September 14

1829 - The Peace of Adrianople: Ended the Russo-Turkish War.

The Ottoman Empire was on its death-bed and was forced to give much to the Russians.  Including:  access to the mouth of the Danube and additional territory on the Black Sea, opened the Dardanelles to all commercial vessels, granted autonomy to Serbia, promised autonomy for Greece, and allowed Russia to occupy Moldavia and Walachia until Turkey paid a large indemnity.

Needless to say, the Ottomans were falling apart, and the Russian Empire was growing in every direction...And the rest of Europe was getting very nervous about both facts.

1812 - Napoleon’s invasion of Russia reached its climax when the Grande Armee entered Moscow.

Napoleon thought he had a great victory, but entered the city only to find the enemy capital deserted and burning - set afire by the few Russians who remained...It burned until September 19 and much of it was destroyed.

The Russians went into a slash and burn defensive mode, and planned on forcing Napoleon to spend the winter in Russia, without food, winter clothing or shelter - and to the ravages of disease...Which were the eventual reasons for the Grande Armee’s downfall.

Napoleon's invasion was just one of many instances of Russian 'strategic depth' and willingness to suffer...Two of the many reasons such a backward nation has been able to keep its independence from its much more prosperous and advanced Western peer-powers.

1901 - President McKinley died in Buffalo, New York, of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him as President.

It's a terrible event anytime a president is assassinated...Luckily, the U.S. had the right man, in the right place, at the right time in Teddy Roosevelt.

1930 - The National Socialist (Nazi) Party won a stunning election triumph, becoming the second largest party in the Reichstag (parliament).

Again, it’s important to note the Nazi’s were elected to power...Sure they used force during these elections (as did every party involved), but for the most part they were put in power by the German people.

1940 - Congress passed the Selective Service Act, providing for the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.

Yet FDR had no intent of the U.S. entering WWII, or knowledge of a pending attack...Uh, huh!

1950 - On the heels of the landing at Inchon, the U.S. Eight Army and South Korean allies broke out of the Pusan Perimeter:  Korean War.

Inchon was General MacArthur’s masterpiece - his most brilliant tactical battle...There were few in the military who thought he could pull off the landing, and President Truman only gave him the go because he was afraid of the public relations nightmare of taking the general on.

MacArthur was one of the most brilliant military minds in American history, and is one of my five favorite American characters to read about, but it’s too bad he made the mistake of challenging Truman at every step in the Korean War...It was a mistake which cost him his job - deservedly.

1959 - The Soviet space probe 'Luna Two' became the first man-made object to reach the moon as it crashed onto the lunar surface.

The Soviets were the first to successfully launch a rocket at the Moon, but never put a human there.

1960 - Representatives of oil-producing countries finished a meeting in Baghdad which led to the formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Congratulations to them...They will only dominate the market as long as U.S. politicians (pushed by insane EnvironMentalists) and Russian incompetence allow them to.

1983 - The U.S. House of Representatives voted, 416-0, in favor of a resolution condemning the Soviet Union for shooting down a Korean jetliner on Sept. 1, calling it a "cold-blooded, barbarous attack."

Whoa, whoa, whoa!! I can’t believe there wasn’t at least one Democrat to vote against this resolution...There were no Rep. Barbara Lee’s around???

1986 - President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, appeared together on radio and television to appeal for a ''national crusade'' against drug abuse.

If we really wanted to stop 'drug abuse' we’d shut the damn southern border.

But then again that would be an answer to other 'if we really wanted to stop it' issues...You know, things like Illegal Immigration, terrorism, destruction of our health care and education systems, etc.

Unfortunately, we’ve never gotten completely serious about any of these problems.

1998 - President Bill Clinton, struggling to regain his footing from the Monica Lewinsky scandal, pledged during a speech in New York to work with America's allies to deal with the "biggest financial challenge facing the world in a half-century."

Re-read that, and skip the BlewClinsky BS.

Bill was talking about the upcoming financial problem...The one which lead to the 2000 and 2008 recessions. The same ones he and his cronies blame on Bush, even though they knew it was coming long before Bush was elected.

Bunch of duplicitous SOB's.

2005 - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to world leaders marking the 60th anniversary of the United Nations to help restore confidence in the world body. He also said that U.N. members had failed to achieve the profound reform the global organization needed on its 60th anniversary.

Hard to restore confidence in what has always been a failed group...The sooner this entity joins the League of Nations in the dustbin of history the better.