September 12

490 B.C. (Exact date is unknown, but it is assumed to be sometime between September 10-12) - The Battle of Marathon.  Athenian and Plataean hoplites commanded by General Miltiades drove back a Persian invasion force under General Datis.

Marathon is one of the most famous battles in history, and one which could have changed history had the Persians won...Instead the Athenians won, keeping the Greeks free from Persian rule, and reaping the glory of defeating the great empire.

The Athenians had approximately 10,000 troops, to the Persians 20,000+...Amazingly, the Athenians lost less than 200 troops, compared to over 6,000 for the Persians.

It must be noted, the Spartans missed out on the battle because they were too slow to understand the dire straits the Greeks were in. This lack of effort to show up in time for the battle was a terribly humiliating fact for the Spartans, and a rare case where the Athenians claimed hegemony in the Greek world...A fact which lead to the Pelopponesian War between Athens and Sparta - where the Spartans reclaimed their traditional role.

1814 - A British fleet under Sir Alexander Cochrane began the bombardment of Fort McHenry, the last American defense before Baltimore. As the sun rose the next day, Lawyer Francis Scott Key was amazed to see the American Flag still flying over the battered fort. This experience inspired Key to write the lyrics to 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' which he adapted to the tune of a well-known British drinking song:  War of 1812.

The Brits weren't necessarily trying to reclaim their former colonies, but they did want to let them know they were still under their thumb...The new nation wasn’t about to allow it to happen, though.

Because of this fact 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is a brilliant song, and one we can easily sing with passion and pride.

1918 - U.S. forces, led by General John J. Pershing, launched an attack on the German-occupied St. Mihiel salient north of Verdun, France:  WWI.

This was the first American battle in World War I, and they showed well..It wasn't long before the Axis surrendered, but had the Americans been in the war in 1914 it would have never lasted this long.

1919 - Adolf Hitler joined the German Worker’s Party.

Soon to become the National Socialist German Workers Party...Better known as the Nazi Party.

Oh, did you catch that 'socialist' thingy?

1938 - Adolf Hitler demanded self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.

Hitler was looking for a fight and used this issue to get one...Instead the French and Brits simply handed him the Sudetenland.

Der Fuhrer was disappointed and disgusted to have this event end in peace, yet elated to see the pansies in the West show their true color: YELLOW!!

1943 - German paratroopers rescued Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held by the Italian government:  WWII.

The Italians had to wait another year-and-a-half to hang Il Duce from a lamp-post.

1944 - U.S. Army troops entered Germany for the first time in World War II.

The route was on, and the only question left was who would get to Berlin first, the U.S. or the Soviets...Sadly it was the Ruskies.

1983 - The Soviet Union vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution deploring the shooting down of a Korean jetliner by a Soviet jet fighter on Sept. 1.

You didn’t read that wrong. The Soviets vetoed the plan to denounce themselves...Such is the ridiculousness of the United Nations.