June 1

1774 - The British closed the port of Boston as punishment for the 'Boston Tea Party.'

This worked wonderfully...Wonderfully for those trying to foment revolution.

Instead of coming back to the Colonists with a hand of reconciliation the Brits spit on them, which did nothing but turn more Colonists into Patriots - then Revolutionaries!

1813 - The U.S. Navy gained its motto as the mortally wounded commander of the U.S. frigate 'Chesapeake,' Captain James Lawrence, was heard to say, "Don't give up the ship" during a losing battle with a British frigate:  War of 1812.

What a great motto for what has become the greatest naval power in the history of the world.

1941 - Germany banned all Catholic publications.

American Liberals could only hope for such a victory over religion...They've had no such luck so far, but they’re trying their best.

1964 - The U.S. Supreme Court banned prayer and Bible teaching in public schools on the constitutional grounds of separation of church and state.

Talk about sliding down a slippery slope...Ask yourself: Are we better off as a nation after this ruling, or not?

I'm not a religious person, but I’d say we’ve hit a moral low-point in American history since this ruling...And the education level of our students is little short of a national tragedy.

1990 - The U.S. and U.S.S.R. signed an agreement to stop producing chemical weapons.

You believe this, right? Sure.

1993 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled a criminal conviction must be overturned if the jury was given a constitutionally flawed definition of "beyond reasonable doubt."

So criminals get off on flawed logic even if they are guilty?

“The stench from the bench is making me clench.” - Michael Savage

May 31

1916 - The Battle of Jutland:  WWI.  Britain v. Germany.

Jutland was the largest naval battle of WWI.

Both sides claim victory in the battle, but there was no conclusive winner or loser - even though the Brits lost more men and ships...The reality is the British could sustain naval losses much easier than the Germans, and since the battle was more-or-less a draw the strategic results of the battle favored the British.

As a result of the Battle of Jutland the Germans refused to fight the Brits in a large scale, open, naval battle for the remainder of the war.  Instead they changed their strategy to small battles and U-boat attacks...It also left British domination of the North Sea intact, ultimately protecting its naval base at Scapa Flow.

1279 B.C. - Rameses II, 'the Great' became Pharaoh of Egypt.

Rameses was the greatest ruler in Ancient Egypt, and truly deserves the title of 'the Great.'

He ruled for 66-years, secured Egypt's north and south borders - against the Hittites and Nubians - expanded the empire, and was a massive city and monument builder.

Unfortunately for the Egyptians, their history is littered with far more useless leaders than Rameses...A fact which ultimately doomed this great civilization.

455 - Petronius Maximus, West Roman emperor, was torn to pieces by a Roman mob.

Being Emperor had its positives - it also had its negatives. The constant threat of assassination was one of the negatives...Needless to say, the Roman Empire was in it's last years.

1162 - Genghis Khan, founder of the united Mongol nation, was born.

The 'Great Khan' was a giant figure in history, and his accomplishments have shaped 800-years of history throughout all of Asia and much of Europe...Genghis' effect was direct in Asia and Eastern Europe, but Western Europe was affected as well by the push of new people from east to west who were looking to escape the Mongols.

It's also important to note the Mongols were a significant force in keeping the Muslims from conquering all of Central and Eastern Europe...Much more of a factor than the various European crusader wars.

There's also the claim that 1 in 10 human beings carry his DNA - a claim which seems impossible, but is one which may be possible considering the amount of women he and his successors raped.

1578 - The Catacombs of Rome were discovered, by accident.

The 'Underground City' of ancient Rome (25-65 ft underground) is one of the most bizarre stories in the ancient world...What’s bizarre about them is they have been misrepresented since being rediscovered in 1578.

Many stories have been 'made up' about the catacombs as a place of escaping persecution (Christians, criminals, debtors, etc.). This is untrue however. Of course some may have sought them out as a place to hide, but in general the catacombs are what they were designed to be: An underground burial site.

1864 - The Battle of Cold Harbor began (ended June 12):  U.S. Civil War.

Grant had no problem putting his men in battle, but this was one he should have walked away from:

"One attack I always regretted ordering...At Cold Harbor no advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained." - Gen. Grant

Union Troops/Casualties: 108,000/13,000
Confederate Troops/Casualties: 62,000/2,500

It was so bad, Union troops new they were being led into a blood-bath and pinned their names to their back...They did so because they knew after the battle ‘no one would recognize their front’.

1889 - The Johnstown Flood:  Heavy rains caused the South Fork Dam to collapse, sending 20-million tons of water into Johnstown, Pa. Over 2,200 people were killed and the town was nearly destroyed.

This is one of the great disasters in U.S. history, and one of the biggest stories in the post-Civil War 19th Century era.

Much has been made of the men who used the lake behind the dam (Lake Conemaugh), but the accident was just that...Unfortunately the owners of the lake were the Carnegie's, Mellon’s, Frick’s, Pitcairn’s, etc, and the incident was turned into an abuse of wealth at the expense of the common man. This was not the case, and the incident was simply a terrible accident.

1909 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held its first conference.

Maybe its me, but it seems the only 'color' they choose to 'advance' is black...And since the death of the 1950-60's Civil Rights leaders, the NAACP has become little more than a group of complainers with more work put towards graft than advancing anyone other than themselves.

1962 - Former Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel.

A fitting end to one of Hitler’s leading henchmen...It's too bad all of them didn't die at the end of the rope - or worse.

1977 - The trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making, was completed.

This is an awesome engineering project, which crosses 600 rivers and streams, two mountain ranges, and allows for earthquakes.

The pipeline has been much maligned by EnvironMENTALISTS, but is much cleaner than the other options of transporting the product.

As a result of the pipeline, the U.S. receives up to 20% of its yearly oil supply from Alaska...We could easily increase this amount if we opened up ANWAR and other oil fields, and let the pipes flow, but the MENTALists would rather we be dependent on our enemies in the Middle East than be self-sufficient.

1993 - President Bill Clinton paid a Memorial Day visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where some in the crowd jeered him for his efforts to avoid military service; Clinton exhorted his critics to remember that "disagreement is freedom's privilege."

What a disgrace to have such a dishonorable man as Commander-in-Chief...Bill would have done better to keep his mouth shut on this issue.

Also, Clinton and his Lefty pals never seem to agree with 'disagreement' when it comes from the Right...They surely don't believe it is their 'privilege.'

1994 - The United States announced it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.

I’m sure we've pointed some at other targets, but anyone who believes all our missiles were taken off the Ruskies is a moron.

1999 - During a Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery, President Bill Clinton asked Americans to reconsider their ambivalence about Kosovo, saying it is "a very small province in a small country. But it is a big test of what we believe in."

Why did the Democrats 'believe in' sending our military to Serbia (which had never been a threat to the U.S.), but belligerently refused to support our efforts in Iraq?

Again: Bombs with (D) = Good. Bombs with (R) = Bad.

Even more important, attacking Serbia was a terrible affront to the Russians...A matter we are still dealing with today.  Something we should always remember when we go out and play in our enemy's back yard.

May 30

1814 – The Treaty of Paris (one of many) was signed, ending the war between France and the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, Sweden and Prussia. It also enforced the abdication of Napoleon I.

This treaty ended the French Revolution and returned the French borders to their 1792 extent.

That said, even though many consider the end of the Revolution to be when Napoleon was crowned Emperor, the reality is Napoleon was a product of the Revolution and his reign should be considered part of it.

Unfortunately, the treaty may have ended the French Revolution, but it didn't end the Napoleonic Wars, because the Euro's didn't have the emperor executed, and another Peace of Paris was required in 1815 after they finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo...Incredibly, they didn't execute him there either.

1431 - Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon, after being convicted of high treason against God by an ecclesiastical court.

Nice of the French to hand her over to the English after she saved their ass...The French king was afraid of her 'power,' and figured it'd be easier to do away with Joan.

Oddly enough, this war was one of the few they won against the English/Brits in the next 500+ years...Could it be they've been cursed for betraying 'The Maid?'

1539 - Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto landed on the coast of Florida.

From this discovery came the Spanish claim to North America, which they believed the Treaty of Tordesilla guaranteed them, anyway...Unfortunately for Spain, the Brits, French, and later United States, had no use for Papal or Spanish declarations.

1868 - The first 'Decoration Day' (Memorial Day) observance occurred in Columbus, MS.

A well deserved day, and one we should all take time to embrace...Freedom isn't free!!! It never has been, and never will be.

1913 - The First Balkan War ended with the Treaty of London.

Much of Southeastern Europe won its freedom from the Turks in this war, which presented a challenge to the ever-weakening Austro-Hungarian Empire.

As such, the result of the Balkan War was to create increased tension between the Empire and Russia - semi-protector of the newly independent nations...Which played a huge role in the beginning of WWI a year later.

1922 - The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated by Chief Justice William Howard Taft.

This is an incredibly powerful monument, with the great man seated and flanked by the inscriptions of the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address...Above Lincoln's head is the dedication:

IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER.

1943 - American forces secured the Aleutian island of Attu, Alaska from the Japanese:  WWII.

I'm amazed many Americans don't know the Japanese had a foothold on part of North America during WWII.

Japan held the Aleutians for a very short time, but proved they could get a landing force to the continent, and had they not been discovered could have wreaked havoc with chemical and biological weapons from this range...And they were very close to having such weapons.

1958 - Unidentified soldiers killed in World War II and the Korean conflict were buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

I highly recommend you go to Arlington and take some time to walk its grounds...Beware of the largeness of the grounds, however, because the maps don't do justice to the enormity of it.

And make sure you take the walk to the Iwo Jima Memorial, as well.

1994 - The U.N. Security Council warned North Korea to stop refueling a nuclear reactor and allow U.N. monitors to perform full inspections.

WOW!!! I bet the North Koreans almost pee'd themselves when the Circle Jerk Group made this declaration.

As we know, there are no monitors in North Korea, Bill Clinton gave them the 'nuclear farm' in exchange for peace (ha ha), and the Kims are constantly waiving the middle finger and their new toys at the world.

Obviously, the U.N. warning meant nothing to North Korea...And why should they worry? The U.N. is a paper tiger and the U.S. is terrified of China next door.

1997 - Child molester Jesse K. Timmendequas was convicted in Trenton, New Jersey, of raping and strangling a seven year old neighbor, Megan Kanka, whose 1994 murder inspired 'Megan's Law,' requiring communities to be notified when sex offenders move in. Timmendequas was later sentenced to death.

Megan's Law is a fantastic tool, but a much better method of protecting the public would be to execute all sex offenders.

1. They'd be dead (duh!).

2. This would put fear in the mind of those who might otherwise become predators...And yes, I do believe they can control themselves.

Anyone who argues they can't control themselves, must agree option '1' is the best way, because if they can't be controlled they should be terminated. Unless those who argue against execution don't mind setting these 'uncontrollable freaks' loose on the public, that is.

3. They'd be dead (DUH!!!).

May 29

1453 - The Byzantine Empire fell to Turkish Sultan Mehemet II, who captured Constantinople.

This is the 'real date' of the Fall of the Roman Empire...The Western capital (Rome) fell in the 5th Century, but the Eastern capital lasted for almost another 1,000 years.

It's sad this isn't properly taught in schools. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not - probably not.

The splendor of the Byzantines was every bit as impressive as that of Rome, and the power of the Roman Empire was centered in the East long before the West fell.

Unfortunately, I see no way the West ever regains this magnificent piece of territory...Not so much because the Islamic world is so powerful, but because the West has become to pathetic to reclaim it.

1765 - Patrick Henry denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia's House of Burgesses. Responding to a cry of "Treason!," Henry replied, "If this be treason, make the most of it!"

Henry is one of my favorite Patriots, and one of the leading advocates of revolution...Check out some of his famous quotes, and you'll see why I'm so fond of him.

1864 - Archduke Maximilian of Austria arrived in Mexico to become Emperor.

Gotta love the a Euros trying to reestablish themselves in the Western Hemisphere while the U.S. was in the middle of a civil war.

It's too bad Lincoln didn't have a few extra divisions to send to Mexico and mop up on these pukes...Pathetically, the Euro-scum couldn't even handle the Mexican force, which tossed them out.

1943 - Meat and cheese rationing began in the U.S.:  WWII.

CALL OUT THE ACLU(seless)...How dare the government restrict anyone's liberty of eating meat and cheese!!!

Of course we were in the middle of a world war, but this would mean nothing to the current group of anti-American POS's...In fact, they'd probably be crying we had no business fighting Germany, because they didn't attack us.

2001 - The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of Elkhart v. Books, letting stand the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that the display of the Ten Commandments on an Elkhart, Indiana, city monument was in violation of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

How ridiculous!! Most of the laws we have are based on a scriptural reference or concept...And the Bible (Old and New) has always been a motivating force behind American justice.

I'm sure they'd have no problem if a judge decided to post the Code of Hammurabi, though! Which was codification of religious laws as well, but it isn't Judeo-Christian so it would pass...Hell, they'd probably allow Sharia to be posted, as well.

May 28

1830 - President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, requiring Indians in the eastern part of the United States to be resettled west of the Mississippi.

For this reason, modern-day Liberals beat up on President Jackson, trying to make him out as a horrible man...Jackson was a very-good president - easily in the top ten all time, and the fact he did what any president of his time would have done should not be a negative mark on his legacy.

That said, this was a horrific event for the Indians.  An event they could have avoided had they kept the Europeans off the continent...But they didn't, and as a result they were displaced and wiped out (mostly through disease) - they were lucky they weren't completely wiped out (militarily or through genocide).  Which is what almost every previous imperial nation had done in the past.

And yes, the U.S. is an imperial power.

1937 - Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister of Britain.

The Brits made a tragic choice, and paid dearly for doing so...Proof of this mistake can be found in four simple words: "Peace in Our Time".

1940 - The Belgian Army surrendered to invading German forces:  WWII.

The pathetic Belgians lasted almost as long as the more pathetic French...I'm sure this is a badge of honor for both of them.

May 27 (A Double)

1679 - The British parliament passed the 'Habeas Corpus Act of Parliament.' Habeas Corpus is described as "Upon proper application, or even on naked knowledge alone, a court is empowered, and is duty bound, to issue the Extraordinary Writ of Habeas Corpus commanding one who is restraining liberty to forthwith produce before the court the person who is in custody and to show cause why the liberty of that person is being restrained."

The application of this law in the American colonies was one of the many issues which caused the American Revolution, and is addressed in multiple places in the U.S. Constitution:

Article 1, Section 9, Paragraph 2 is the most specific: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

It is also implied and indirectly addressed in the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments.

1861 - Ex Parte Merryman:  Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled President Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus was unconstitutional. Lincoln ignored the Supreme Court's ruling.

What great timing for Taney. I'm sure he picked this date to make his ruling; piggy-backing on the British law from 1679.

That said, Lincoln was correct to make this policy decision, and to ignore the Court's ruling...And yes, his decision was constitutional.

Read what Article 1 states: “..., unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

We were in the early stages of the Civil War, and clearly in a state of “rebellion”...But the moral degenerates of the time (Democrats by the way) claimed we were not at war with another nation, so this was not a legitimate reason to suspend the law. The kind of twisted logic modern-Democrats are famous for.

Either way, the judiciary had no way to enforce their ruling and Lincoln had a nation to save - which he did.

1994 - Nobel Prize winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia to the emotional cheers of thousands after spending two decades in exile.

Solzhenitsyn was the greatest 'freedom fighting' Russian of the 20th Century, and one of the top four worldwide in the second half of the 20th Century...Along with Pope John Paul II, Reagan and Thatcher.

If you decide to read one 'GREAT' (though terribly difficult) book before you die, take a look at: The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956...Or you can take a much easier, though still effective, way out and read:  Gulag:  A History

May 26

1940 - Operation Dynamo: WWII.  The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France began.

Hitler made a huge miscalculation not crushing the Brits on the beach.

His first mistake was not allowing his generals to continue the offensive, which would have destroyed the Brits before they even got to Dunkirk. The second mistake was allowing the 'Fat Field Marshal' (Goering - who failed his master at every turn), to crush the evacuation with the Luftwaffe.  A 'crushing' Goering didn't accomplish.

Instead, the Germans had to fight the escaped Brits at a later date...And even more important, the evacuation gave the Brits the hope and will to continue fighting the Germans until the Russians and Americans were dragged into the fight.

Thankfully, Hitler and his non-military leaders were inept, otherwise it is possible he could have kept the U.S. and Russians out of the war - by winning it before they entered.

1865 - The last Confederate resistance of the American Civil War ended when General Kirby Smith surrendered at Shreveport, near New Orleans. The Confederate government surrendered on April 9.

Information transfer is always slow during war, and it must be remembered this was long before the age of telephone, TV and the Internet.

1868 - President Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives for "high crimes and misdemeanors."

Those who pay attention know Johnson was the first U.S. President to be impeached...Not Nixon and not Clinton.

I also hope you know Nixon wasn’t impeached at all. He jumped before they could get him.

1938 - The House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) was founded.

We could desperately use a renewal of this committee. It functioned properly before and would do so again. Much of what McCarthy claimed was right (Venona Papers), and the scoundrels of our time should be ‘outed’ as well.

2000 - President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order #13158, expanding the scope and jurisdiction of the 'Marine Protected Areas' (MPAs) along American coasts, lakes, "connecting waters," etc.

What a jackass! He pushed this order and didn’t think through the effect it would have on Marine amphibious training sites, or naval maneuvers...Or, maybe he knew exactly what he was doing!! He was the 'smartest' president we've ever had, ya know. Well, until Obama took over.

May 25

1521 - The Edict of Worms was proclaimed, declaring Martin Luther a "criminal and permitted anyone to kill him without consequences."

This date marks the end of the Diet of Worms (it began on Jan. 28, 1521).

The edict was a pronouncement by Emperor Charles V (along with the Church) against Martin Luther and the rising Protestant Reformation (which had no name at the time)...But Charles didn't kill Luther himself!!!

The irony of the declaration is the fact that regardless of the tough talk, Luther wasn’t killed at the assembly, which made him and his movement stronger, and weakened the Emperor and the Church as a result.

Charles should have executed Luther when he had the chance, but didn’t do so because he didn’t want to upset the German princes...He should have been foresighted enough to realize he would have to fight them eventually, and should have killed Luther before he had the opportunity to escape to their protection.

1787 - The first regular session of the Constitutional Convention was held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.

Their original goal wasn’t to create a new Constitution, it was to revise the existing 'Articles of Confederation'...But the brilliant minds of the time knew the current system would never last, and it would have left the young nation at a terrible risk of being reconquered by the Brits or dissolving into open warfare among the 'independent' states.

1935 - Babe Ruth hit the 714th and final home run of his career.

The end of the career of the greatest sports figure in American history was in sight...It’s a shame he had to hit his last home run in anything other than a Yankee uniform, though.

1961 - President Kennedy asked the nation to work toward putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

This event was JFK’s shining moment. One of only two (along with the Cuban missile Crisis)...I wonder if it would have happened if the cause didn't have his martyrdom to fuel it?

1996 - President Bill Clinton, honoring the men and women who died in military service, used his weekly radio address to defend America's global military role, saying it "is making our people safer and the world more secure."

He said this for his mismanagement of Somalia, and what should have been a European problem in Serbia, but he and his Leftist friends can’t find it in themselves to say it after the world is relieved of Saddam Hussein??

1997 - French voters gave the Leftist opposition the biggest share of votes in a surprising setback for President Jacques Chirac's Conservatives.

Talk about 'relativity!' Chirac is a Lefty by any normal sense of the political spectrum, but in France he’s a Conservative.

May 24

1844 - Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message, "What hath God wrought!" from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America's first telegraph line.

The world shrank greatly with this simple sentence...Anytime information transfer is sped up the world gets smaller, and Morse set off a shrinking which brought the knowledge of the world within a fingertip's reach 150-years later.

1337 - French King Philip VI announced the confiscation of Gascony from England.

This event provided the spark which started the Hundred Year's War.

Those wondering what claim the English had to any part of France must remember William the Conqueror was a Norman prince and as such ruled both Normandy and England...The English kings who succeeded William kept the claim to Normandy (and other parts of France), which was unacceptable to the French and ultimately untenable for the English monarchs.

1543 - Nicolaus Copernicus published 'De Revolutionibus':  His theory of a sun-centered solar system.

Amazingly, he was pretty close to correct, but wasn’t acknowledged as so in his lifetime - or anywhere near his lifetime...Sadly, he died shortly after this publication.

1607 - Captain Christopher Newport and 105 followers founded the colony of Jamestown at the mouth of the James River on the coast of Virginia. They left England with 144 members - 39 died on the trip across the Atlantic.

The English previously attempted other colonies, but Jamestown was the first permanent English colony in the New World to survive.

1764 - Boston lawyer James Otis denounced "taxation without representation" and called for the colonies to unite in demonstrating their opposition to Britain’s new tax measures.

A battle-cry was born, and the Colonials were awakening to an impossible-possibility:  Overthrowing the world's superpower of the time - Great Britain.

Sadly, Americans have found 'taxation with representation' isn't much better - except those who are sucking from the taxpayer teat, that is.  They love taxation, and demand more; ever more for their never ending 'rights' to freebies.
 
1965 - A federal law authorizing the postal interception of communist propaganda was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Huh?? You ask why? The Liberal Court didn’t want their, and their friends, mail 'intercepted'...That's my take on the ruling, anyway.

1980 - Iran rejected a call by the World Court to release the American hostages.

Instead of razing Tehran, or at least sending a surgical strike to kill many Iranian leaders, our pansy leader (Jimmy Carter) sat on his thumbs and allowed the Ayatollah to continue his game...A game the current mullahs play to this day - a much more deadly game with nuclear power.

1990 - Two members of the militant environmental group Earth First! were injured when a pipe bomb exploded in their car in Oakland, California.

It's terrible these people were injured...Would have been better if they had died.

2001 - Vermont Senator James Jeffords quit the Republican Party and became an Independent, giving Democrats control of the Senate.

Congratulations to the (D)’s...They controlled the Senate for a whole year before it was reclaimed by the (R)’s.

2002 - The Moscow Treaty:  U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a nuclear arms reduction treaty which called for each nation to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 2,200 (from 6000) within 10-years. However, at Bush's insistence, the removed warheads may be put in storage instead of destroyed.

I seriously doubt either party lived up the terms of this deal.

May 23 (A Double)

1533 - Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon void, and his marriage to Anne Boleyn legal.

Not only did Henry upset the Pope by directly challenging his spiritual authority, but he pissed off Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Catherine’s nephew). Amazingly, he got away with it...Charles didn't have anywhere near enough naval forces to invade England, plus he had enormous problems of his own in the German states (HRE) on his eastern flank from the Ottomans.

As a result, England's place in history was in the process of changing - leaving the Catholic sphere of influence and entering the Protestant...Not just entering it, but leading it.

1618 – The Defenestration of Prague: Three opponents of the Reformation were thrown through a window.

Normally this would be an uneventful act, but it was the spark which ignited the 30-Years War.

The war started as a battle between Protestants and Catholics, and was fought primarily in the German lands of the Holy Roman Empire, but eventually spread to include every major power in Europe and the New World...As such, it isn’t a stretch to consider the 30-Years War as the first World War.

1864 - The Battle of North Anna, Virginia: U.S. Civil War.  Union General Ulysses Grant attempted to outflank Robert E. Lee.

This was one of the few times Grant tried to get cute and outmaneuver Lee - he failed miserably.

Grant learned very quickly that Lee was his tactical superior, and after this battle rarely strayed from the strategy of driving straight ahead to cause as many Confederate casualties as possible...A strategy which couldn’t fail as long as Grant followed it to its natural conclusion - a rule he followed from here out.

1945 - Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide while imprisoned in Luneburg, Germany:  WWII.

An unjust death if there ever was one...The Chicken Farmer deserved to die a long-drawn, painful death, and allowing him to go on his own terms was a crime.

1958 - Mao Tse Tung began China's 'Great Leap Forward.'

The Great Leap Forward was a plan to increase China’s industrial production, through the use of its massive amount of cheap (slave) labor...Like many of Mao’s ‘movements’ it closely resembled a bowel movement, and resulted in the death of millions of Chinese.

1960 - Israeli agents captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

After 15-years of living on the run, the S.S. Obersturmbannfuhrer was caught...Thankfully, unlike Himmler, justice was served at the hands of the Jews he previously aimed to slaughter.

1994 - Funeral services were held at Arlington National Cemetery for former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

I don’t mean to be a hater, and I have nothing against Jackie or JFK, but the whole Kennedy landmark at Arlington is disgusting...There are over 260,000 buried at this most honored American cemetery and there is no way the Kennedy’s should hold any honor over any other person interred there.

1997 - Iranians elected a moderate president, Mohammad Khatami, over hard-liners in the ruling Muslim clergy.

Khatami isn’t a moderate by any means, but everything is relative. And never forget, Iran is ruled by Ali Khamenei - the Supreme Leader...The role of the president is a figure-head at best, who serves at the whim of Khamenei.

May 22 (A Triple)

334 B.C. - The Battle of Granicus: Alexander the Great defeated Persian King Darius III, in modern-day Turkey.

This battle has historical significance for many reasons:

1. It was Alexander's first great victory in his conquest of the Persian Empire.

2. It was the closest Alexander ever came to losing a battle...In fact he almost lost his life.

3. It was the first recorded battle dominated by the strength of cavalry.

4.  It was the beginning of the end of the world's first great dynasty:  The Persian Empire.

1455 - The Battle of St. Albans:  Lancastrians v. Yorkists, beginning England's 30-year War of the Roses.

This battle began a civil war, which wasn't won by either of these 'Roses.'

FYI: The House of Lancaster was symbolized by the 'Red Rose,' and the House of York by the 'White Rose'...Both the Lancasters and Yorks descended from the Plantagenet royal line, which was their basis for claiming the throne

Unfortunately for both, neither ultimately won the war, because it was the House of Tudor - led by Henry VII - which came out the victor...Founding the Tudor Dynasty.

1947 - The 'Truman Doctrine' was enacted when Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.

There have been three great National Defense strategies in U.S. history:

1. The Monroe Doctrine: Keeping Europe from dominating the Western Hemisphere...It was strengthened by the Roosevelt Corollary.

2. The Truman Doctrine: Stopping the spread of Communism.

3. The Bush Doctrine: Attacking international terrorism, and those who support terrorists...People can love or hate Bush, but make no mistake, to this point the Bush Doctrine has been effective - we have taken the war to the Jihadis, giving them less chances to bring it to American soil.

Only time will tell if our current and future leaders keep the Bush Doctrine in play...To their credit, President Obama primarily did (even though many may not have liked it), and so has President Trump.

337 - Constantine 'the Great' died.

Constantine’s life was one of the greatest of all time, because his actions affected so many (during and after his time).

He made Christianity the official religion of the Empire, was one of the last of the great Roman emperors, and the founder of one of the ancient world's greatest cities: Constantinople.

1807 - Former Vice President Aaron Burr was put on trial for treason in Richmond, Virginia. He was acquitted in August.

It’s hard to believe this scoundrel was almost President of the United States, and actually was the V.P.

1863 - Union general Ulysses S. Grant’s second attack on Vicksburg failed and he began a siege of the fort:  U.S. Civil War.

Other than ultimately winning the war, this was the beginning of Grant’s finest hour...The fall of Vicksburg was a crushing blow to the Confederacy because the Union gained control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy between east and west.

It's important to point out this is the greatest siege in the history of the American nation...And the only one of consequence on American soil.

1872 - The Amnesty Act restored civil rights to U.S. Southerners.

As a result of this act, most Southerners were allowed to reclaim their position in American society (property, voting, etc)...An important point in the healing of the torn nation.

1939 - The Pact of Steel:  Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini committed Germany and Italy to a military alliance.

Both would regret their decision to take the other as a partner, which ended with their deaths.
 
1985 - U.S. sailor Michael L. Walker was arrested aboard the aircraft carrier Nimitz, two days after his father, John A. Walker Jr., was apprehended; both were later convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.

Both were Navy officers, and both escaped the hangman...What a pathetic lack of justice for two traitorous POS's.

Read more about the Walker Family.

May 21

1832 - The first Democratic National Convention began. The delegates nominated President Andrew Jackson for a second term.

These Democrats wouldn’t even recognize the current party of their name.  Hell, the Democrats of 1960 wouldn't recognize the current party of their name...They’d both probably think degenerate Martians took it over.

1420 - Treaty of Troyes:  French king Charles VI signed over France to England after his death.

Obviously, this treaty was never put into effect, because in order for the English to make it a reality they had to win the Hundred Years War - which they didn't.

1941 - President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed "an unlimited state of national emergency," seven months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Did he know something was going to occur in the Pacific? Of course he did.

May 20

1997 - The U.S. Senate approved legislation to ban certain late-term abortions, but fell three votes shy of the total needed to override President Bill Clinton's threatened veto.

Remember I am not an anti-abortionist absolutist - and as a non-religious person, I certainly can't be called a 'religious nutter.'

Lets revisit the late-term abortion procedure:  Partial Birth Abortion

1. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the BABY’S leg with a forceps.
2. The BABY’S legs are pulled out into the birth canal.
3. The abortionist delivers the BABY’S entire body - except for the head.
4. The abortionist jams scissors into the BABY’S skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
5. The scissors are removed and a suction tube is inserted. The BABY'S brain is sucked out causing the skull to collapse.
6. The dead BABY is then removed and discarded.

If a person kicks their dog they can go to jail (rightly), but this act of cruelty is somehow legal???

Congratulations on your political victory Bill Clinton - truly one for the ages...The Prenatal Holocaust is in the good hands of modern-day liberals.

Dr. Mengele and his Nazi quacks would be proud...As should anyone who votes for Democrats - proud of the fantastically creepy people they support.

1862 - The Homestead Act was passed by Congress, giving 160 acres of land in the West free to homesteaders if they agreed to stay and improve it for five years.

This act was a major boom for the West, but was enacted at an odd time: During the Civil War.

In order to qualify a person had to be a current citizen and never have taken up arms against the country, which disqualified the entire South - white and black...Plus, movement from East to West was extremely difficult because much of it was a war-zone.

2000 - The five nuclear powers on the U.N. Security Council agreed to eventually eliminate their nuclear arsenals, as part of a new disarmament agenda approved by 187 countries.

This is one of the biggest jokes of all time. None of the existing nuclear nations will disarm (unless some future Democrat president unilaterally disarms the U.S., that is), and another dozen will eventually do whatever they can to join the club.

May 19

1864 - The Battle of Spotsylvania ended:  U.S. Civil War.

Spotsylvania was a brutal battle, like two heavyweight fighters standing toe-to-toe throwing hay-makers at each other...Almost 32,000 casualties out of 150,000 troops (both sides combined).

Grant threw his troops into the fray, and sent them out to die. He didn’t do so to kill Union boys, he did it to force the Confederates to fight and lose theirs at a pace they couldn't sustain...The next year was horrific, but Grant's strategy achieved President Lincoln's ultimate goal:  Winning and ending the war - which was the only way to stop the killing.

1588 - The Spanish Armada set sail for England.

The 'Invincible Armada' was on its way to put England in her place...But history proved otherwise, with its destruction in August at the hands of the English Navy, Nature, and Providence.

Most history books teach this battle incorrectly.  What's important to know about it is the Brits gained experience and confidence in her tiny navy, and Spain began to lose confidence in what was one of the world's greatest naval forces at the time...But in no way was the Spanish navy destroyed in this battle.

1921 - The U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, establishing national quotas for immigrants.

The problem hasn’t ceased to be an 'emergency,' and another such law is well overdue.

1943 - Berlin was declared 'Judenrien' (Free of Jews):  WWII.

What a proud day this must have been for Der Fuhrer. He and his henchmen next tried to rid the entire Reich of Jews...And did a pretty thorough job of accomplishing their goal.

1986 - Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the school board, maintaining that for their policy of protecting minority employees by laying off non-minority teachers first (even though the non-minority employees had seniority) the injury suffered by non-minorities affected could not justify the benefits to minorities.

Of course ‘whities’ shouldn’t have to pay for the historical crimes of the people of their race...This is such an obvious truth. For this same reason every Affirmative Racism policy should be ended as well.

1994 - President Bill Clinton held a news conference defending his foreign policy against suggestions he improvised it from crisis to crisis, saying, "I continue to look for new solutions."

Lets just look at some of Billy's great foreign policy 'solutions':

1. He gave North Korea nuclear technology, materiel and money.
2. He allowed Iraq to keep shooting at our planes, training terrorists, and giving money to the families of martyred terrorists.
3. He sent our troops to Somalia without proper supply, to die with no purpose.
4. He allowed Chinese spies to infiltrate our national defense institutions and production facilities, while taking millions of dollars in Chinese 'contributions.'
5.  He turned down an offer from Sudan to hand over Osama Bin Laden.

These were just some of his brilliant 'new solutions'...Forget the BlewClinsky episode, these reasons were enough for him to be impeached, the Republicans just didn't have the testicular fortitude to say it.

1995 - The U.S. Senate voted 99-to-0 to reject President Bill Clinton's spending blueprint.

The Republicans controlled the Senate (52-48), but in order to get this 99-0 vote, 47 Dems voted against Clinton’s plan.

I’m pretty sure this was the greatest smack down ever given by the Senate to a U.S. President, especially considering his own party couldn’t even vote for his idea…I’m also sure the abstaining voter would have voted against it too, but didn’t want to see Clinton go down 100-0.

Incredibly, President Obama has managed to repeat this feat on multiple occasions.

1998 - French lawmakers voted to cut the work-week from 39 hours to 35 by 2002, a measure aimed at reducing France's 12% unemployment rate.

No wonder the French produce NOTHING!!! They spend more time on their arses than at work...Similar to how they fight wars.

May 18 (A Double)

1974 - India became a nuclear power when its first atomic bomb successfully exploded in the Rajasthan Desert.

The 'Smiling Buddha' exploded and India became the sixth nation to join the most exclusive club on Earth...Sadly, I can easily see India being the next country to take an atomic hit - from members of the 'Religion of Piece,' of course - Pakistan in particular.
 
1980 - The 9,677-foot Mt. St. Helens volcano in Washington state, quiet for 93 years, exploded. The volcanic blast was five hundred times more powerful than the atomic bomb which leveled Hiroshima. Steam and ash erupted more than eleven miles into the sky and darkened skies in a 160-mile radius. Forest fires erupted around the volcano and burned out of control, took 1,300 feet off the top of the mountain and left 57 people dead or missing.

Nature truly is a “mother.”

1291 - The Mameluke Sultan of Egypt and his son took the last Christian stronghold of Acre, breaking the hold of Christians in the Holy Land.

The Crusades were doomed to failure, even though they continued for a while longer...The logistics of fighting battles a continent away were miserable, and holding and maintaining them was even more cumbersome.

Plus, the European Christians were never united enough to stop fighting each other while fighting the Muslims.

1896 - 'Plessy v. Ferguson: The U.S. Supreme Court endorsed the concept of "separate but equal" racial segregation.

This is the same branch of government Liberals claim has always been the beacon of hope for the republic...By the way, it was the Dems who pushed to continue slavery and segregation as well.

1908 - The motto "In God We Trust" was made mandatory on all United States coins.

How long till the ACLU(seless) goes after this as a 'separation of church and state' issue? Bunch of communist jackals.

1933 - The Tennessee Valley Authority was created. It's purpose was to control Tennessee River floods, institute a reforestation program on lands in the valley and provide rural electrification.

Of all FDR’s New Deal programs this is the one that has had the most positive effect...But it wasn't created to 'control floods.' It was founded to create jobs, and compared to the ridiculous government stimulus programs in our time it was genius.

1944 - Allied forces finally occupied Monte Cassino in Italy after a four-month struggle which claimed about 20,000 lives:  WWII.

A hard fought victory, and one that had to be won, even if the monastery needed to be destroyed...The Germans had to be routed out of Italy and forced to surrender or retreat to Germany, and couldn't be bypassed allowing them to have forces at our back on the way to Germany.

1944 - In the Soviet Union, the expulsion of more than 200,000 Tartars from the Crimea began after the Tartars were accused of collaborating with the Germans:  WWII.

They may or may not have been helping the Krauts, but the reality of the situation is Stalin was looking for any excuse to remove an impediment to his power, and used expulsion, the Gulag, and famine as his tools of choice.

1964 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to deprive naturalized citizens of U.S. citizenship if they return to their country of birth for more than three years.

Why did they come here to establish citizenship if they didn’t want to be here? To get free stuff of course.

1965 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Head Start Bill into law.

What a waste of time...This program is in its 52nd year, and American school children are worse off than they’ve ever been.

If the government spent nearly as much money and time keeping families together and executing criminals and child abusers, children would have an infinitely better chance of succeeding - in school and life - by having steady homes and safe places to study and live....But that was never the goal.

Like most Liberal programs the goal was getting more people sucked into government give-away programs to make them dependent on Democrat politicians.  Politicians who used these dependents to gain more and more personal power.

A truly genius political scheme.  A truly terrible scheme to be caught in for those who fall prey to it.

1983 - The U.S. Senate approved a major revision of the nation's immigration laws giving millions of illegal aliens already in the United States the opportunity to gain legal status under an amnesty program.

UGHHHH!!!! We are asking for our own demise...Say what you will, but the Germanic tribes overran Rome after centuries of ‘legal’ migrations. We will all be dead when it happens, but the U.S. is following the same path.

May 17 (A Double)

1756 - Britain declared war on France, beginning the Seven Years War - known as the French and Indian War in North America.

Victory in this war greatly expanded Britain’s empire, but also played a large role in the beginning of the American Revolution.

Much of the war was fought in the American colonies, and the Brits leaned very heavily on the colonial population (taxes, direct housing, feeding its troops, and pressing the population into service), which increased colonial discontent with the mother country...It is also where George Washington got his first real schooling in war - even though he performed miserably it was a good education.

1954 - Brown v. Topeka Board of Education: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled racially segregated public schools are inherently unequal.  Overturning the court's 1896 'Plessy v. Ferguson' ruling.

Of course segregation creates 'unequal' conditions...That said, it's interesting how the public has 'self segregated' schools (whites, blacks, Hispanic, etc) without any mandate from the government?

It is unfortunate, but it is normal...So maybe it's not unfortunate - it just is what it is.

1792 - The New York Stock Exchange was established when a group of 24 brokers and merchants met by a tree on what is now Wall Street and signed the Buttonwood Agreement.

From a meager beginning came the largest financial market in the history of the world...For better or worse.

1809 - Napoleon annexed the Papal States.

Just another in a long line of French interference in Papal politics.

1938 - The U.S. Congress passed the Vinson Naval Act - providing for a two-ocean navy.

This seems to be a common-sense decision, but prior to this time the U.S. thought it could avoid the rest of the worlds conflicts...We were terribly unprepared when entering WWII in 1941, but thankfully due to this act had enough foresight to have the logistics in place to fight a two ocean war.

1946 - President Truman seized control of the nation's railroads, delaying a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.

One year after WWII ended and the unions couldn't wait to go on strike? Typical.

Truman may or may not have been correct in grabbing the railroads, but he wasn't afraid to make decisions.
 
1961 - Fidel Castro offered to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers.

Such is the value of human life in communist nations.

1994 - The U.N. Security Council approved a peacekeeping force and an arms embargo for violence-racked Rwanda.

How gracious of the U.N...After sitting on their thumbs and watching 800,000 people be executed in a 13-week period, they decided to 'help.'

”France, a close ally of the Hutu government in Rwanda, has been accused of sending them military support both before and during the genocide. Although France did send 2,500 soldiers to Rwanda before withdrawing, which estimated saving 15,000 to 17,000 lives, the U.N. forces were unable to save twice as many lives before withdrawing their troops as well.”

What a sad joke...The U.N., that is.

1996 - President Bill Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. 'Megan's Law' is named for Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and slain in 1994.

This sounds nice, and is better than the previous system, but there is no way sex offenders should be released on the public...They are every bit as bad as murderers, because they kill their victim’s spirit, and should be executed.

2004 - In Massachusetts, same-sex couples exchanged marriage vows for the first time in the United States.

Time will tell how this affects our nation.  I can't imagine how it will be positive, but I could be wrong.

May 16

1703 - Russian Tsar Peter the Great founded Petersburg.

Peter's creation truly was a feat of amazing proportions:  Built on what was formerly a swampy mess; with what amounted to mostly unskilled slave laborers using the most basic tools imaginable - blood, sweat and tears...Oh, and the number of laborers who died in the city's construction is uncounted, but is estimated to be upwards of 100,000 - which is why it is often called the 'city built on bones.'

That said, St. Petersburg is one of Europe’s great cities - also called the 'Paris of the North,' and the site of one of history’s most awesome battles: The Battle of Leningrad...The city's name was changed to Petrograd in 1914, then Leningrad in honor of Communist leader Vladimir Lenin, and was renamed St. Petersburg after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Hopefully it remains St. Petersburg for the rest of history.

1804 - The French Senate declared Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.

The French Senate? What a joke...Napoleon may as well have declared himself emperor. Which he more or less did.

1868 - The U.S. Senate failed by one vote to convict President Andrew Johnson after taking its first ballot on one of eleven articles of impeachment against him.

This is the closest any U.S. President ever came to being thrown out on his ass.

I hope you understand the difference between 'impeachment' and 'conviction,' and don’t make the mistake of thinking Nixon was impeached or Clinton convicted.

1918 - The Sedition Act was passed, defining as criminal the direct advocacy of treason and criticism of the U.S. government, conscription, or the American Flag.

I can think of thousands of Liberal Jackasses who should be arrested for being seditious bastards.

1927 - Whitney v. California: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state has the power to punish those who abuse their rights to speech "by utterances inimical to the public welfare, tending to incite crime, disturb the public peace, or endanger the foundations of organized government and threaten its overthrow."

Again, I can think of thousands of Liberal Jackasses.

1943 - Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto ended after 30-days of fighting, and German troops destroyed the city’s main synagogue:  WWII.

This was a battle doomed to fail from the very beginning, but one well worth fighting...They would have died either way, so they may as well have taken a few Germans with them.

1988 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled police can search discarded garbage without a search warrant.

How ridiculous it had to come to the Supremes to have to determine 'trash' was fair game for the police...If criminals want to preserve the privacy of their trash they shouldn’t throw it away.

Even more ridiculous is some ACLU(seless) lawyer defended criminals rights to their garbage.

May 15

1957 - Britain tested its first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island in the Pacific.

Any time a nation gets a nuke (particularly a hydrogen bomb) it deserves notice as an outstanding event...Welcome to the club - an awesome club, which must use its toys wisely and make sure they don't get in the hands of those who refuse to play nicely.

756 - Abd-al-Rahman became Emir of Cordova, Spain.

Rahman conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and founded the Ummayad Emirate.

It's sad, but most Americans don't realize this huge chunk of Europe was ruled by Muslims for over 700 years - which is longer than Spain has been ruled by Christians...Most Americans, also, don't know this same region was ruled by the Visigoths after fall of Rome - a Germanic people.

That said, it's pretty safe to say the Muslims will forever try to return to this previous holding - a Re-Reconquista of sorts.

1252 - Ad Exstirpanda:  Pope Innocent IV issued a bull authorizing - though limiting - the torture of heretics in the Inquisition.

Needless to say, the Church was in the hands of not-so-Godly men at this time...It took 300 years of this kind of behavior to bring on a 'reformation' of the Church.

1618 - Johannes Kepler discovered the 'Harmonics Law.'

Newton was the greatest mind of this era (and maybe any other), but much of what he discovered was nibbled on by Kepler.

1765 - The Quartering Act became law in the American colonies, requiring colonists to provide barracks and supplies for British troops.

Just another reason for the Colonists to become Patriots...And the direct reason for the Third Amendment to the Constitution:

“No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”

1862 - Union General Benjamin Butler's 'General Order #28':  U.S. Civil War.

"As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subjected to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous noninterference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter when any female shall, by word, gesture, or movement, insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation."

Butler was a real treat, but with this order he did much to end chaos in New Orleans; virtually ordering any women who were rude to Union officers to be treated as whores...It sounds brutal, but it brought order to a situation which would have otherwise required even more violence - violence Butler would have used if needed.

1911 - The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of J.D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, ruling it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

From one monopoly were born 34 companies, which created an oligopoly, otherwise known as a monopoly of a few rather than one.

Oligopoly = 'A market structure dominated by a small number of large firms, selling either identical or differentiated products, and significant barriers to entry into the industry.'

In other words, the company was broken up, but doing so helped the people very little.

Oh, and it made Rockefeller even richer than he already was.

1940 - The Dutch Army surrendered to Nazi Germany:  WWII.

Amazingly, they lasted almost as long as the French.

1942 - Gasoline rationing was introduced in the U.S.:  WWII.

Oh my goodness!! Due to WWII, the rights of millions of Americans were trampled on by the government limiting their ability to purchase gas.

That was tough. I’m auditioning for a role in an ACLU(seless) movie.
 
1994 - U.S. Supreme Court nominee Stephen G. Breyer arrived in Washington to spend the night at the White House, while Republicans joined Democrats in predicting swift Senate confirmation.

We should all take notice of this event: Breyer is a hard-Liberal...But the Republicans didn’t filibuster this nominee.

1. The Dems would have with anyone even close to this far on the Right.
2. Due to previous filibusters by the Dems, the Republicans should reciprocate in the future...I'm counting on it, though I'm not holding my breath.

That said, it's good to see the Republican Senate has used the 'Reid Rule' to push through Trump's first SCOTUS nominee...Here's hoping there are many more.

1995 - China conducted an underground nuclear test just days after it agreed to an extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Pretty much 'Flipping The Bird' at the West, and showing the real value of treaties.

2000 - More than two decades after a study in rats prompted scientists to link saccharin to human cancer, the federal government dropped the artificial sweetener from its list of cancer-causing chemicals.

So the federal government virtually killed the saccharin industry on a whim? What a joke...Yet we trust their Chicken Little Climate Change insanity, our retirement and health (Social Security, Medicare/Medicare/ObamaCare, etc.), and multiple other necessary functions to this same group of know-nothing jackasses.  Ugh!

May 14

1796 - English physician Edward Jenner performed the first successful vaccination, inoculating an eight-year-old boy against smallpox and laying the foundation for modern immunology.

WOW!!! How many millions (billions?) of human beings have been saved from the scourge of smallpox by this vaccine alone? And this was just the beginning of the history of immunology.

For this reason, Dr. Jenner should go down as one of the ten most important people in the history of the world...Alexander, Caesar, etc., were great leaders, but is their value for all of humanity, for the rest of time, even close to that of Dr. Jenner’s?  It's debatable.

1787 - Delegates began gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S. Constitution.

These brilliant men met to create the most important legal text in the history of the world...Out of which grew the federal republic we know as the United States of America.

1804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase left St. Louis. The expedition started up the Missouri in a 55-foot covered keel boat and two small craft.

These explorers were the astronauts of their time, and their journey was every bit as dangerous as the trips to the moon...In fact, more people expected the lunar astronauts to return home than those who expected this mission to end successfully.

I highly recommend you read about this great adventure: Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West.

1948 - British rule in Palestine came to an end with the Jewish National Council proclaiming the State of Israel. Within hours Israel was under attack from Arab forces.

And they’ve been at war ever since...I am a huge proponent of the Israeli State, and hope with all my heart it lasts forever.

That said I am very leery of a few million Jews in a sea of a billion Muslims...Time will tell, but we should all pray for 'The People of the Book.'

1955 - Representatives from eight Communist Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. The Warsaw Pact was inspired by Nikita Khrushchev to strengthen the Soviet hold over its Eastern European allies.

The ‘Iron Curtain’ was 'strengthened' and the Cold War got much hotter...Also, it should be noted this 'alliance' was created to control the nations in the bloc as much as it was to defend against NATO.

1984 - The chairman of the Soviet Union's Olympic Committee told a Moscow news conference his country's decision to withdraw from the summer games in Los Angeles was "irrevocable."

They were correct to withdraw, just as the U.S. was in 1980...But not for the reasons both gave.  I wish the entire Olympics would go away, because it is a corrupt showcase for dictators, corrupt politicians, and even more corrupt scumbags in the International Olympic Committee.

1986 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said in a televised address that casualties from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster had risen to nine dead and 299 hospitalized, but said, "The worst is behind us."

9 or 299 or 2,999,999, what’s the difference in the 'Land of the Gulags?'...When life is cheap, statistics mean nothing. In fact the higher the number, the less important it often is.

"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." - Joseph Stalin.

1992 - Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev appealed to the U.S. Congress to pass a bill aiding the people of the former Soviet Union.

What other people in history have rebuilt the nations and economies of the countries it defeated? NONE!

And it should be noted, this is a theme in American history:  Germany, Japan, etc.

1993 - President Bill Clinton told a news conference his threat of military force to halt the war in the former Yugoslavia was "still on the table" despite opposition from European allies.

How dare Clinton not pass the 'Global Test,' upsetting our European 'ALLIES?'

2000 - Tens of thousands of mothers rallied in Washington to demand strict control of handguns.

If they really want handgun control they should have rallied to put more police on the streets, arrest all of the shit-heads, and execute those who murder...This is how you control the ‘handgun problem.’

Guns in the hands of good people are not dangerous, and the Second Amendment guarantees our right to them. Also, it's important to remember each of the amendments to the Constitution has equal value, and would be meaningless without the other.

May 13

1927 - 'Black Friday' occurred in Germany, signaling the collapse of its economic structure.

The poison pills in the Treaty of Versailles (ending WWI) were too much for the Germans economically, they never believed they were 'beaten' in WWI, and the Weimar Republic was powerless and corrupt at best...These events, which set the stage for overall lawlessness in the country, set the stage for a strongman to come in and right Germany’s ship.

That strongman proved to be Adolph Hitler.  And make no mistake, he did right the ship.  Unfortunately, he also rammed it right into his neighbors - which ultimately sunk Germany.

1846 - The U.S. Congress formally declared war on Mexico, although fighting began days earlier.

The Mexican-American War wasn't a major war, but it did much to increase the territory of the U.S...Plus, the Mexican-American War was a proving ground for many of the future leaders of the American Civil War - on both sides, but mostly the South.

1865 - The last engagement of the Civil War occurred in Brownsville, Texas.

This sounds silly for a battle to occur after the war ended, but we must remember the South had been destroyed and the spread of information through telegraphing was hampered.

1940 - After setting up Britain's wartime coalition, Winston Churchill told parliament he could offer "...nothing but blood, toil, tears and sweat":  WWII.

The Brits had the perfect war leader, and Churchill made sure the Nazis suffered as much “blood, toil, tears and sweat” as they inflicted.

Without this great man it is debatable if Britain would even exist at this time...He was also lucky the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, because the U.S. seemed willing to allow Germany to swallow up Europe. Something we should all be ashamed of and never allow to happen again.

1941 - Martin Bormann was named Head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, following Rudolf Hess's mysterious flight to Scotland:  WWII.

One psycho succeeding another...Bormann had a nice title, but he was small peanuts compared to some of Hitler’s other henchmen.

1988 - The U.S. Senate voted 83-to-6 to order the U.S. military to enter the war against illegal drug trafficking, approving a plan to give the Navy the power to stop drug boats on the high seas and make arrests.

Who were the 11 crack-head Senators who abstained from this vote? And why did they abstain?

Unfortunately, like all the rest of our post WWII wars, this one has been poorly prosecuted...Mostly because far too many couldn't truly care about fighting against drug use in the first place.

May 12

1943 - Axis forces in North Africa surrendered:  WWII.

Hitler’s 'soft underbelly' was collapsing...Taking Africa and Italy first was a brilliant strategy, and one Stalin cried about for years.

1. The German forces in North Africa and Italy would have likely overwhelmed - and enveloped from Africa, Italy and Germany proper - a continental invasion force at this point in the war. If this happened, instead of a forward fighting attack, the Allies would have had to fight German forces from all sides.

2. The 'underbelly' was a great training ground for American troops, because Rommel’s forces in Africa had been fighting the Brits for years and were wearing down. Also, the Nazi forces in Italy were probably Hitler’s worst units (even though they had great leadership), and the Italian troops were - well they were Italians (more French than the French).

3. Instead of taking on the main German forces, the Allies allowed the Ruskies to take the brunt of the fighting...And they deserved such a double-cross for allying with Hitler in 1939 (as well as dropping out of WWI without the Western allies).

So, Uncle Joe was right to feel the Soviets were screwed over, but Churchill and FDR were also right in thinking the USSR brought it on themselves, and the Western Allies needed more time before invading the Continent.

1949 - The Soviet Union announced an end to the Berlin Blockade. The Berlin airlift bringing supplies into West Berlin, Germany (blockaded by the USSR since June 1948) ended after 277,264 flights when the USSR allowed normal land communications to resume.

The first battle of the Cold War was over, and the good guys won...We weren't always so lucky.

Thankfully, old-school Democrats were in charge instead of today's Democrats. Had modern-day Democrats been in charge, much of Europe would currently be under the Soviet boot...And yes, there would still be a Soviet Union if the Democrats had their way.

2002 - Former president Jimmy Carter became the first U.S. president (in or out of office) to visit Fidel Castro's Cuba.

I’m sure they became great friends...No less should be expected from the worst U.S. president of the 20th Century.