August 18 (A Double)

1227 - Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan died.

Genghis Khan is one of the greatest rulers in world history, even though he was one of the most brutal tyrants in history as well.

Uniting the various Mongol tribes was impressive, but Genghis left his mark over most of the Asian world and much of Eastern Europe...At the time of his death, the Mongol Empire was still growing, and it's important to note his successors built on his creation, which eventually became the largest land-based empire in the history of the world:  From Poland to Iran in the west, and Russia's Arctic shores to Vietnam in the east.

Oh, and there's also a claim that 1/8 of the people on the world carry his genetic makeup...A truly incredible thing to quantify.

1920 - Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the final state needed to obtain the three-quarters of the states necessary to amend the Constitution.

There's no denying the Founding Fathers made mistakes, most of which were impossible to make right during 'their time'...Women's rights and ending slavery were two problems of note, but the time wasn't right to correct these problems - the Constitution would have never been ratified if either of these two issues had been part of it.  And the young nation would have been in a perilous position.

This is why they put the amendment process in the Constitution...It was a brilliant and foresighted way of admitting the document's flaws, and allowed for the hope that progress could be made over time.

The concepts of the 19th Amendment should have been part of the 14th, which granted voting rights to all male citizens...Try to imagine the anger women had that voting rights were granted to black men, but not them. This was a real problem. Of course it was racist, but women were definitely shafted in the deal.

The 19th Amendment righted this wrong: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

1587 - Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

The first of millions.

1914 - President Wilson issued his 'Proclamation of Neutrality,' aimed at keeping the United States out of World War I.

There are many who think we should have stayed out of 'Europe’s War,' but it was a mistake for Wilson to do so.

Had the U.S. been in it from the start the Germans would have been thoroughly routed, and the post-WWI world would have been shaped by a legitimate defeat of Germany. Instead, the war ended with the Germans losing, but not defeated, which resulted in a pissed off German nation...The end result of which was Hitler and WWII.

1924 - France began removing troops from the Ruhr.

The French and Belgians occupied the Ruhr region as a means of punishing Germany for its inability to pay WWI reparations...The Germans rightly saw this as a humiliating act, which was just another in the many events leading to the creation of the Nazi State.

1961 - Construction of the Berlin Wall was completed.

East and West Germany were divided, and Berlin was the focal-point...30 long years followed, and the damage done during this time still hasn’t been healed.

1991 - Soviet hard-liners launched a coup aimed at toppling President Mikhail Gorbachev, who was vacationing in the Crimea.

The Soviet Union was collapsing, but the Commies made one last attempt to maintain control...I remember watching these events unfold, wondering if the 'hard-liners' had a chance at overturning change and continuing the existence of the Soviet Hell State.