June 25 (A Double)

1513 - The Confession of Augsburg: The distinct break between Catholicism and Protestantism.

Other than Luther’s '95 Thesis,' the Confession of Augsburg is the most important document in the Reformation period, outlining the differences and disagreements between what became modern Protestantism and Catholicism...A status which still exists 500-years later.

1950 - North Korean forces invaded South Korea, claiming it was defending itself.

The Korean War began, and the U.S. was caught completely by surprise...Five days earlier Secretary of State Dean Acheson told Congress 'war was unlikely,' even though the CIA predicted in March there would be an invasion in June.

Obviously the CIA was correct, and the North gave the South an early beating...It took until July 5 before the U.S. first met the North Korean enemy.

Many Americans look at the 'Korean Conflict' as a loss, and to a point they are correct. On the other hand, the people of South Korea were saved from the dread of Communism and an American presence has remained in the Far East since this time, which must be looked at as a huge positive...Either way, the Cold War became extremely HOT on this day.

1139 - The Battle of Ourique: Alfonso I defeated the Moors.

This battle reestablished Portuguese independence from its Muslim masters...It took Spain another 300+ years to earn such independence.

Interestingly, Alfonso’s troops had to kill five Moorish kings, which is noted on Portugal's national coat of arms, containing five standards and five escudets.

1798 - The Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 empowered the U.S. President to deport any alien he found dangerous to the peace and safety of the nation.

The Founders were so much smarter than we are...They knew the danger of allowing the 'enemy within' to fester, but we are stupid enough to do just that and lose everything the Patriots fought for.

1876 - The Battle of Little Big Horn: General George Custer and his force of 208 men were annihilated by Chief Sitting Bull's Sioux warriors at Little Big Horn, in Montana.

A big day for the Indians, and a bad one for the U.S. Army...It was a rare occasion, and one which didn't happen again.

The end result of the slaughter was the Army’s realization it needed to put more troops in the field - not to turn tail...Again, thankfully our forebears weren’t a bunch of pansies, because if this happened in a battle today Liberals would be crying to 'bring the boys home.'

1940 - Hitler toured Paris: the Eiffel Tower, Tomb of Napoleon, and the Opera:  WWII.

How nice of the French to invite Der Fuhrer in for a field trip.

1942 - General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed Commander of U.S. troops in Europe:  WWII.

Ike was a brilliant political general, and no one could have molded the Allied forces as well as he did...Monty and Patton alone would have been too much for a lesser leader to handle, but Eisenhower not only controlled these two, but also the rest of the multinational force (U.S., Brit, Poles, French, Canadian, Australian, etc.)

1943 - The Crematory III at Birkenau was finished:  WWII.

WooHoo! Another big day for the Nazi psychopaths.

1981 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided male-only draft registration was constitutional.

This is a correct decision, but the Court should have taken the next logical step and declared it was constitutional to have a 'male-only' military...Either that or require women to be draft eligible.

1990 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in its first 'right-to-die' decision, ruled family members can be barred from ending the lives of persistently comatose relatives who have not made their wishes known conclusively.

As a 'right to die' person, I think this is a good decision...Assuming the person's wishes are completely understood by those who need to know.

1996 - At the Al-Khobar Towers, where U.S. Troops in Saudi Arabia were housed, a tanker truck exploded, killing 19 U.S. military personnel.

Just another step on the way to 9/11/01...We should have seen it coming, and we should have attacked them before 2001.