Also, Royals and Yankee manager Dick Howser died June 17, 1987.

And, most of that battle didn't take place on Bunker Hill.

This day in history, my friend just got a pedicure done at the beauty salon next to neil Smith, also getting a pedicure..

1789 – French Revolution: The Third Estate of France declared itself the National Assembly.

1963 – Buddhist crisis: Riots involving around 2000 people broke out in South Vietnam, despite the signing of the Joint Communique to resolve the crisis one day earlier.

1972 – Five men were arrested for attempted burglary on the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate complex (pictured) in Washington, D.C., igniting the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon more than two years later.

1982 – The body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi, known as "God's Banker" due to his close association with the Vatican, was found hanging from scaffolding beneath London's Blackfriars Bridge.

I bet there's a story behind that.

2008 - Celtics win Game 6 of the Finals to beat the Lakers, winning their record 17th championship.

Yes, Breed's Hill. But not much about that battle is really new, while I suspect practically nobody has heard of the Bonus Army.

June 18.

1429. The Battle of Patay. This battle is to the French what Agincourt is to the British, and it turned the tide of the 100 Years War in favor of the French. Although nominally led by Joan of Arc, the victory really occurs before the main hosts of the armies even meet, and thus her involvement was limited (other than the general morale boost that her presence seems to have given the French armies during her involvement with their campaigns).

The British tactics that had proven so successful at Agincourt and other battles was simple but very effective. Heavy reliance on the skilled English Longbowmen, who had planted many stakes in front of their position to prevent/delay/thwart cavalry charges and hinder infantry, giving the longbowmen time to massacre their opponents. Here, however, their system failed when a stag wandered onto the field near where the British were establishing their position. The cry to kill the stag revealed the British position, and the French moved in swiftly. For once the French tactics of a mounted cavalry charge with heavy cavalry served them well, as the British were completely routed. Longbowmen were not equipped to deal with mounted cavalry at close quarters, and were killed in droves.

1815. The Battle of Waterloo. Things, erm, goes less well for the French. The battle was fought near the borders of Belgium by French armies under the returned banner of Napoleon against the so-called Seventh Coalition, an Anglo-Prussian army with British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and Prussian forces under von Blucher.

The French had about 75,000 troops, against an Anglo-Prussian force of nearly 120,000. Nevertheless, while often thought of as a lopsided victory, according to Wellington it was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life."

Regardless, the victory was decisive, ending the series of wars that had convulsed Europe since 1790. It ushered in a period of 50 years of well-needed peace in Europe, which wouldn't see much combat again until the Crimean War.

1940. Winston Churchill gives the Finest Hour speech. It is the third of the three famous speeches he gave during, roughly, the Battle of France (the first being "blood, toil, sweat and tears", and the second being "we shall fight on the beaches"). In this speech, he explains/justifies the moderately low level of support England gave France, which has now been effectively conquered by Nazi Germany, confirms the evacuation of many allied forces, and resists calls to purge appeasers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsKDGM5KTBY

June 19

1846. The first officially recorded and umpired baseball match under Alexander Cartwright's rules is played in Hoboken, New Jersey. Cartwright umpires. The Abner Doubleday attribution is believed by most to be a myth. Cartwright is officially declared the inventor of modern baseball by an Act of Congress in 1953.

1865. Juneteenth, otherwise known as Emancipation Day, or Freedom Day, is named after this date in 1865 when African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, are first informed that pursuant to the Emancipation Proclamation (and the Union's victory in the Civil War), they are free.

1910. The first Father's Day is celebrated, in Spokane, Washington.

1915. The USS Arizona is launched out of Brooklyn Navy Yard. Her name was given in tribute to the state which had only joined the Union the prior year. She rests now at Pearl Harbor, having been sunk by the Japanese on the day that will live in infamy.

1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed by Congress after surviving an 83 day filibuster in the Senate. Among those involved in the filibuster effort are famed Senators Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd. After signing the act into law, President Johnson, a Democrat from Texas who had staunchly supported the bill and urged his Democrat dominated Congresss to pass it, notes "we have lost the South for a generation". This refers to the prior Democratic dominance in the former states of the Confederacy. His prediction proves far too conservative. It is now two generations and counting that the South has been effectively lost to Democrats, at least in presidential elections.

1978. Garfield appears in his first comic strip.

1870. The last of the former Confederate States are readmitted into the Union, and the CSA formally ceases to exist.

2010. Amnorix goes on a family vacation and quickly learns that he's not likely to have internet access, leaving CP deprived of updates on the This Day in History thread. The horror!

June 20

451. The Battle of Chalons, or the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. A coalition of Visigoths and the last remnants of the Roman Empire defeat Attila the Hun in Northeastern France. Considered one of the most important battles of late antiquity, Attila's defeat ensures that the Huns do not conquer the entirety of Western Europe.

The map below depicts all parts of the Roman Empire, which at this point had been split.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._1764x1116.jpg

1944. The Battle of the Phillipine Sea concludes with a decisive victory for the United States against Japanese Imperial forces. The lopsided airbattle comes to be known as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. The largest aircraft battle in history involves nine aircraft carriers for Japan (5 heavy, 4 light), and 15 American carriers*. The battle cost Japan three precious aircraft carriers and 600 aircraft. In the subsquent battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese used their remaining aircraft carriers as decoys, as they effectively had no airplanes left.

*my assumption is that the 15 aircraft carriers are heavy (i.e. fleet carriers). I believe the US also had a large number of light carriers present, but I can't quickly confirm that.

1963. Following the events of the Cuban Missile crisis, the so called "red phone" is established between the White House and the Kremlin.

I remember exactly where I was when I first heard this.

Weren't the Visigoths the leading tribe that ended up conquering Rome? I recognize that the Huns were probably scaring the bejeezus (beromulus?) out of everybody, but I'm surprised that the Romans and Visigoths were working together 25 years before Rome fell.

Or maybe my history skills are waning. But I thought it was the Visigoths who sacked Rome. Or maybe it was the Ostragoths. All the goths look alike to me with that black makeup and stuff.

1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip during a motorcade in Sarajevo, sparking the outbreak of World War I.

1964 – Malcolm X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

1967 – Israel annexes East Jerusalem.

1969 – The Stonewall riots begin in New York City.

1978 – The United States Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke bars quota systems in college admissions.

1983 – The Mianus River Bridge collapses over the Mianus River in Connecticut, killing 3 drivers in their vehicles.

1990 – Paperback Software International Ltd. is found liable by a U.S. court for copyright violation for copying the appearance and menu system of Lotus 1-2-3 in its competing spreadsheet program.

1992 – The Constitution of Estonia is signed into law.

1996 – The Constitution of Ukraine is signed into law.

1997 – Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield II – Tyson is disqualified in the 3rd round for biting a piece off Holyfield's ear.

2004 – Sovereign power is handed to the interim government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led rule of that nation.

2005 – War in Afghanistan: Three U.S. Navy SEALs and 16 American Special Operations Forces soldiers are killed during Operation Red Wing, a failed counter-insurgent mission in Kunar province, Afghanistan.

2005 – The Canadian House of Commons passed the Civil Marriage Act to legalize same-sex marriage in Canada.

2006 – The Republic of Montenegro is admitted as the 192nd Member of the United Nations by General Assembly resolution 60/264.

_____

Births

1891 – Carl Panzram, American serial killer (d. 1930)
1891 – Carl Spaatz, American Air Force general (d. 1974)
1906 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1972)
1922 – Michael Vale, American actor (d. 2005)
1926 – Mel Brooks, American filmmaker
1927 – Frank Sherwood Rowland, American chemist, Nobel laureate
1931 – Junior Johnson, American NASCAR driver
1932 – Pat Morita, American actor (d. 2005)
1934 – Carl Levin, United States Senator from Michigan
1936 – Chuck Howley, American football player
1937 – Richard Bright, American actor (d. 2006)
1937 – Ron Luciano, American baseball umpire (d. 1995)
1937 – Tom Magliozzi, American radio personality, cohost of Car Talk
1938 – John Byner, American comedian
1938 – Leon Panetta, American Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
1941 – Al Downing, American baseball player
1941 – Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (d. 2006)
1942 – David Miner, American guitarist and record producer
1943 – Donald Johanson, American paleoanthropologist
1943 – Klaus von Klitzing, German physicist, Nobel laureate
1946 – Bruce Davison, American actor
1946 – Gilda Radner, American comedienne (d. 1989)
1947 – Robert Bondi, American politician
1947 – Mark Clark, American black power activist (d. 1969)
1947 – Mark Helprin, American writer
1948 – Kathy Bates, American actress
1955 – Thomas Hampson, American baritone
1956 – Noel Mugavin, Australian Rules Football player
1957 – Mike Skinner, American racecar driver
1957 – Jim Spanarkel, American basketball player and TV personality
1960 – John Elway, American football player
1961 – Jeff Malone, American basketball player
1963 – Charlie Clouser, American keyboard, synth and theremin player (Nine Inch Nails)
1964 – Mark Grace, American baseball player
1965 – Jessica Hecht, American actress
1965 – Sonny Strait, American voice actor
1966 – John Cusack, American actor
1966 – Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress
1969 – Danielle Brisebois, American actress
1970 – Steve Burton, American actor
1970 – Mike White, American filmmaker and actor
1971 – Tichina Arnold, American actress
1971 – Bobby Hurley, American basketball player
1971 – Ron Mahay, American baseball player
1971 – Aileen Quinn, American actress
1972 – Jon Heidenreich, American professional wrestler
1972 – Alessandro Nivola, American actor
1974 – Rob Dyrdek, American professional skateboarder
1976 – Seth Wescott, American snowboarder
1977 – Mark Stoermer, American bass player (The Killers)
1977 – Chris Spurling, American baseball player
1979 – Felicia Day, American actress, writer, director, violinist, and singer
1979 – Randy McMichael, American football player
1981 – Brandon Phillips, American baseball player
1986 – Kellie Pickler, American singer
1987 – Terrence Williams, American basketball player
1988 – Lacey Schwimmer, American dancer
1990 – Nick Purcell, American actor

I remember that Holyfield/Tyson fight well. That was the last time I paid for a fight. We had like 25 people there to watch the fight and then that garbage happened. Like, "Oh well, that was a crappy waste of money."

Happy birthday, Chuck!

Happy birthday, Klaus!

Happy birthday, Kathy!

Go to hell.

Happy birthday, Charlie!


Happy birthday, Mark!

Happy birthday, John!

Happy birthday, Mary!

Happy birthday, Mark!

You're right on several counts. I'm like you in having trouble keeping the people and events of the late Western Roman Empire straight. I have a friend who studies the Roman Empire like JOhn studies WWII. I can't fathom how he keeps those odd names/places straight. Then again, I can name the six Japanese aircraft carriers that hit Pearl Harbor off teh top of my head, and know my Peliliu from my Guadalcanal so...

Anyway, Alaric was a Visigoth, and he's the guy that sacked Rome in 410. By 451, however, the Western Roman Empire was a terminally ill cancer patient who really didn't resemble even remotely what he looked liked even in his middle years. The seat of government had been moved to Ravenna, and the empire was "Roman" really in name only. So yes, odd alliances, etc. sprang up. If you look at the map, you can see why they allied themselves to the Visigoths. Those huns were much scarier than people with some dark makeup.

Heck, the entire goth problem was largely self-made, as the Romans allowed the goths to cross the border (decades earlier), as they were fleeing from the Huns.

Sure, fine, skip ahead if you want.



:p

June 21

This is a really painfully slow day, so I'll go with this.

1582. The "Incident at Honno-Ji" takes place in Kyoto, Japan.

I'll describe this in a somewhat odd way -- in the novel Shogun, by James Clavell, one of the main protagonists is a woman named Mariko, who is the daughter of one Akechi Jintai. Akechi Jintai was a Lord General to the Dictator, Goroda, and in that novel her father, Akechi, betrayed and murdered the Dictator, resulting in the forced seppuku of her entire family. Mariko, already married to Lord Buntaro, was forbidden by her husband to commit seppuku, and was instead banished for a protracted period, living in perpetual shame that her father was a traitor and that she is not permitted to perform the ritual suicide that she feels she must to restore her honor.

Many of the events depicted in the novel are based on historical events in Shogunate Japan, and the events surrounding Akechi Jintai are based on the Incident at Honno-Ji.

The actual events are as follows. In 1581-82 the Daimyo (powerful lord) Oda Nobunaga was consolidating power in Japan. He had destroyed the Takeda family, his main rivals for power, and his only serious opponents had been weakened by various strategems and inner turmoil. To more quickly consolidate his power, Nobunaga had dispersed his generals and forces to chase down the remaining factions opposing him. Included in these orders were those for his General, Akechi Mitsuhide, to assist an ally whose forces were besieged. Nobunaga then retired to Honno-ji, a temple, his usual resting place when he visited Kyoto.

Akechi instead marched his army to Honno-ji, where the Daimyo was practically undefended. He and his servants and bodyguards resisted, but realized they were overwhelmed by Akechi's army. Nobunaga ordered his assistant to set the temple ablaze so that his head would not be recovered intact, and committed suicide. His assistant faithfully set the temple on fire and then joined his master by committing suicide, earning everlasting fame in Japan for devotion to duty.

Akechi quickly moved to consolidate his old master's power. Instead, however, Nobunaga's other generals consolidated forces, met Akechi on the field of battle, and defeated his forces. Akechi himself was then killed while trying to flee back to his castle.

One of Nobunaga's supporters, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, would become his successor and unify Japan for the first time in over a century.

15 years later, his health failing, Hideyoshi would call together his advisors and appoint a council of five regents to govern the country until his son turned of age. One of the five was Ieyasu Tokugawa.

Tokugawa would go on to seize power himself and institute the Tokugawa Shogunate, which would rule Japan until she was forced to modernize herself by the Meiji Restoration.

Back to Shogun, the novel -- Hideyoshi is the Taiko, and Ieyasu Tokugawa is Lord Toronaga, Ruler of the Kwanto and, eventually, Shogun.

June 22

168 BC. The Battle of Pydna. Roman forces defeat the forces of King Perseus of Macedon in the Third Macedonian War, extending their power over the near East and ending the Antigonid line of kings, who traced their lineage to Alexander the Great.

1633. The Roman Catholic Church forces Galileo to recant his views regarding heliocentricity.

1940. The Germans and French sign the Second Armistice of Compiegne Forest, by which the French agree to German occupation of Northern and Western France. The armistice is signed in the same railway car, in the same forest, as that used when Germany signed its armistice which ended WWI.

1941. Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

1942. Erwin Rommel is elevated to Field Marshall after the capture of Tobruk.

1944. President Roosevelt signs the GI bill into law.

1945. The Battle of Okinawa comes to an end with a US victory. The battle has been refererd to as the Typhoon of Steel, or Rain of Steel, in both US and Japanese, in reference to the intensity of the fight and the sheer volume of Allied warships and armor. Japan lost over 100,000 troops, adn the US suffered 50,000 casualties. Approximately 25% of teh civilian population died as a result as well.

1969. The Cuyahoga River catches fire, leading Time Magazine to describe it as a river that "oozes rather than flows" and leading to a cracking down on polluting of the river and of other rivers across the country.

On this day 50 years ago John Albert Elway Jr. was born.

He was three hands tall at birth.

Is the proper phrase "calved" or "foaled"?

June 23

1611. After spending the winter ashore in the New World after his ship had become trapped in the ice during his fourth voyage, Henry Hudson wished to continue exploring. His crew rather vehemently disagreed. Matters came to a head on this date, when his crew mutinied. Hudson, his teenage son John and six crew members were set adrift in a small open boat. None of them were ever seen again. Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait in Canada, the Hudson River, and Hudson County (one in each of NY and NJ) are named after him.

1812. Great Britain revokes restrictions on American trade, eliminating most of the reasons for the War of 1812. America rather stupidly continues to pursue the war.

1812. Happily, America's stupidity is far exceeded on this date in history. Today, Napoleon invades Russia.

1917. Best substitute pitcher ever. After Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth walks the first batter in the game, he engages in a heated argument with the umpire, and eventually is ejected and punches the umpire (a glancing blow). Ernie Shore comes in in "relief". The runner at first is caught stealing, and Shore retires the next 26 batters in a row.

1926. The first SAT exam is administered.

1940. Hitler visits Paris.

1972. President Nixon and aide H.R. Haldemann are taped discussing using the CIA to interfere with the FBI's investigation of the Watergate hotel break in.

June 24

1314. The Battle of Bannockburn, when Robert the Bruce leads Scottish forces to a decisive victory over the English. As a direct, though delayed, result, England recognizes Scottish independence in 1328.

1916. The Battle of the Somme begins with a weeklong bombardment by the French of German forces.

1948. The Soviet Union blocks all efforts to travel from West German to WEstern Berlin, beginning the Berlin Blockade.

June 25

1876. The Battle of Little Bighorn is fought between the Cheyenne and Lakota Indian tribes led by Sitting Bull, and the US Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment of about 700 men. It results in a decisive defeat for the US Army which suffered the loss of 268 men including its leader, George Armstrong Custer, two of his brothers, a brother-in-law, and a nephew. The Army lost mainly because it relied on inaccurate information, believing it was up against about 800 Native Americans, instead of thousands.

1948. As a result of the blockade of Western Berlin, the Berlin Airlift begins.

1950. North Korea crosses the 38th parallel and invades South Korea, beginning the Korean War. As a result of superior training and equipment (partly as a result of US refusals to sell them advanced equipment, including tanks), the North Korean army easily smashes through the ineffectual South Korean defenses.

I doubt this will change anyone's plans, but I emphatically recommend to all of our history students here going to Albert in France (a town where the Somme was fought) to see the museums, memorials, and history dedicated to World War I. Especially as the 100th Anniversary of the beginning of the war, one of the most dramatic events in modern human history, nears, seeing that up close would be the trip of a lifetime.

And then drive to the beaches of Normandy.

June 26

1284. The Pied Piper leads the children of Hamelin, Germany, out of town. The full story of the Pied Piper supposedly occurred around this date in Hamelin, Germany, in 1284. The full story is that a man in pied clothing (motley-colored patches or multicolored clothing) arrived in Hamelin while it was suffering a serious rat infestation, offered the town a solution, which the town leaders agreed to. They also agreed on the price to be paid for his services. He played a musical tune, leading the rats to the Weser River, where they drowned. The town, however, refused to pay.

He returned on Saint John and Paul's and, while the adults were in church, played a tune to lure the town's children away. According to the story, he lured 130 boys and girls to a cave, and they were never seen again. Other versions have the piper leading the children to also drown in the Weser, or returning them to the town upon payment of triple the original price, or leading them over the mountaints to a far off land.

The historical precedent for the story is shrouded in time. Several interesting facts exist, however. First, the earliest written history of the town known to exist was written in 1384 and begins with the line "It is 100 years since our children left". Second, there are descriptions of a stained glass window in the Church of Hamelin which depicted the event and was first put in place around 1300. The stained glass was destroyed in 1660.

The rats, however, are clearly just a latter-day add on, with no accounts of them appearing before the middle 1500s.

Despite exhaustive research by historians, no agreement exists regarding the actual facts. Speculation includes a serial killer/pedophile who may have murdered a large number of children, or that the plague carried away a very large percentage of the town's children in 1284. More widely believed, however, is that a large number of children left Hamelin to join a migration to Eastern Europe, with the pied piper serving as a recruiter of sorts, a practice that was not entirely uncommon, in which case the parents may well have sold their children to the "piper".

1870. The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.

1917. The first US troops begin to arrive in Europe to join English and French troops fighting WWI.

1918. The Battle of Belleau Wood. The US troops in WWI, especially the Marines, are instrumental in a victory against German forces.

1936. The first flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw-61, the first practical helicopter.

1953. Lavrentia Beria, whom Josef Stalin had introduced to President Roosevelt at Yalta as "our Himmler" is arrested by the Politburo. He will soon be executed as part of the power struggle to control the Soviet Union post-Stalin. Beria may have poisoned and killed Stalin himself, who fell ill shortly after a dinner with Beria and certain other party members, dying four days later. The poison Warfarin would have produced symptoms similar to those experienced by Stalin.

1974. The Universal Product Code (UPC) is used for the first time, to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

A little story regarding the Pied Piper. In the play The Pillowman there several short tales told. One of them is about a boy who is sitting beside the road and helps a traveller passing by him. The traveller thanks him by chopping off his feet. Then the traveller continues on to town, where it turns out he's the Pied Piper. He leads all the children away except the one who has no feet, who can't go because he can't walk.

June 27

1844. Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (i.e. Mormons) is killed by a mob while awaiting trial. Five men were tried for his murder, but acquitted.

1950. The United States decides to send troops to defend South Korea.

1967. The world's first ATM is installed in Enfield, London.

1976. Air France Flight 139, a flight with 248 passengers, 12 crewmembers and scheduled to travel from Tel Aviv to Paris via Athens, is hijacked and rerouted to Entebbe, Uganda. The hijackers consist of two Palestinians of the PLO and two Germans of the PLO's "External Operations". Four additional Palestinians joined the hijackers after the plane landed, as their efforts were supported by Uganadan President Idi Amin. The hijackers demanded the release of 40 prisoners held by Israel and 13 held by Kenya, France, Switzerland and West Germany. One hostage, a Holocaust survivor, showed a Nazi concentration camp identification tattoo on his arm to one of the German terrorists who responded that he "was no Nazi, I'm an idealist".

After a week, the terrorists announced that the non-Jews would be released. The captain of the plane, however, and his crew, and one French nun, declared they would not leave the Jewish hostages behind. The French nun tried to have another person released in her place, but was forced off the plane. 105 hostages remained, and the terrorists threatened to begin killing them if their demands were not met.

On the night of July 3rd, four Israeli C-130 cargo planes had landed in Entebbe under cover of night and without the assistance of Ugandan ground control. They were followed by two 707s, one of which contained medical facilities and supplies and landed in Kenya, and the other of which circled Entebbe airport. For much of the flight the planes flew no more than 100 feet off the ground, to avoid radar detection.

They landed and quickly made their way to the terminal where the hostages were being held. They quickly killed all the terrorists and took the hostages back to the planes, where armored personnel carriers had already been unloaded to defend hte planes from any Ugandan forces. The entire operation lasted 53 minutes and of the 105 remaining hostages, only three were killed and approximately 10 wounded. The only Israeli commando killed was Yonathan Netanyahu, the force's commander, possibly by a Ugandan sniper. He was the older brother of future Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu.

One reason the operation went so well is that the hostages were being held in a terminal that had been built by an Israeli construction firm, which had all the blueprints of the building and provided them to Mossad, the Israeli secret service. In addition, some of the previously released hostages provided critical information. One in particular, a Frenchman of Jewish descent who was a former military officer and reported had a phenomenal memory, was particularly helpful.

Following the rescue mission, Dora Bloch, a 75 year old British woman who had been held hostage but evacuated to a hospital in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, was murdered by Ugandan security forces along with, reported, some doctors and/or nurses who had tried to intervene. Her body was recovered in 1979 after the fall of the Amin government.

June 28

1519. Charles V, already ruler of the Spanish Empire and only 19 years of age, is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He will spend much of his life at war, defending his vast realm. Upon his voluntary abdication of the throne, his empire is split, with his son inheriting the Spanish element with the German going to his younger brother. The two empires would remain mostly in alliance for the next 200+ years.

1778. The Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, New Jersey, is fought between the Americans and British. It is one of the largest battles of the Revolutionary War (by number of participants) and the last major battle in the northern theater. The battle was essentially won by the Americans, after the British retired at night to continue their withdrawal to New York.

1914. Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by a young Serbian nationalist. Serbia is one of the many constituent states that form the ill-fated Austro-Hungarian Empire. The assassination pushes an incredible tense situation among hte major powers in Europe over the edge, and results in WWI, which involved over 70 million men in combat, including 60 million in Europe. The war will result in the dissolution of both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Tsarist Russia, and soon lead to the failure of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. Germany, also defeated, is humiliated by the terms of her defeat as memorailized in the Treaty of Versailles, and which in turn will help pave the path to the even more significant WWII.

1950. Seoul is captured by North Korea. South Korean troops reel backwards, thoroughly demoralized and defeated and unable to deal effectively with North Korean armor, especially.

June 29.

Wow, really lame day. I'll save myself some time and effort here.

1956. The Federal Aid Highway Act is signed into law, officially creating the US Interstate Highway System.

Reading about the Entebbe raid makes me wonder what impact it would have had on the course of US history if Carter's attempt to rescue the Iranian hostages had been equally successful. Would Carter have won re-election? Would Reagan have ever been president? Carter still had the economic malaise to overcome, but the lingering hostage crisis really pulverized his image.

Yes, hard to say. The economic situation was so incredibly bad I'm not sure that even a successful rescue hostage mission would have saved him.

The failed rescue mission wasn't really his fault, but it certainly killed any chance he might have had at reelection.

The only good thing about the entire disaster is that it led to some internal revisions and significant improvements in special forces operations capabilities.

No sh*t? I had no idea he was killed (or awaiting trial).

Neither did I. What he was awaiting trail for was fairly complicated, so I decided to skip that part. It's moderately interesting, however, if you want to look it up.

Edit to note two things:

1. I have REALLY learned alot of fascinating trivia and tidbits in doing this thread.

2. One thing I've learned is that the Mormons were a REALLY controversial religion and created a hell of a lot of issues everywhere they went. We kind of treat them nicely now and more or less thing of them as pleasant oddballs who hang out in Utah and wish they could engage in bigamy, but can't. Their early history, however, was full of all kinds of intrigue and drama.

And probably with a lot of Missourians on this board, especially in the KC area, they would know that a lot of Mormons hang out in Independence, MO, as well.

June 30

1905. Albert Einstein publicizes "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" introducing the concept of special relativity.

1908. The "Tunguska Event" occurs. A meteoroid or comet fragment bursts 5-10 kilometers above the ground in the remote reaches of Siberia with the force of approximately 10-15 megatons of TNT (i.e. 1,000 times the power of the Hiroshima or Nagasaki atomoc bombs).

1921. Former President William Howard Taft is appointed Chief Justice of the United States, the job he had always sought.

1934. The Night of the Long Knives, occurs, with Adolf Hitler removing most of his political enemies in Nazi Germany, including most notably Ernst Rohm, the head of the Brown Shirts. At least 85 people are killed.

1944. Nearly a month after D-Day, the city of Cherbourg on the Cotentin peninsula falls to the Allies. The deep water port city is critical to Allied supply logistics.

1986. The United States Supreme Court rules in Bowers v. Hardwick that states can outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults. The case was a 5-4 decision and one of the members of the majority, Lewis Powell, would later go on to say that he believed he had erred in his decision. In 1995, Justice Blackmun, who had written the dissenting opinion, would note that the dissent was mostly written by his former law clerk (and now Stanford Law Professor) Pam Karlan, who was herself homosexual. The same state law that the Supreme Court had upheld in 1986 would be reversed by the Georgia Supreme Court, on state constitutional law grounds, in 1998, and Bowers itself would be overturned in 2003 by the Supreme Court. In overturning the case, the Court would note: "Bowers was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today."

1997. The United Kingdom turns sovereignty of Hong Kong over to China.

So many people buy that cover-up story.

I know the alien landing ship is very compelling... :D

July 1. Busy day.

1863. The Battle of Gettysburg begins. More about this on a later date.

1870. The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence.

1881. The first international telephone call is made, between Calais, Maine and St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada.

1898. The Battle of San Juan Hill, the decisive battle of the Spanish-American War, is fought. Future President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt will be nominated for the Medal of Honor for his efforts as a Colonel in leading the volunteer American "Rough Riders" regiment.* It doesn't take him long to leverage his success -- he is soon elected governor of New York, and will join McKinley's ticket and become Vice President in the election of 1900, and then ascend to the Presidency upon McKinley's death in 1901, a scant three years after leading the Rough Riders up the hill. Another man who is involved is Lieutenant John Pershing, who will later become famous as "Black Jack Pershing" leading all American forces in Europe in WWI. Mostly ignored by the press and history is the fact that African-American troops were heavily involved and should have shared heavily in the credit for the victory.

*Interesting side note -- Roosevelt will finally get his Medal of Honor awarded to him, posthumously, in 2001. It was therefore about 103 years between the nomination and award.
　
1916. The first day of the Battle of the Somme (which technically began a week earlier with artillery bombardments commencing) sees 19,000 British Army members killed and another 40,000 wounded -- the first single day combat losses in British military history.

1921. The Communist Party of China is founded. Though technically not a founder, Mao Zedong will be present at the first congress that is convened. Within 30 years, despite (or perhaps to a degree because of) the invasion by and the pacification attempts of Japan, as well as the ardent support of the existing government by the United States, it will seize control of the Chinese government.

1943. Tokyo City merges with Tokyo Prefecture and formally goes out of existence. Since such date, no city in Japan has officially had the name "Tokyo". What we know as Tokyo is not a single city, but rather a collection of 23 cities within a prefecture that includes not only the city itself but two outlying island chains and 39 additional municipalities outside "Tokyo" proper. The prefecture governs 35-39 million people, making it the largest "municipality" by population in the world, as well as the municipality with the greatest purchasing power, with a GDP of approximately US$1.5 trillion as of 2008.

1963. Zip codes are introduced for US mail.

1963. The British government admits that a former high ranking intelligence official, Harold (Kim) Philby, was a Soviet agent.

1987. WFAN radio, the world's first all-sports radio station, begins broadcasting in New York City.

1991. The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved.

July 2

1776. The Continental Congress adopts a resolution dissolving all of Colonial America's ties with Great Britain. The exact wording of the formal Declaration of Independence will be adopted two days later. John Adams correctly predicts the festivities to mark the occassion, though he misses the date by two days.
　

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Adams, in a letter written to his wife, Abigail The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

1777. Effective this date, Vermont becomes the first American state to abolish slavery.

1853. The Russian Army crosses the Pruth River, beginning the Crimean War.

1881. Charles J. Guiteau shoots President Garfield who will eventually die of infection on September 19. Delusional in his beliefs that he had been instrumental to Garfield's Presidential victory, Guiteau repeatedly petitions the administration for a job, preferably as ambassador to France. Eventually, Secretary of State James Blaine tells him never to return again. Guiteau, now believing that God has ordained that he kill the ungrateful President, borrows $15 to buy a revolver. He would have preferred one with ivory handles, as he thought it would look better in a museum after the assassination, but he couldn't afford it. Later, he follows the President to the train station where he is seeing his wife off to her vacation on the Jersey shore, but decides not to shoot him then as his wife is in poor health and he does not want to upset her. On this date, he awaits the President at the railway station, where among other things he engages a cab to take him to jail later. President Garfield arrives to take the train to join his wife on the Jersey shore. Guiteau walks up behind Garfield and shoots him twice.
　
The wounds are not immediately mortal, and certainly Garfield would have survived with modern medical care. It being 1881, however, Garfield finally succumbs to the last of a number of infections, possibly brought on by his own doctors probing his wounds with unwashed hands and medical instruments.

The case was one of the first high profile cases in the US involving an insanity defense. The prosecutor was unimpressed.

Guiteau, meanwhile, becomes a media darling at his trial, with numerous random outbursts at the judge, the prosecutors and his own defense team, and occassionally turning around and soliciting legal advice from the gallery via passed notes. He dictating an autobiography for the New York Herald, ending it with a personal ad for a christian woman under 30. He argues to the judge that he isn't responsible for the President's death because "the doctors killed Garfield, I just shot him."

Guiteau is eventually found guilty and hanged. He did, however, survive longer than any other Presidential assassin, only being executed nine months after Garfield's death.
　
1937. Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, are last heard from while flying over the Pacific.

1962. The first Wal-Mart opens in Rogers, Arkansas.

July 3

1754. George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity (how's that for an unimaginative name) to the French during the French and Indian Wars.

1775. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army, at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1863. The Battle of Gettysburg concludes with Pickett's Charge (see next post for more details).

1866. The Battle of Ko****ratz resolves the Austro-Prussian War. The Prussian victory at the battle consolidates Prussian gains, and elevates its power and prestige to the point that within a few years all of Germany, which for many centuries had been an electic mix of autonomous and semi-autonomous sovereignties under the nominal rule of the Holy Roman Emperor will be united.

1884. Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average.

1940. Reluctantly, the British Fleet out of Gibraltar fires upon the French Atlantic Fleet which had fled France to keep it out of German hands and was then docked in French North African port of Mers El Kebir (in Algeria). The attack results in the three battleships being sunk, and the deaths of over 1,200 Frenchmen, who until recently were British allies. The British were, rightly, very concerned that the Vichy government would result in the French fleet being turned over to German control. The French, under the arrogant Admiral Darlan, declined more peaceful options and the British therefore fired upon the ships of their recent ally.

Admiral Somerville would go on to say that he thought it was an immense political blunder and an act of which he was "thoroughly ashamed". Ultimately, however, Churchill's wisdom was the greater, as the actions clearly proved to the world that Britain would continue to fight Nazi Germany, alone if necessary.

1863. The Battle of Gettysburg concludes with Pickett's Charge.

As most reading this will be aware, Pickett's Charge is one of the more famous moments in American military history. I won't bother to belabor the entire Gettysburg campaign, which of course has filled volumes. Those interested in exploring the depths of this fascinating battle would be well-advised to read Stephen Sears book.

http://www.amazon.com/Gettysburg-Ste...8681023&sr=1-1


In brief, however:

After nearly two years of inconclusive campaigning back and forth across Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland, Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, after his stunning (and what he perceived to be demoralizing to the Union) victory at Chancellorsville, resolved to take his army over to the offensive and invade the North.

There were a number of reasons for this momentous decision. First, he thought that by threatening a number of Union states and key cities, such as Baltimore, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg and potentially Ohio, he might give strength to the peace movement in the North. Second, Northern Virginia had been the site of years of campaigning, and its farms, lands and inhabitants were depleted and downtrodden. Moving the scene of the action woudl provide better forage for his frequently malnourished army. Third, he was by nature an aggressive commander, and because of the relative numbers of the two armies (the Union Army of the Potomac, which he faced, was at nearly all times anywhere from one-third to one-half as large as his, and often better supplied with ammunition and food), he had been forced to remain on the defensive. He was, without doubt, tired of it, and longed to bring the war to his enemy.

And so he did. Marching up the Shenendoah Valley, he entered Pennsylvania. Soon, completely by accident, more or less, the Union and Confederate armies started gathering at a small and insignificant town called Gettysburg. What started initially as a small skirmish eventually brought bought armies into full contact with each other. By the second day (July 2), the armies were fully assembled. The Northern troops, under the command of General Gordon (Old Snapping Turtle -- see picture below if you wonder why he had that nickname) Meade took some high ground just outside the city, and had defenses laid out roughly in the shape of a fishhook.

An interesting side note here is the effect of the recent death of General Stonewall Jackson on the Confederate actions. On the first day, Union troops took excellent defensive positions on heights south of the town, but were nto there in significant numbers. Both sides recognized their importance, and Lee issued an order to General Ewell, who had previously served under Jackson. Ewell was used to Jackson's peremptory orders, and Lee's orders to "take Cemetary Ridge, if practicable" led Ewell to decide that such an attack was not "practicable" and left the Union in command of the best defensive position in the area. Had they been disloged, the rest of the Battle of Gettysburg would have unfolded very differently.

Repeated heavy assaults on the Union army's flanks were repulsed, including a critical battle on Little Round Top, at the extreme end of the Union line, where Colonel Joshua Chamberlain led his 20th Maine troops in a famous downhill bayonet charge to break the Confederate lines once his men had run out of ammunition. His actions would result in the award of a Medal of Honor, and Chamberlain would go on to continued success in teh Union army, including a battlefield promotion to brigadier general which was given by Grant during the Siege of Petersburg when he was shot through the hip and not expected to live. Grant acted quickly in promoting him, in response to the corps' commander's urgent request.

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Chamberlain would recover and return to command. He would be wounded six times during the course of the war, and have six horses shot out from under him. He was selected by Grant to attend the surrender of Confederate troops at Appomatox, and would issue the controversial (at the time) yet gallant order for the Union troops to honor the Confederate soldiers laying down their weapons by saluting their passing ranks.

Back to the main action. On the third day, Lee was clearly frustrated. He was absolutely convinced that, although outnumbered, his was the superior army. His efforts to roll up the Union flanks had been repeatedly thwarted, but only by a hair's edge. His initial plan for the third day was to repeat the attacks on both Federal flanks, but early in the morning the Federals, with heavy artillery support, launched thier own attack on a key position on Culp's Hill, on the Confederate left, which spoiled his plans.

He resolved instead to charge the Union center. His attack would be made by his trusted stalwart General Longstreet's First Corps, led by the Virginia Division of General George Pickett. At around 1:00 p.m., approximately 160 Confederate cannon began firing to softed Union lines, one of the heaviest concentrated artillery bombardments of the war. The Union return cannon fire was sporadic and uninspiring.

And the reason for the Union's response was General Henry Jackson Hunt. A brilliant military commander, Hunt had commanded all Union artillery during early parts of the war, but had been sent to the rear and his artillery dispersed under General Hooker at Chancellorsville, which greatly weakened the Union efforts there and led to their defeat. Now, Hooker was himself relieved, and all Union guns were once again under Hunt's command. Knowing that a charge would soon follow, Hunt conserved his ammunication and his gunner's strength for the key moment. The Confederate salvos went mostly unanaswered.

Short on ammunition, as always, however, the Confederate bombardment did not last long. By 3:00 p.m. the firing subsidied, and 12,500 Confederate troops stepped forward and began a charge of three-quarters of a mile towards Cemetary Ridge, which the Union was defending. As they charged, Hunt's artillery opened up and fierce flanking fire came from all along the Union lines. Amazingly, some Confederates reached Union lines and briefly broke them at a weak defensive spot known forever after as "the Angle". Union reinforcements, however, drove them off and this geographic spot became known as "The High Water Mark of the Confederacy", as it was arguably the closest they ever got to winning the war.

The charge failed. On July 4th, Independence Day, the two armies stared at each other across a rain-soaked and ravaged battlefield with casualties everywhere. That same day, Vicksburg, the "Key to the Mississippi" fell to General Grant. The war was effectively over, though two years more bloodshed needed to be spilled to prove it to the proud and stubborn South.

Late in the afternoon of the 4th, Lee withdrew his army, heading back to Virginia. The two armies suffered nearly 50,000 casualties, or approximately 30% of the forces that had met on the battlefield. Nearly 8,000 were killed outright, and over 3,000 horses. In the July heat, the stench quickly became overwhelming, and the townspeople performed much of the work in burying the dead and burning the horse carcasses.

Despite Lincoln's frantic efforts, Meade refused to follow up his victory closely, and let the Confederate army "escape".

Pickett, a thoroughly mediocre general, would reportedly never forgive Lee for ordering the charge in which over 50% of his division would be rendered casualties. When his surviving men scrabbled back to their lines, Lee ordered him to form his division for defense. He replied, "General Lee, I have no division." According to one source, he would tell friends that "That man destroyed my division." Historians are unable to credit this fully, however, as other reports indicate that when answering why the charge failed, he would reply "I've always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."

Perhaps the most important result of the battle, however, was the breaking of the aura of invincibility that had surrounded Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia.

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...e_Map_Day3.png



General Gordon Meade (Old Snapping Turtle)

http://www.vision.net.au/~pwood/Volume188.gif


Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rady-Handy.jpg

George Pickett

http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikiped...gePickett.jpeg

Reluctantly.

LMAO

Jeff Bridges is Chamberlain in my head, at this point.

July 4.

1187. The Battle of Hattin. The Muslim forces under Saladin defeat the Crusader forces. As a result, the Muslims are once against the dominant military power in the Holy Land, and the Christian states would gather themselves and launch the Third Crusade (which began two years later) to regain the initiative.

1776. The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence.

1802. West Point opens.

1826. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson die on this same date, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Indepence.

1845. Henry David Thoreau begins a two year experiment of simple living at Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts.

1863. Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant after a long siege, ending Grant's brilliant Vicksburg campaign. Confederate forces at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania strike camp and begin marching back to Virginia.

1886. The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to people of the United States.

1894. Sanford Dole announces the formation of the short-lived Republic of Hawaii, after th efall of the monarchy. He will lobby the US to annex it, and six years later the US will do so. Sanford Dole is the cousin of James(not Bob) Dole, the man who will form what will eventually become known as Dole Food Company.

1910. African American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries, sparking race riots across America.

1939. Lou Gehrig announces his retirement to a packed Yankee Stadium.

1946. After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule, the PHillippines attains independence, from the United States, which was merely the last of its colonial masters.

1960. Nearly ten months after Hawaii's induction as a state, the new, 50 star US flag makes its debut in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Sorry for being so far behind. I'm not being helped by the fact that early July is obviously a very busy period, historically speaking. Oh well, if anyone is unhappy I have a "fully satisfied or your money back" guarantee.

July 5

1687. Newton publishes his revolutionary work, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. One of the most important works in the history of science, the Principia set forth Newton's laws of motion, Newton's law of universal gravitation and a derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

1937. Hormel Foods introduces Spam. The food version, not the internet version.

1940. Vichy France and the United Kingdom break off diplomatic relations.

1943. The Battle of Kursk begins, on the German Eastern Front. It is the largest battle in history, involving approximately 2.5 million troops, over 8,000 tanks and nearly 5,000 aircraft. The battle was an attack by German forces which had over the last two years retreated considerably from the high water mark of its Russian invasion, and was designed to eliminate a salient, or bulge, in their lines. Various delays, however, gave the Russians plenty of time to reinforce, and the attack was beaten off.

1946. Originally a Roman invention (how does anyone know this??) the bikini is "reintroduced" in Paris, France. Let it not be said that the French have never done anything for us!!

1954. Elvis Presley records his first single to be released -- That's All Right.

1996. Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

July 6.

1348. Proving that not all Popes of this era were hopeless, Pope Clement VI issued a papal bull seeking to protect Jews who were widely blamed and castigated throughout Europe for causing the Plague, which had recently had a serious outbreak.

1854. The first convention of hte Republican Party is held, in Jackson, Michigan.

1885. Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. A great week for France!

1887. The King of Hawaii is forced, at gunpoint, to sign what will become known as the Bayonet Constitution, establishing a constitutional monarchy in Hawaii and leading in a few short years to the end of Hawaiian independence.

1892. 3,800 striking steelworkers engage in a day long battle against Pinkerton agents during the Homestead strike. Ten are killed, and dozens wounded. The strike will soon end, with the striking steelworkers defeated and the labor movement set back for years.

1933. The first major league all-star game is played. The AL wins, 4-2.

1942. Anne FRank and her family go into hiding.

1944. Second Lieutenant Frank Robinson -- who will a few years later be famous for breaking MLB's color barrier) refuses to go to the back of the bus, and will be court martialed.

1947. The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union. And now you know why it's an AK-47 and not an AK-12 or whatever. :D

1957. John Lennon mets a fellow named Paul McCartney.

Apparently I still had Anne Frank's name in mind when I typed that Frank Robinson broke hte color barrier. That's a typo. The second looey that got court martialed was of course Jackie, not Frank,Robinson. Oy vey.

Thanks to those who caught my really dumb error.

July 7

1863. The US begins its first draft, in order to support its efforts int he Civil War. The US adopts the draft nearly a full year after the Confederacy had introduced its own draft the prior year. The most controversial element of the draft is the ability to evade it by paying $300. Many current and future famous people avoided the draft by so doing, including (IIRC) Cornelius Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller. The controversial rpovision sparked outrage, however, and the perception that it was a "poor man's fight", and there were riots in New York City. The riots made an "appearance" in the movie Gangs of New York. The movie was not, however, "about" these riots.

1928. Bread is sold sliced for the first time, by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.

The internet version was of course invented by Mr. Flopnuts on 3-14-2005. And then reinvented with every subsequent post of his.

Amazing battle, that.

July 8

1889. The Wall Street Journal is published for the first time.

1896. William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold Speech at the Democratic National Convention.

1932. The Dow Jones average reaches its lowest point during the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22.

July 9

1815. Talleyrand becomes Prime Minister of FRance.

1868. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified.

1900. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gives royal assent to the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia, resulting in the federalization of what had previously been separate colonies on the continent of Australia.

1943. Allied forces land on Sicily. The attack will be very successful, with Allied forces in control of the island by mid-August, the path to invading mainland Italy opened, and Moussolini toppled from power.

Now there's a bad day.

Yeah. Very poor planning/execution by the Germans, however. If I remember I'll take a look at von Manstein's book, Lost Victories, and see how he thinks Hitler screwed up this one, and then review some other sources and see what happened.

IIRC, the attack was bound to fail after so many delays. Not sure what caused all the delays, but it certainly doomed their effort.

Eh? You're not a fan of the 14th Amendment?

No, I'm not, specifically birthright citizenship for the children of illegals.

But, perhaps we shouldn't get into that here.

I agree, I don't want to politicize the thread and get it kicked into DC.

The birthright citizenship is from teh 14th amendment and not the original Constitution? Hunh, didn't know that.

July 10

1553. Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England. She will rule for only two weeks, the shortest span of any ruler of England.

1778. Instrumental to American hopes, King Louis XVI of France declares war on England.

1859. Big Ben rings for the first time.

1913. The temperature in Death Valley, California, hits 134 degrees fahrenheit -- the highest temperature ever recorded in the US.

1925. The so-called Scopes Trial begins.

1962. Telestar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.

July 11

1798. After having been disbanded immediately after the Revolutionary War, the Marine Corps is re-established.

1804. Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury, leader of the Federalist Party and longtime political enemy Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

1859. Dickens publishes A Tale of Two Cities, the most-printed book in history that was originally written in English. Its lead is considable in that category -- 200 million copies printed, putting it 50 million ahead of the Boy Scout handbook, the Book of Mormon, and The Lord of the Rings, which are all at about 150 million copies. It is also the most-printed novel in history -- the only works ahead of it are the Bible, the Koran, a Chinese dictionary, and three works by former Chinese dictator Mao Zedong -- the Little Red Book (the top printed book in history other than the Bible), a book of his poetry, and a book of selected articles.

1914. Babe Ruth makes his MLB debut.

1960. To Kill a Mockingbird is first published.

1972. The first game of the World Chess Championship begins, between American Bobby Fischer and defending champion Russian Boris Spassky. Dubbed the Match of the Century (though in all fairness other matches have also been accorded this title), the match had heightened scrutiny as a result of the Cold War. Fischer will win, becoming the first American champion since Wilhelm Steinitz, the first chess champion, became a naturalized citizen in 1888, and ending 24 years of Soviet Champions.

Fischer, the brilliant chess wunderkind, would fail to defend his title in 1975 when he couldnt' reach agreement with the governing international body of chess regarding the rules of the match. Always eccentric, he will become increasingly erratic, withdrawing from the public eye and all matches until a 1992 rematch against Spassky, which he also won. That match, however, got him no benefit in the US, as the match was held in Yugoslavia, then under strict UN sanctions. The resulting conflict with the US government led to him never returning ot his native country. He would go on to live in a number of foreign countries, with his few public statements being increasingly anti-American and anti-Semitic, notwithstanding his own Jewish heritage. In the early 2000s, he was held in Japan under threat of deportation, and eventually was granted a passport and then citizenship in Iceland -- the site of his famous 1972 match against Spassky -- where he lived until his death in 2008.

After his death, a draft letter was found among his papers. It's unclear whether it was ever finalized and/or sent.

July 12

A pretty slow day. I'll limit it to this:

1962. The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at the Marquee Club in London.

:Poke: :ZZZ:

July 13

1787. The NOrthwest Ordinance is passed. It establishes rules for admissions to statehood and limits the expansion of slavery.

1863. The worst rioting in United States history occurs in New York City, in resistance to the newly adopted draft.

1923. The original sign in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles is dedicated. It reads "Hollywoodland". The last four letters are dropped in 1949.

1973. Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the Nixon tapes to the staff of a Senate committee in preparation for his appearing before the committee. At this point he was the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, but he had previously been an assistant to H.R. Haldeman and his job included the preservation of historical documents, including the operations of the secret taping system. John Dean had previously mentioned to the Senators investigating the Watergate break in that he thought there was a secret taping system, so Senators were routinely asking witnesses what they knew about such a system. Butterfield had resolved that he wouldn't volunteer the existence of the system unless directly asked. Republican counsel Donald Sanders did ask him directly, and so he responded honestly.

Butterfield was promptly brought before the full committee where minority counsel Fred Thompson propelled himself into fame by asking

July 14. (hallelujah, caught up at last!)

1789. Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille and free seven prisoners.

1798. The SEdition Act becomes law, making it a crime to write, publish or utter a false or malicious statement about the US government.

1881. Pat Garrett shoots and kills Billy the Kidd.

1933. Germany outlaws all political parties other than the Nazi party.

1969. The $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills are officially withdrawn from circulation.

July 15

1099. The Crusaders of the First Crusade capture the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the believed site of Christ's crucifixion and one of the main goals of the First Crusade.

1799. A corps of approximately 170 technical experts traveling with Napoleon's French Army in Egypt spot a slab of stone a few miles northeast of the port city of Rashid. There is writing visible on one side, and they report the find to General Menou, commanding at the city of Rosetta. It turns out to be the key to unlocking the previously incomprehensible Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system as it contains three inscriptions -- one written in Greek, one in Demotic, and another in Hieroglyphic. The language had been lost since about the year 400, before the fall of the Roman Empire.

A partial translation into English:

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1815. Napoleon formally surrenders to the British, aboard a British warship.

1916. William Boeing and George Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products, later renamed Boeing.

1979. Jimmy Carter gives his famous (perhaps infamous would be a better description) "malaise" speech regarding "this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation."

July 16

622. The first day of the Muslim calendar, which was adopted for the year in which Muhammed traveled from Mecca to Medina.

1054. The Great Schism. It is hard for us to fathom now, but in the first centuries of Christianity, the struggle for leadership of the Christian religion was not fought solely in Rome. Rather, there were five leading centers of Christian thought, and they fought between and among themselves to establish their primary. These five centers were Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem. During these early centuries, the concept of the primacy of the Roman See, and Papal Infallability, did not exist. Ecumenical councils would be held to resolve the most contentious of the differences between the various Patriarchs.

Two in particular, however, stood out even then -- Rome and Constantinople. Rome, because of its history to the founders of the Church, and Constantinople because it was the seat of the Roman Empire, and what would become known to us as the Byzantine Empire, which for a time was among the most powerful empires in the world, and certainly in the Mediterranean. As Rome was being sacked by Visigoths and the Roman pontiffs were being made the puppet of secular powers, the archbishop of Constantinople was inviolate and surrounded by the trappings of Byzantium.

The sword of the Muslim infidels ended any claims of the sees of Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria to Christian leadership. By the year 700, each of these cities had fallen to the sword, and were largely converted.

As the centuries went along, however, there were increasing differences between the theological views of the Roman and Constantinople sees. At various times, the two were at odds and were not speaking with each other.

A series of arguments led to an increasing rift and hostility. On this date, 1054, a Papal legate entered the Church of the Hagia Sophia, during the Divine Liturgy, and placed a Bull of Excommunication on the altar. The Eastern patriarchs supported Constinople, and the Christian Church (remember, this is before Protestantism even existed) was forever after split into what we now know as the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. The split would have very important repercussions regarding Crusades, the eventual sacking of Constinople in the so-called Fourth "Crusade" in 1254, and the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453.

1918. Tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks.

1945. Stalin, Churchill and Truman meet at Potsdam. On that same day, the Atomic Age begins, as the US successfully tests the first nuclear weapon, near Alamagordo, New Mexico.

July 17

180. 12 inhabitants of Scillium, North Africa, are executed for being Christians -- the first record in history of Christians in that part of the world.

1203. In one of the most embarassing misadventures in western history, the Fourth "Crusade" captures Constantinople, the capital city of the extremely Christian Empire of Byzantium. The capture is led by the famous Venetian Doge, Enrico Dandolo who, despite being over 80 years of age and blind, was almost single-handedly responsible for diverting the Crusade to Constantinople and then was instrumental in personally exhorting the Crusaders to success. Indeed, out of the entire fiasco only Venice profited really. The other nations involved in the Crusade saw their early returns turn to dust as events increasingly turned against them despite their half-century possession of Constantinople.

1762. Catherine the Great becomes Tsar of Russia.

1867. The first dental school in America is established, at Harvard University.

1917. After being locked in the deadliest war in history against, primarily, Germany, the King of England, George V, decrees a change of the royal family's surname to Windsor, from the rather embarassingly Germanic Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (or Wettin -- the actual surname was so complicated that Queen Victoria had to order an inquiry to determine her surname after her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha).

1942. The Battle of Stalingrad commences.

1944. Napalm is used for the first time, near St. Lo, France.

1968. The Ba'ath Party takes power in Iraq, led by Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr. He will rule until the late 1970s, when he is replaced by his chosen successor, his cousin, Saddam Hussein.

July 18

390 (though more probably, 387) BC. Roman forces are defeated in the Battle of Allia, leading to Rome being sacked for the last time until 410 AD.

64. A bad day in Roman history. A fire breaks out in the merchant's quarter of Rome, and quickly spreads, leading to the Great Fire of Rome. It lasts for over five days, and 11 of Rome's 15 districts escape damage, and three are completely destroyed. Numerous rumors abound regarding the actions of Emperor Nero, varying from leading herioc relief efforts to having committed the arson personally. One thing is clear -- he didn't play the fiddle. If anything, he played the lyre, which is the only instrument he is known to have been able to play.

1290. King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banning all Jews from England.

1863. The first formal African-American military unit, the Massachusetts 54th regiment, fails in its assault on the Confederate Battery Wagner, a fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina. The events of the unit and assault are memorialized in the movie, Glory. After the failed assault the fort is besieged, and is abandoned due to lack of fresh water in September.

1870. The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of Papal Infallability. (Seems to me it shouldn't have taken 1,870 years to figure that one out, but call me a skeptic). It is not, however, a decree that the Pope is never wrong. Rather, only that when he promulgates an article of faith to the Church. There is only one instance of Papal Infallability that everyone agrees on -- the 1950 decree by Pope Pius XII regarding the Assumption of Mary (that the body and soul of the mother of Christ went directly to heaven upon her death).

1925. Adolf (not Adolph) Hitler publishes his ravings in Mein Kampf. The name was suggested by his publisher, over Hitler's preference for the wordy title "Four and a half years (of struggle) against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice."

1936. Military rebels attempt a coup d'etat against the government, setting off the Spanish Civil War which will serve as a precursor and proving ground for the upcoming WWII.

1942. German tests the ME-262, using only jet engines, for the first time.

1944. Prime Minister Hideki Tojo resigns, due to numerous military set backs. He will ultimately be sentenced to death, and hang for, war crimes.

1969. Ted Kennedy drives off a bridge in Chappaquiddock, Massachusetts, resulting in the death of his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.

It is the garden of Eden after all.

It is more polite to call him a fiddler than a liar though. :)

July 19

1588. The Battle of Gravelines. The "defeat" of the Spanish Armada was not accomplished in one titanic battle. Rather, it was a series of negative events that resulted in the failure of the Armada to accomplish its strategic objective of bringing an army of invasion to Southern England. Of these events, the Battle of Gravelines (named after the port in Spanish Flanders located near the battle) was one of the most significant, wherein several Spanish ships were lost, several others punished, against light English losses. Further, the English harried the fleet over the next several days, and prevented it from meeting up with the army of the Duke of Parma which was poised to be ferried to England as the invasion force.

1848. A two day Women's Rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, NY. There, "bloomers" are introduced.

1870. France declares war on Prussia, kicking off the Franco-Prussian War, or alternatively the War of 1870. In hindsight, this turns out to be a very bad idea for France.

July 20

356 BC. Alexander the Great is born.

1402. Timur (sometimes Tamerlane) crushes the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Ankara, capturing Sultan Bayezid I, who will die in captivity. This victory, heaped on all the others across his life when he rampaged without fail from modern day Turkey to India, cements his legacy as one of the greatest conquerors and killers in history.

1864. Battle of Peachtree Creek. William T. Sherman had set out from Tennessee some months ago with Atlanta as his objective. General Joseph Johnston commanded the Confederate troops opposing him, and had steadily retreated before Sherman's numerically superior, veteran troops. Confederate leadership, however, was unhappy with Johston's performance, and relieved him, appointing General John Bell Hood, who formerly served under Robert E. Lee, to replace him.

In retrospect, this was a grave mistake. Johnston was a very able and intelligent commander. Hood was a fighter, but it takes more than a fighter to lead an army.

The Battle of Peachtree Creek was the first of several unsuccessful attacks by Confederate troops defending in the immediate vicinity of Atlanta. Ultimately, these attacks would wreck Hood's army and put Sherman in possession of Atlanta in time for the upcoming elections.

Fort Hood, Texas, is named in honor of John Bell Hood.

1938. The US Department of Justice files a lawsuit against the motion picture industry alleging that the studio system violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. The studio system was the system by which major movie studios had vertically integrated ownership of all levels of movie production and distribution, and effectively "owned" major movie stars via long term contracts. The suit would result in the break up of the industry in 1948.

1941. Stalin consolidates the Commisariats of Home Affairs and National Security, forming the NKVD, a significant component of which will soon be better known as the KGB, and names Lavrenti Beria as its chief.

1944. Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.

1973. Assistant Secretary of Defense Jerry Friedheim admits that the Department of Defense lied to Congress about bombings in Cambodia. (I hope whoever did the lying, or ordered the lying, was suitably punished :shake: )

July 21

356 BC. Herostratus, apparently a lunatic seeking fame at any cost (hence the phrase "Herostratic fame"), sets fire to the Temple of ARtemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, destroying it.

1861. The First Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the Civil War is fought. It ends in a stunning Confederate victory. Idiots of all types from Washington DC, including some politicians and their wives, trailed along the Union Army and witnessed the battle, thinking it would be some kind of grand show that would obviously end in Union victory. They quickly retreat to the city, disillusioned.

1873. At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the "Old West".

1925. John T. Scopes is found guilty in the Scopes Trial, and fined $100.

1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first men to walk on the moon.

1983. The world's lowest temperature ever is recorded, -129 degrees Fahrenheit, in Antarctica.

Sounds like something our media does..... idiots...


and DAYAM THAT'S COLD!

July 22

1456. The Ottoman Empire's siege of Belgrade is lifted. Three short years earlier, the Ottoman Empire had captured Constaninople, which was defended by one of -- if not THE -- best fortifications on earth, though those defenses were undermanned. At the time, the young Sultan, Mehmet II, had already established his reputation, and that of his army, as among the best in the world. During this time, the Christian state of Hungary, which bordered the Empire, decided not to intervene for a number of reasons, including the fact that it was not yet prepared to fight. This, despite the fact that its leader, John Hunyadi, was perfectly aware that he would be the next target of the frightening Ottoman war machine.

Hunyadi instead spent his time preparing his defenses and his men. As expected, the Ottoman Empire next sought to conquer Hungary and continue its relentless expansion into Europe. Belgrade, then a border fortress, was besieged on July 4th. Hunyadi led a valiant defense, including a surprise counterattack that overran the Turkish camp. Mehmet withdrew his forces, realizing that he was unable to effectuate a successful siege at this time.

Although Hunyadi and many of his men would be dead within the month due to an outbreak of plague among his troops, the implications of this Ottoman defeat would be far-reaching. The Ottoman Empire's advance was checked until 1521 -- 70 years later -- when the Ottomans would finally capture Belgrade. In the meantime, the empire would begin the slow and painful process of absorbing Bosnia and Serbia into the Empire in order ot ensure that those areas served as a stable source of support for future operations -- an effort that has implications to this day. Hungarian resistance to Ottoman incursions would also become a thing of legend, and Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (the Impaler, i.e. Dracula) and Stephen III would come to power under Hunyadi, and continue heroic Hungarian resistance.

Ultimately, in 1526 the Ottomans would conquer most of Hungary, then be checked at the siege of Vienna in 1529 which led to 150 years of on-again, off-again wars and heightened tensions between various European powers and the Ottomans until the Battle of Vienna in 1683 began to roll back the Ottoman tide.

1796. General Moses Cleaveland, supervisor of a surveyor party for the Connecticut Land Company, names an area of the Ohio Valley after himself following his discovery.

1864. Outside Atlanta, Georgia, Hood attacks Sherman's troops at Bald Hill. The attack (again) fails.

1894. The first motorized racing event ever is held, in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. History is silent as to whether any of the observers consume Budweiser.

1934. John Dillinger, an extremely dangerous criminal who had robbed over two dozen banks, shot and killed several police officers, and escaped prison twice, is shot and killed outside Chicago's Biograph Theater. He had gone there to see, fittingly, a gangster movie starring Clark Gable. He was accompanied by two ladies including one who, supposedly, wore a red dress to help the FBI identify Dillinger.

Unsurprisingly, J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the FBI and a man who did not believe in having rivals for publicity, squeezed the man who led the team that killed Dillinger (the unfortunately named Melvin Purvis) out of the FBI. Purvis would go on to become a Colonel in the US Army during World War II.

2003. Members of the US 101st Airborne, aided by special forces, attack a compound near Mosul, Iraq killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Qusay's 14 year old son Mustapha. The sons were heavily involved in operating Saddam Hussein's rulership over Iraq.

July 23

1862. Henry W. Halleck ("Old Brains") takes over as Commander in Chief of the Union Army. Lincoln appoints him in hopes of coordinating all Union armies and spurring the thus-far slow and reluctant Union commanders into action. He would be sorely disappointed in this, and would soon refer to him as "little more than a first rate clerk." And yet, Halleck would serve until the end of the war as a highly efficient administrator of the war effort. He would be replaced by Grant (his former subordinate in the West) as commander-in-chief, but Grant would stay with the Army of the Potomac, leaving administrative details to Halleck in Washington.

1903. Ford Motor Company sells its first car.

1914. Austria-Hungary issues a demand to Serbia for Serbia to allow it to investigate the death of its crown prince, Franz Ferdinand. Serbia will refuse.

1984. Vanessa Williams resigns as Miss America after nude pictures of her are published in Penthouse.

July 24

1148. Louis VII, King of France, leading the armies of the Second Crusade, begins the Siege of Damascus. Intending on besieging from the west of the city, where food supplies were more plentiful, the Crusaders quickly move to the eastern side of the city, which is less well defended. Muslim armies move to block a return to the prior position, and the Crusaders soon realize they have made a grave (no pun intended) error. Soon thereafter they lift the siege and begin marching across Anatolia, during hte course of which much of their army is destroyed. Accusations of betrayal between the various Crusader states (internally) and between the Crusader states as a group and the Christian Byzantine Empire cause serious consequences across the next several centuries. Indeed, other than the incidental but still significant victory of armies gathering to conduct the Second Crusade kicking the Muslims out of Lisbon on the way, the entire Second Crusade was an abject failure.

1701. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founds the trading post at Fort Pontchartrain, later to be known as Detroit, Michigan.

1911. Hiram Bingham III rediscovers Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas.

1935. The "Dust Bowl" heat wave during the Great Depression hits its peak, with temperatures of 109 degrees recorded in Chicago and 104 in Milwaukee.

1943. Operation Gamorrah begins, targetting Hamburg. A critical military-commercial city, Hamburg was a large port city with shipyards, U-Boat pens, oil refineries and, amusingly, teh world's oldest manufactery of dynamite, built by the inventor of dynamite himself, Alfred Nobel (Nobel peace prize anyone?). As such, Hamburg was repeatedly targetted by Allied bombing. On this date, 1943, Operation Gamorrah began, lasting 8 days and 7 nights. The operation entailed continues bombing with British and Canadian sorties being flown by night, and American attacks by day. Several attacks involved sorties of over 700 bombers.

On July 27th, the unusually hot, dry weather contribued to the effects of the 739 bombers that attacked the city, creating a "firestorm" a huge tornadic inferno of fire with winds of up to 150 mph and 1,500 degrees fahrenheit reaching altitudes of 1,000 feet and absolutely incinerating eight square miles of the city. Even the asphalt streets burst into flame, and the oil, gasoline and other chemical spilling into the bay caused the surface of the ocean itself to erupt. Those seeking shelter in bomb and fallout shelters suffocated as the immense fires consumed all oxygen above. In all, the week's effort destroyed approximately 280,000 buildings, including 250,000 residences, killed 50,000 people, and rendered approximately one million homeless.

1983. The "Pine Tar Incident."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrFzGbM_g4Y

1990. Iraqi forces start massing on the border with Kuwait.

July 25

1261. Forces belonging to one of the city-states formed by the Byzantine Emperor after the fall of Constantinople to Latin forces during the Fourth Crusade (in 1204) sneak into the city, attack the walls from the inside, open the gates, and reconquer the city. "Emperor" Baldwin II, who among other notable acts during his reign pawned the Crown of Thorns in 1237 to Venetian merchants, and the other leading Latin nobles successfully fled the city.

1866. Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army. This is a four star rank, and only one person was permitted to hold such rank at one time. Grant will be the first to hold it, and then Sherman will be elevated to the rank upon Grant's election as President. By act of Congress in 1888, the rank will be conferred upon Philip Sheridan, then in failing health. The rank will then be disbanded for a time after Sheridan's death later that same year.

In 1944 legislation will pass authorizing a new version of the rank General of the Army, this time with five stars, as well as Fleet Admiral. The rank of General of the Armies is intended to put America's most senior military officers into parity with British officers holding the rank of Field Marshal. The first person appointed to the new five star is George Marshall, and then Douglas MacArthur two days later. Marshall's prior appointment, however, means he outranks MacArthur due to time in grade. Two days after that Dwight Eisenhower is appointed, then Henry (Hap) Arnold the following day. Six years later Omar Bradley will be elevated to five stars.

The United States decided not to employ the rank of "Field Marshal" like a number of other countries because one holding the post is often referred to as a Marshal, which might cause confusion with US Marshals, who are law enforcment officers, and the fact that George Marshall would clearly be promoted to the rank, creating the seemingly undignified title of "Field Marshal Marshall".

The five star rank is still technically available and could be bestowed during time of war with Congressional approval, but no one has held the rank since Bradley's retirement.

This rank is not to be confused with the rank of General of the Armies, which is considered a higher rank, and has only been held by two people -- George Washington during the Revolutionary War, and Black Jack Pershing during World War I. When the new five star rank was introduced in 1944, it was determined that Pershing (who was still alive at the time) would still outrank all of these newly minted five stars. Washington was retroactively promoted to the rank of General of the Armies in 1976, as part of the bicentennial celebrations, when an Act of Congress made it clear that the rank outranked all other ranks of the Army, past and present.

1869. Local Japanese rulers, or daimyo, begin returning land to the Emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration.

1943. Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by his own cabinet.

1946. In a New Jersey nightclub, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin perform together for the first time.

1978. Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born.

July 26

811. Battle of Pliska. The last in a long series of battles between the forces of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and Bulgaria, the Bulgarians ambush and slaughter the vast majority of the entire Byzantine Empire, killing the Emperor and seriously wounding his son. Afterwards, Khan Krum used the skull of the Emperor, Nicephorus, as a drinking cup -- one of the best documented instances of the "skull cup".

The dramatic defeat led Byzantium to avoid fighting the Bulgars for nearly 150 years, leading Bulgaria to vastly increase its territory and influence and creating the First Bulgarian Empire. That empire would be put to the sword by one of the greatest of all Byantine Emperors, Basil II ("Bulgarslayer").

1861. Following the Union's disastrous showing at the First Battle of Bull Run, George B. McClellan is appointed as commander in chief of the Army of the Potomac. He will raise training standards and morale tremendously during his tenure, but his complete lack of aggressiveness and wavering attitude towards how, and perhaps even whether, to win the war against the South will greatly tarnish his legacy. Eventually, believing in his misguided megalomania that Lincoln is a fool, he will run against Lincolin in the 1864 elections, losing decisively with even the majority of the Union troops who served under him, and who genuinely had loved him, voting for Lincoln.



1941. In protest of the Japanese power grab in French Indo-China, President Roosevelt orders the seizure of all Japanese assets in the US.

1945. Barely two months after V-E Day, the Labour Party wins a stunning and overwhelming victory in elections, sweeping Winston Churchill out of power.

1945. The Potsdam Declaration is signed.

1947. President Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947, completely reorganizing the American intelligence/military system and creating the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, the Department of Defense and the National Security Council.

1948. President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, desegregating American armed forces.

1990. President Bush (the first) signs the Americans with Disabilities Act into law.