimate offspring by his numerous mistresses, he is succeeded by his brother, James. Diana, future Princess of Wales can trace her ancestry back to Charles II through two of his illegitimate offspring.

1920. The Turkish Grand National Assembly is formed under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), denouncing the rule of Sultan Mehmet IV and drafting a temporary constitution. This begins the process that will end two years later when the National Assembly abolishes the Sultanate.

1985. Coca-Cola switches to "New Coke", one of the biggest marketing disasters in corporate history. Three months later they switch back to their classic formula, with ABC News' Peter Jennings interrupting regular programming to announce this dramatic event. The resulting dramatic increase in sales -- by year end Coke sales had grown at twice the rate of Pepsi, and Coke had regained its throne as the #1 soda, which it has held ever since -- makes pundits wonder whether Coca-Cola wasn't crazy like a fox all along...

2010. With inauspicious timing given the hoopla over the 2010 NFL draft, Amnorix resurrects this thread after a one year hiatus.

Good bump, Mr. Amnorix.

I do believe that the "new coke" deal was completely contrived. Of course, so was Chuck The Deuce and all that "Charles II" stuff.

Also on this date in history, the first effort to breastfeed a gorilla baby at the San Diego Zoo was attempted by a human lady animal trainer named Brenda Potts who survived both a violent strangulation and massive nipple reconstruction surgery to become the first woman to be arrested and put on trial for attempting to stomp a newly born member of an endangered species to death.

FAX

April 23 2010 - The largest riot in American history is finally quelled in Denver by the Colorado National Guard. The riot was allegedly precipitated by the NFL draft selection of Tim Tebow.

April 24.

1800. President John Adams establishes the Library of Congress, signing legislation approving the expenditure of $5,000 to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress." Much of the initial collection was lost in teh War of 1812 when DC was torched by the British. Now the oldest federal cultural institution in the US, it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the most books in the world. Through the United States Copyright Office, the Library of Congress receives a copy of every book, pamphlet, print, and piece of music registered in the US.

The holdings of the Library of Congress include over 32 million catalogued books and other print materials in 470 languages, more than 61 million manuscripts, the largest rare book collection in North America (including a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence), a Gutenberg Bible (only of only four perfect vellum copies known to exist), 1 million issues of worldwide newspapers spanning the last 300 years, over 6,000 comic book titles, and 2.7 million sound recordings. Nearly 22,000 new items arrive at the library each business day, though not all are saved permanently. The Library adds only about half, 10,000 items per day, to its collection. Rejected items are traded to other libraries around the world, donated to schools, federal agencies or other organizations in the US.

The complete collection fills 650 miles of shelves. If digitized as plain text, the collection is estimated to occupy 20 terabytes of data.

Any adult may obtain access to the library, but only members of Congress, the Supreme Court and other high governmental officials may take materials out of the library. The Library also serves as a library of last resort -- all libraries in the US may obtain materials from teh Library if not available elsewhere.


1898. The United States declares war on Spain. This is the Spanish-American War, which results (in the end) in the US obtaining Puerto Rico, the Phillipines, Guam, and temporary control of Cuba in exchange of $20 million. Spain meanwhile continues to shrivel as a power in the world, but has the benefit of shedding an expensive colonial "empire" that it really could no longer afford.

April 25

Quite a few second tier events of interest so I'll just skim through a few of the more noteworthy ones.

1792. A common bandit becomes the first person to be executed by guillotine.

1859. French and British engineers break ground on the Suez Canal, a massively impressive (and economically beneficial).

1862. Admiral David Farragut captures New Orleans. It remains in Union hands for the remainder of the war.

1901. New York becomes the first state to require license plates for automobiles.

1915. Teh ill-fated Battle of Gallipoli begins.

1939. DC Comics introduces its second comic book superhero -- Batman -- in Detective Comics #27.

1961. Robert Noyce obtains a patent for an integrated circuit.

April 26.

570. The date of birth of Muhammed, founder of Islam. (at least according to the Shi'a sect). He, uhh, has had some minor impact on world events since then.

1865. Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to Union General Tecumseh Sherman. Johnston commanded the last Confederate army of any size in the field. On this date, Union cavalry also corner and shoot John Wilkes Booth.

1933. The Gestapo is formed.

1956. The first container ship leaves Port Newark, New Jersey. A long road led to the standardization of container shipping, and "containerization" revolutionizes the logistics of shipping, allowing containers to move, unopened, from ship to truck to railroad on an international basis.

1986. Reactor Number 4 of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine (then a member of the USSR) suffers a meltdown, and resulting fires send a plume of radioactive material over a large area. Large areas of the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are affected forcing the evacuation of 366,000 people. The reactor was completely destroyed as a result of the accident, and has since been encased in a concrete and lead sarcophagus to prevent further radiation contamination. As of 2007, substantial cracks in the sarcophagus resulted in the announcement of a new sarcophagus being built at a cost of $1.4 billion.

After a further accident (at Plant 2) in 1991, calls for the shutdown of the Chernobyl plant were heightened, and the last plant went offline in 2000. As of today, however, people continue to work at the plant until they are completely decommissioned, a process which is expected to take years. The "exclusion zone" around the plant (an area within about 18 miles in all directions, or 1,100 square miles) remains uninhabitable. Good news, however -- the Ukraine Ministry of Atomic Power now allows day tours of the Chernobyl plant.

http://www.ukrainianweb.com/chernobyl_ukraine.htm


Or you can read this fascinating account from a fellow in Michigan who posted about his trip there in 2006.

http://nikongear.com/Chernobyl/Chernobyl_1.php

April 26, 1991: The Andover Tornado

Damage from the Andover tornadoGround zero for the outbreak was this tornado, because it reached a powerful F-5 status, and caused the most damage and deaths of the outbreak. To people of the area, and to storm chasers, it is simply known as "the Andover tornado". This tornado is one of the most filmed of all time, because by 1991, video camcorders were very popular and easily obtainable by the general public. So the Andover tornado was filmed from many different angles and during a large portion of its life, and the incredible number of videos that were released shocked the nation. All of the video, plus the tornado's F-5 power and the extensive damage it caused, has made this tornado very highly studied and notorious.

It first produced extensive damage formed south of Clearwater, Kansas. It fluctuated between F2 and F3 intensity as it crossed I-35 and moved across the city of Haysville. Widespread damage was reported in Haysville, but there were no fatalities. On the east side of Haysville, the tornado became a solid F3 in strength and expanded to around 300 feet wide as it crossed I-35 (the Kansas Turnpike) and headed toward McConnell Air Force Base.

Many people had advance warning before the tornado struck McConnell Air Force Base. The tornado struck the base school, hospital and housing at F2–F3 strength. It caused $62 million in damage on the base, narrowly missing a multi-billion dollar line of B-1 bombers. The damage path widened as the tornado intensified to F4 strength just east-northeast of the base.

By 6:35 p.m., the tornado had expanded to just over 600 yards wide and was producing F5 damage on the Fujita scale. It continued to move northeast toward the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park in Andover, Kansas; as it passed through, it obliterated the park and caused thirteen deaths. The tornado then veered north, missing Girl Scout Camp Seikooc, where summer camp training was being conducted as well as a troop campout.

The tornado then moved on to the northeast, passing just south of Towanda. Most of the damage in this area was rated at F2–F3 intensity, though these numbers may be skewed: the rural area's lack of significant structures makes it difficult to accurately gauge the amount of damage. The tornado continued northeast and reached El Dorado Lake just before 7 pm (CST). Video taken by local storm chasers shows that the tornado crossed over the lake and revealed a multiple vortex structure. Just after crossing over the lake to the northeast, the original circulations dissipated and a new, much weaker tornado formed. The Andover tornado had traveled for nearly 46 miles, and was on the ground for over an hour.

This was the last F5 tornado that was recorded in Kansas under the old Fujita scale rating system. The next tornado of that scale, an EF5, was reported 16 years later on May 4, 2007 in Greensburg in Kansas about 120 miles west of the path of the 1991 tornado. Since February 1, 2007, the National Weather Service uses the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_An...ndover_tornado

April 27

1805. In the First Barbary Wars, United States Marines attack the city of Derna, Tripoli. ("the shores of Tripoli")

1813. United States troops capture Toronto, Canada (then called York)

1861. President Lincoln suspends habeas corpus as a result of the outbreak of Civil War. Presumably, BEP's great, great, grandfather is outraged.

1865. The greatest maritime disaster in United States history. The SS Sultana, a steamship paddlewheeler plying the Mississippi river, is lost when three of its four boilers explode near Memphis. A few days earlier, the Sultana had stopped at Vicksburg, Mississippi, where Union soldiers -- many recently released from Andersonville and Cahawba prisons -- are desperate to return home at the close of the Civil War. With a legal capacity of 376, the Sultana has approximtely 2,000 men on board, mostly soldiers who begged or bribed their way aboard. Many who survived the initial explosions died of hypothermia or drowning in the Mississippi, which was icy cold with the spring runoff. No precise numbers are possible, but there were 500 survivors and anywhere from 1,300 to 1,900 casualties as a result of the disaster.

April 28

1789. Mutiny on the Bounty! Captain William Bligh and 18 others are set adrift after a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian. The mutiny follows a five month stay at Tahiti, where Christian and other members of the crew became very enamored of life there (and the women there, according to most reports) and did not wish to return to England. Bligh and his crewmembers then navigated approximately 3,500 nautical miles to the Dutch East Indies, from which he returned to England and reported the mutiny. The English dispatched a ship to find the Bounty and bring the mutineers to justice. They arrived at Tahiti, found some mutineers and took them prisoner. Then, while searching for the other mutineers, that ship itself sank, and a number of crew and prisoners were forced to use launches to take a trip somewhat reminscent of Bligh's. The remaining mutineers, however, had taken the Bounty to Pitcairn Island, which had been lost on the Royal Navy's maps. They had seemingly kidnapped some polynesians (mostly for the women) and upon arrival burned the Bounty to prevent any chance of anyone leaving and to prevent it's being found by the British. While life started well on Pitcairn, eventually difficulties arose between the Britons and the Polynesians, resulting in the death of Christian. After his death, things were mostly peaceful for many years, though there were occassionally revolts by the women. In 1808, the American ship Topaz, found and visited the island and spoke with the natives. At that point, only one mutineer John Adams, nine women and some children remained. In 1814 a British ship found the island as well. In 1825, Adams was granted immunity for his mutiny. The capital of the Pitcairn Islands, Adamstown, is named for him. In 1856 the Pitcairn Islands were incorporated into the British Empire. Currently, the Pitcairn Islands are a British Overseas Territory with a population of about 50. Every year the islanders celebrate January 23rd in memory of the 1790 burning of the Bounty in what is now called Bounty Bay.

1945. Benito Mussolini and his mistress are executed by the Italian Resistance Movement.

1951. The Treaty of San Francisco goes into effect, ending the United States occupation of Japan which followed WWII.

April 29

1429. 17 year old Joan d'Arc arrives at Orleans, then under siege by the British who were at war with the French -- a war that history would come to know as the Hundred Years War. Claiming that she had had angelic visions since she was 12, a few months earlier she had reported to a local military commander and member of the nobility that France would soon suffer a devastating military defeat near Orleans. When this event came to pass, she was sent to the King for an audience. She arrived and upon learning that a relief expedition was being sent, asked to join it. She arrived at Orleans on this day, 1429. Upon arrival the local commander, Jean d'Orleans, basically ignored her. Against his orders and contrary to the cautious approach the French had taken, she rallied the townsmen and common soldiers to unlock the gates of the city and sortie against the besiegers. Her actions and inspiring leadership lead to victory, lifting the siege only nine days after her arrival.

1770. James Cook arrives in Botany Bay, Australia

1945. Adolf Hitler marries his longtime mistress, Eva Braun and anoints navy commander Karl Doenitz as his successor.

1945. Dachau concentration camp is liberated.

1967. Boxing champion Muhammed Ali is stripped of his boxing title after refusing to join the United States Army the day before (citing religious reasons).

1970. US and South Vietnamese forces enter Cambodia seeking Viet Cong.

1992. Not historically significant, really, but those of us who are old enough will remember the riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers alleged in assaulting Rodney King. Over the next three days 53 are killed and millions of dollars of property damage occurs.

2004. Oldsmobile builds its final car, ending 107 years of production.

April 29th 1980 I recived my 100th blow-job ....

April 30.

1492. Spain gives Christopher Columbus a commission of exploration.

1792. On the balcony of Federal Hall, on Wall Street, New York City, New York, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first President of the United States.

1803. America purchases the Louisiana Territory from the French, doubling the size of the young nation. The purchase price is about $15 million (consisting of a payment to France and forgiveness of debts), or about three cents per acre. The territory had a population of 97,000 pursuant ot the 1810 census. The area acquired represents 27% of the current landmass of the United States and all or part of 14 states (and two Canadian provinces).

The original document reflecting the agreement to purchase the Louisiana Territory was on display at the entrance hall of Barings Bank's headquarters in London until the bank's collapse in 1995. The bank had financed/mediated the purchase of the territory between FRance and America. The document is now in the possession fo ING Group, which acquired Barings after its failure.

1975. Saigon falls to Communist forces. The South Vietnamese President surrenders, formally ending the Vietnam War.



1945. The quality of the human race improves greatly as Adolf Hitler and his mistress, Eva Braun, commit suicide at the Fuhrerbunker.

Technically, she was Eva Hitler at that point. She and dear Adolf got hitched right before they committed suicide. She actually signed her name as "Eva Braun" and then scratched out the "Braun" and added "Hitler." Not too bright, Eva, which is one of the reasons Hitler liked her.

Oh, and Amno? Damn you for one. And two, wherever you are getting these misspelled Hitler's first name.

That's a pretty big day.

Yes, I noted the marriage in yesterday's post. :D

I'd forgotten about the scratch out. Hell of a honeymoon for poor Eva.

Shouldn't she sign her wedding certificate with her maiden name? Otherwise, you can't tell who got married other than her first name.

Or was this the guest book or something? And did they have a lot of guests at their wedding? I would bet that it was a small affair.

Actually, the more I think about it, their wedding would have been kind of interesting.

Justice of the Peace: Do you take her for your lawfully wedded wife, until death do you part?

Hitler: Ja, ja, and on that topic we might want to hurry up.

I have no idea on the Adolph bit. WTF? I'm a bit young for alzheimers...

It is spelled correctly in the preceding post, too.

More like their honeymoon.

Eva: Adolf, dear, where should we go?

Adolf: Vell, I am the dictatorial ruler of all Germany! Currently that means we can go about 100 yards in any direction outside of my bunker.

Eva: Ok. We can stay here and cuddle tonight. What about tomorrow?

Adolf: Ja. Tomorrow. I think I shall go to hell.

Eva: This wasn't the honeymoon package I was looking for...

Yeah, no clue. Weird. I'd like to say I just read a lengthy book about Gustavus Adolphus or something, but, umm, I can't. :shrug:

When she threw the bouquet, do you think it was hit by Russian machine gun fire?

Eva: "I've always wanted to visit Buenos Aries."

Hitler: "You know, that's a really good idea."

Ugh. My history memory is getting fuzzy. Eva did not write "Braun" and then scratch it out. She actually began to write "Braun" but only made it to the "B" which she then scratched out.

My sincere apologies for my egregious error.

May 1

1707. The Act of Union welds the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain. Of course, "welds" is used loosely here...

1863. The beginning of the Battle of Chancellorsville. Probably Confederate General Lee's finest hour, he bravely splits his forces in the face of a numerically superior enemy, flanks the Union forces, and inflicts a sweeping defeat. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, the price is high. Scouting the Union positions after nightfall, General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson is shot by his own men while returning to his lines. In addition, Confederate casualties are nearly 25%, men it could not easily replace.

The Union effort is led by General Joseph Hooker, using what is really a very well thought out battle plan reflecting far more energy and intelligent thought than those used by any other Union commander until Grant. Hooker's efforts, however, are thwarted by a comedy of errors regarding Union communications, inferior Union commanders at the corps and division levels, and the aggressiveness of Generals Lee and Jackson.

Following the defeat, Hooker is replaced by Meade. More importantly, Lee decides to go over to the offensive, invading Pennsylvania and meeting defeat at Gettysburg two months later.

(if I have time I will do a detailed analysis of Chancellorsville, which is one of the more interesting of the Civil War battles. Anyone keenly interested should read Chancellorsville, by Stephen Sears.)

1956. The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made public. No word on whether BigGrandDaddy declared that it would inevitably cause autism or other childhood neurological disorders.

Interesting. I knew that Chernobyl happened on my birthday, but I was unaware the gestapo was formed as well. If it wasn't for me, the whole day would be cursed. :D

May 2

1670. Charles II grants a royal charter to the Hudson Bay Company to open up fur trading in North America.

1885. King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State. This is colonialism taken to its ultimate absurdity -- a government which is actually a corporation established by King Leopold and owned by him individually for his sole benefit. Some of the worst international scandals of the early 20th century result. Wars, slavery, mutilations, racial incidents -- it's effectively impossible to overstate the horrific results of Leopold's greed -- a greed well fed by the Congo's plentiful rubber production at a time when rubber demand was starting to boom. Two famous authors took notable aim at him -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) in "the Crime of the Congo", which was widely read in early 1900, and Mark Twain in "King Leopold's Soliloquy". In 1908, the government of Belgium took over the administration of the country and annexed it, in reaction to worldwide condemnation.



1945. Soviet forces raise their flag over the Reichstag building in Berlin.

What a bad, bad guy. The hands of children hacked off because they did not produce enough rubber for him.

Such a contrast to the next King of Belgium: Leopold's nephew Albert, a pious Catholic who valiantly stood up to German aggression in WWI.

Yes, history has mostly forgotten about Leopold, but he was complete scum-sucking vermin.

May 3

1494. Christopher Columbus sights land that will ultimately be called Jamaica.

1715. Halley's Eclipse. Mostly known for a certain famous comet, Edmund Halley was one of the foremost astronomers of his day, and also provided invaluable support to the world by convincing (and financing the efforts of) some dunce named Isaac Newton to write a book called Principia Mathematica. On this day, however, occurred an total solar eclipse over England and much of Northern Europe. What was notable was that Halley predicted the time of the eclipse to within three minutes, and also the path of the eclipse with a predictive map which ultimately was accurate to within about 15 miles.

1921. West Virginia introduces the first state sales tax.

1951. The United States senate begins hearings regarding the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur. The hearings are the result of public outcry after MacArthur's dismissal, and led largely by the Republicans in the Senate. Senator Robert Taft, "Mr. Republican" and the son of former President and Chief Justice Taft, excoriates Truman and demands his impeachment!

The Senators begin the hearings with MacArthur, who repeatedly suggests that he was not aware of any friction or problems with any of his superiors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, etc., and then are completely astonished when all of Truman's advisors -- which include American heroes such as former head of the United States Army George Marshall (then Secretary of State) and Omar Bradley (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs) uniformly support Truman's decision.

1963. The police in Birmingham, Alabama switch tactics and begin to use force against African-American protestors. The violent suppression is transmitted worldwide, bringing international attention to the civil rights movement.

May 4

1626. Pope Alexander VI issues the Papal Bull Inter Caetera, giving most of the New World to the Crowns of Aragon and Castile (i.e. Spain).

1814. Emperor Napoleon I arrives at the Island of Elba, beginning his exile.

1904. The United States begins construction on the Panama Canal. Those who are really interested should read David McCullough's somewhat painfully lengthy book on the topic.

1904. Charles Stewart Rolls meets a fellow named Frederick Henry Royce at a hotel in Manchester, England, having been introduced by a mutual friend. Their first car, the Rolls-Royce 10hp (yes, that's a 10 horsepower car), was introduced a bit over 6 months later, in December 1904. A total of 16 werre believed made, of which four are known to still be in existence. The oldest of these was sold in 2007 for $3.6 million British Pounds (about $5 million US dollars at current conversion rates).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...sroyce1905.jpg

1942. The Battle of Coral Sea begins. The first naval battle in history between carriers, it is also the first battle where opposing naval forces never see each other, and opposing ships never fire a shot themselves. The battle results after the US Navy moves to block the Japanese from occupying Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi, in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese were seeking to strengthen their defensive perimeter, while the US moved to block based on learning of the Japanese intentions via signals intelligence. The battle is a tactical victory for the Japanese, who inflicted more damage on the American navy than it received, but is a strategic victory for the US, as the Japanese invasion plan was thwarted. Additionally, the Japanese fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku (both of which were involved in the attack at Pearl Harbor) are put out of action -- by damage and loss of aircraft -- for the upcoming Battle of Midway, which would result in a decisive victory for the US Navy.

Soon thereafter, as a direct result of the vulnerability the Japanese were trying to protect against by the now-thwarted invasion, the Americans launch their attack at Guadalcanal, and MacArthur begins his New Guinea campaign. These operations combine to break the Japanese defenses in the South Pacific, safeguard Australia from attack, and contribute to the eventual Japanese defeat.

1970. The Ohio National Guard, sent to stop rioting at Kent State protesting the Vietnam War, fire on the protestors, killing four and wounding nine.

May 5

1215. Barons in England begin renouncing their allegiance to King John. This begins the chain of events that will result in the Magna Carta.

1260. Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, takes the title of Great Khan. He had been commander of the Eastern Armies of the Mongol Empire, in the process of conquering China. He completes that mission while Great Khan, forming the Yuan Dynasty in 1271. He also has tremendous influence over the western portions of the Mongol Dynasty -- the Ilkhanate (modern Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, and portions of surrounding countries) and the Golden Horde of the steppes. He also welcomes Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant, to China, greatly increasing his fame in the western world.

1821. Napoleon dies while in exile on the island of Helena.

1862. Cinco de Mayo! Troops halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla, Mexico.

1864. The Battle of the Wilderness begins, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. One of the nastiest of the Civil War, the battle lasts for days and covers some of the same ground that previous battles, most famously Chancellorsville, were fought on earlier in the war. The impenetrably thick brush and woods makes visibility poor. The most horrifying part is that weapons of the combatants light portions of the brush on fire, which rages in portions of the wilderness, including between the lines. Wounded men of both sides, unable to flee or be rescued, are heard screaming and perishing throughout the nights.

A tactical victory for Lee, perhaps, having inflicted more casualties on Grant's forces, it fails to thwart Grant's relentless determination to get to Richmond. The most notable part of this engagement isn't the fight, but what happened afterwards. In every previous engagement between Union and Confederate forces in this and similar areas between Washington and Richmond, the Union had disengaged and then withdrawn to positions behind the nearest river. This time, Grant withdraws but orders a march by the left flank, continually trying to get around Lee. The Army of the Potomac never again leaves Virginia soil until the end of the war.

1891. The Music Hall in New York City (later renamed Carnegie Hall) opens, with Tchaikovsky as guest conductor.

1945. Admiral Karl Konitz, now President of Germany, orders all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases. Prague rises up against their German occupiers. Wehrmacht troops capitulate in Denmark and the Netherlands

May 6


1527. Spanish and German troops, under the leadership of the Duke of Bourbon, sack Rome as the result of a dispute between Pope Clement VII and Hapsburg King Charles V. 147 Swiss Guards die to give the Pope time to flee to Castle Saint'Angelo. Rome suffers all of the pillaging and rape ordinary of the conquest of a city during the Middle Ages, and this date is considered the "end" of the Renaissance era in Rome. After a one month stay, the Pope surrenders himself and the castle. He is then imprisoned there for six months, after which he bribes imperial officers and escapes. Meanwhile, in Florence, his family (he was a d'Medici) is expelled by his family's enemies as a consequence of his humiliation. He only returns to a devastated Rome in October, 1528. Clement VII, not a particularly strong-willed character, spends the rest of his life trying very hard to avoid annoying Charles V ever again.

In memory of the Swiss Guard's sacrifice, new members are sworn into the service of the Vatican on only one day of the year -- May 6th.

[must....fight.....urge.....to....post.....more.....pictures......of.....those....silly.....uniforms. ...]

1863. The Battle of Chancellorsville ends when the Union withdraws to positions behind the Rapidan River. The federals withdrew overnight, and Lee is enraged the next morning when they are gone. He may have been very lucky, however -- the Union had formed into very strong defensive positions, and it's an open question whether Lee, who had intended to assault the Union, would not have suffered a very serious defeat. The defeat will instead come later, at Gettysburg, after Lee switches over to the offensive.

1937. The German Zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and burns in less than a minute while attempting to dock in Lakehurst, New Jersey. 36 people are killed.

1942. American forces on Corregidor (an island in the Phillipines) surrender to the Japanese.

1994. The Channel Tunnel officially opens.

2001. In Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first Pope to enter a mosque. (thought this was an interesting one...)

May 7


1915. A German U-Boat fires on and sinks the USS Lusitania. Over 1,000 are killed, including over 100 Americans. The incident causes many Americans to reconsider their positions regarding American involvement in World War I.

1945. General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending German involvement in World War I. The terms go into effect the next day.

1952. Geoffrey Dummer publishes the concept of the integrated circuit.

1954. the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends (it started in March), with the French suffering a total defeat.

1999. Pope John Paul II visits Romania. This is notable primarily becuase he becomes the first Pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox Country since the Great Schism of 1054.

(a day or two ago I posted about PJPII being the first Pope to enter a mosque. Who knew he was such a wild and crazy guy?!?}

Honestly, the French should have just given up after that.

I just read a really interesting factoid. The US sent its first planeload of supplies to the French, and started providing active material and monetary support to the French for their efforts in Vietnam precisely four days after the North Koreans invaded South Korea.

Prior ot that, the US steadfastly told the French they were on their own, and it seemed the support of the French citizenry for their efforts there, after four years of conflict (at that point) were starting to wane.

Regrettably, there was alot, a whole lot, of Western stupidity around decisions regarding Vietnam.

Don't forget that we helped the Viet Minh during WWII. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Did we? For all that I know about World War II, and it is alot, I admit I have paid very little attention to the mainland Southeast Asia theater. I know about Singapore falling and the loss of the one or two British battleships in '40, I believe, and know vaguely about Joe Stillwell and Lord Mountbatten, but I can give very few details.

I was also vaguely aware that Ho Chi Minh was involved in activities against both the French and Japanese during the war, but know nothng of US support of those efforts.

Anyone interested in the Korean War is well advised to read "The Coldest Winter", by David Halberstam. I'm only on page 50 or so, but it is already proving excellent.

He notes in his introduction that the Korean War is in many ways the forgotten war of the 20th century, mentioning that he entered a library in Florida once and counted 88 books on Vietnam, and only four on the Korean War.

Yep, OSS.

In 1999, he was visited by a Muslim cleric, and the cleric gave him a gift. The Koran. And then the Pope kissed the gift.

That ruffled some traditionalists feathers.

Seems a rather inappropriate gift, and an inappropriate response, given their positions. Odd...

That Wild Bill Donovan!

Not about the Viet Minh vs. Japanese, but just up the river...Quartered Safe Out Here is a good memoir of the WWII Burma campaign by George MacDonald Fraser, highly recommended. He wrote all the 'Flashman' books for fans of that rascal.

May 8 -- definitely a good day to do something dramatic to affect world history because few have previously bothered to do so on this date.

1846. The first major battle of the Mexican-American War, the Battle of Palo Alto, results in a victory for US forces.

1886. Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage that the world will come to know as Coca-Cola.

1942. The Battle of the Coral Sea ends with the sinking of the USS Lexington.

1945. Victory in Europe Day, as the Germans surrender.

May 9

1873. The stock market in Vienna crashes, ushering in the "Long Depression", which was sometimes called the Great Depression until the 1929 Depression seized that title. No word yet from BEP as to how this was the fault of the Federal Reserve (formed in 1913/14) or John Maynard Keynes (born 1883).

1941. The British Navy captures German U-Boat 110, thereby recovering an Enigma cryptography machine. This key development helps turn the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic.

1950. L. Ron Hubbard's book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is released. So called "Book One" of the pseudo-Church of Scientology, the Scientology calendar counts from this date (we're currently in Year 60 AD, for example (AD being "After Dianetics"). This concotion of unadulterated bullshit is released two years after Hubbard states at a SciFi convention that if you want to make a million, you should invent a new religion. He did considerably better than that, leaving an estate with a value of approximately $600 million when he died in 1986.

1955. Sam and Friends makes its first appearance on television. While that name probably doesn't ring any bells, the stars making their first appearance probably do -- Jim Henson, Kermit the Frog, and the Muppets.

1974. The House Judiciary Committee opens impeachment proceedings against President Nixon was a result of the Watergate scandal.

It might be hard to claim the #1 spot, though.

May 10 (a busy day)

70. The Roman emperor Titus who had been besieging Jerusalem in the First Roman-Jewish War, begins full scale assaults. Three Legions surround the city. The assaults will eventually succeed, leading to the sacking of the city and widespread fires. Reportedly, 1.1 million people are killed (though numbers are notoriously unreliable for history of this era. The Second Temple of Jerusalem, now over 500 years old and which had survived prior conquests, is destroyed.

1497. Americo Vespucci leaves Cadiz, Spain, on his first voyage to the New World.

1774. Louis XVI is crowned King of France. His reign is very beneficial to America, which receives substantial French assistance in the American Revolution. Unfortunately for him, however, longstanding pressures on the monarchy spill over into the French Revolution, costing him his head when he is executed in 1793.

1775. Fort Ticonderoga (in New York) is captured by the Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. The small force captures a number of cannon, which are eventually transported to Boston and help lift the occupation of that city in 1776.

1837. The Panic of 1837 begins when all the banks in New York City stop making payments in specie (gold and silver). A five year Depression ensues, which results in the failure of 40% of the banks in the United States. No word yet from BEP as to how this was the fault of the Federal Reserve (formed in 1913/14) or John Maynard Keynes (born 1883).

1863. Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies of complications from pneumonia eight days after being shot by friendly fire returning to his lines after the first day of the Battle of Chancellorsville. Jackson steadily declined during his last couple of days, wavering between lucidity and returns to an imaginary battlefield. At the end he cried out "Order A.P. Hill to prepare for action! Pass the infrantry to the front rapidly! Tell Major Hawks...." then stopped suddenly. Then he smiled pleasantly and said in a quiet voice "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees", and died.

1865. Confederate President Jefferson Davis is captured near Irwinville, Georgia, reportedly trying to escape to Mexico. The widespread reports that he was disguised wearing women's clothing are not true. After his capture, he is held for two years as a prisoner, without trial, and for a long period he was held in solitary confinement with a light that was always on, and not permitted to leave his cell. Eventually, doctors intervene on his behalf, as he was failing rapidly. He is released after two years, on bail of $100,000 paid by some of the wealthiest men in America, North and South, including Cornelius Vanderbilt and the fiery Horace Greeley.

1865. Union troops ambush and shoot William Quantrill, who lingers for a while but eventually dies on June 6.

1869. The Golden Spike is driven, connecting the First Transcontinental Railroad linking the Eastern and Western United States, at Promontory Summit, Utah.

1924. J. Edgar Hoover is appinted director of what will eventually become known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He remains so until his death in 1972. Amusingly, he officially never takes a single vacation.

1940. Germany invades Belgium, the NEtherlands and Luxembourg. Winston Churchill is appionted Prime Minister of England. England invades Iceland (yes you read that right).

1941. Deputy to the Fuehrer Rudolf Hess parachutes into England to try to end the war. He was second in line to the leadership of Germany, behind only Hermann Goring.

1960. USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the globe.

1994. Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as the first black President of South Africa.

May 11

1310. 54 members of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, better known as the Order of the Temple, or the Knights Templar, are burned at the stake in Paris, France as heretics. The executions are done at the behest of King Louis IV, primarily to relieve himself of his heavy debt burden to the Knights. Within two years, under heavy pressure from the French King, Pope Clement V (who was based in France, not Rome), issues a Papal Bull dissolving the Order.

1647. Peter Stuyvesant arrives to take over as Director-General of New Netherland, the Dutch colonial settlement that will eventually become New York. Stuyvesant becomes a critical figure in early New York history, building the wall that marked the northern boundary of the settlement (to protect against Indians) that will ultimately lend its name to Wall Street, and the wide road that is the oldest North-South axis road in the city -- Broadway.

1924. Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merge their two companies, forming Mercedes-Benz.

1960. Four Israeli Mossad agents capture Adolf (not Adolph) Eichmann in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

May 12

1328. "Nicholas V", the last Imperially anointed Antipope, is consecrated at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The Pope, John XXII, was in Avignon, France, at the time. After four months in Rome he withdraws to Pisa, which was more defensible/friendly. A year later, he presided over a bizarre ceremony in which a straw puppet representing Pope John XXII is dressed in pontifical robes, condemned, degraded and "executed." Shortly thereafter, for understandable reasons, John XXII excommunicates him. In 1330, having obtained assurance of a pardon, he confesses his sins and renounces his "papacy."

1797. The Republic of Venice falls to Napoleon. Having stood as an independent republic for 1,070 years, Venice is easily the longest-surviving republic in history. For century her odd geography -- the shallow lagoon in which she resides, had protected her from the toils and tribulations that beset mainland Italy since the collapse of the Roman Empire. At one point she was, although a small republic, the master of the Mediterranean Sea and the leading commercial center of Europe. On this date, however, by a vote of 512 to 20, with 5 absententions, the Great Council voted to dissolve the Republic. By the time the vote was fully counted, most of hte members had left, fearful of rioting. After the count, the Doge took off his ducal corno, the symbol of his authority and the 1,000 years of the proud independence of the Republic of St. Mark, handed it to his servant and said, simply, "Take it, we won't be needing it anymore."

1862. Federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1864. Battle of Spotsylvania. Thousands of Union and Confederate troops die and are wounded in "the bloody angle." Taking place less than a week after the Battle of the Wilderness had concluded, about 100,000 Union troops faced off against about 55,000 Confederate troops determined to block them from advancing to Richmond. The Battle takes place over a protracted period and doesn't peter out until May 21st.

The battle is yet another "victory" for Lee, who both correctly anticipated Grant's move, moved swiftly to cut him off, and inflicted more casualties on Grant than he took. Added to nearly 20,000 Union enlistments that were up, Grant was down to only 65,000 effectives soon thereafter.

But the price was too high for the Confederate General to pay nonetheless. He too suffered tremendous casualties in the recently concluded battles, including among his best units and a large number of officers, and will never hold the initiative again for the rest of the war.

1932. Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Lindberg's infant son is found dead just a few miles from his house.

1942. The Second Battle of Kharkov begins. I'm trying to avoid turning this entire thread into a pure military thing, but let's just say it was pretty big. Fought in the southern sector of the German/Russian lines, the battle involves over 800,000 men, 2,000 tanks and 2,500 aircraft and tens of thousnads of horses (American beliefs of the complete modernization of German armies during WWII are grossly exaggerated).

1949. The USSR lifts the Berlin blockade.

May 13

1865. The Battle of Palmito Ranch is fought between Union and Confederate forces. Occurring weeks after Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomatox and Johnston's surrender to Sherman, the capture of Richmond, the death of Lincoln and the shooting of John Wilkes Booth, and the capture of Jefferson Davis, the forces fight having no idea that the war is over. Ironically, the battle results in a Confederate victory. Fortunately, casualties are relatively light (about a dozen killed and two dozen wounded between both combatants).

1880. In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison the first test of his electric railway.

1939. The first FM radio station is launched, in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

1940. German troops cross the Meuse River, beginning its conquest of France. Churchill issues the "blood, toil, tears and sweat" speech. The phrase was first used by Teddy Roosevelt, and Churchill likely knowingly borrowed it from him, but brought it to much greater fame.

1943. The Afrika Corps and Italian troop adjuncts surrender after having been bottled up and surrounded in Tunisia. A little while earlier Erwin Rommel had been recalled by Hitler, to save him from the ignominy of surrendering, and his replacement, General von Armin, had the "pleasure" instead. IIRC, approximately 250,000 troops surrender, representing a significant loss for the Wehrmacht especially when considered in light of the recently ended Battle of Stalingrad. Between the two, Germany loses over a million soldiers.

1958. The trademark velcro is registered.

1981. Mehmet Ali Agca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II. PJPII survives after emergency surgery.

1994. Johnny Carson makes his last television appearance, on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Did he say anything about the exit strategy?

Now, now, don't go kicking my thread into DC. :p

Well, well, well. I had always thought they never found the Lindbergh baby.

Sorry. I withdraw my question. :)

May 14.

1607. Jamestown, Virginia, is settled as an English colony.

1643. Four year old Louis XIV becomes King of France. The "Sun King" will rule until 1715 -- or 72 years, the longest reign of any European monarch. For most of his reign France is the leading power of Europe, and he will preside over three major wars and several minor ones. He is succeeded by his five year old great grandson, with all other heirs having predeceased him.

1804. The Lewis and Clark expedition begins, with the party departing from Camp Dubois (present day Hartford, Illinois, and sailing up the Missouri River.

1913. The Rockefeller Foundation is chartered, beginning with a $100 million donation from John D. Rockefeller.

1940. The Netherlands surrender to Germany.

1948. Israel is declared as an independent state, and is immediately attacked by her Arab neighbors, beginning the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

1955. Eight communist countries, including the USSR, sign a treaty called the Warsaw Pact.

wow, alot of really neat things this time...

yeah, one of the more interesting things is seeing the variety in days. Some days I'm having a really hard time figuring out what to eliminate -- there's no point to this thread if I'm just going to copy/paste what's on Wikipedia. The point is to cherry pick the historically significant, or merely interesting, items and then add some color to the degree I have time or particular knowledge or interest.

Other days, it's like looking for a cup of water in the desert.

As we're now out of the winter months, I expect to see alot more military-related items, as we're well into the military campaign season. Until just the last century, any kind of active fighting during winter was very rare. The logistical issues were too difficult to overcome, so armies just went into camp.

I was just at the headwaters of the Missouri last week. It was neat to see the big rock that they stood on to survey the land.