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.