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.