November 1

1952 - The U.S. exploded the world's first hydrogen bomb, at Eniwetok Atoll, in the Pacific Ocean.

20 tons of TNT, and 1000 times larger than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan...Definitely a huge event in history.

We better all hope testing is as far as it goes, and one of these monsters is never used in anger.

82 B.C. - The Battle of the Porta Collina (Colline Gate).

The Roman Republic was fighting for its life, and after an extended civil war, Sulla emerged from this battle, capturing Rome and assuming the title of dictator...A title which had a much different meaning at that time than during ours.

1755 - An earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, killed 60,000 people (about 2/3 of the population).

A terrible event for sure, but this isn't what I find interesting about the headline.

In 1755 Lisbon had just under 100,000 people...250 years later this city has over 3,500,000 people. An increase of 3500%!!!

1861 - General George B. McClellan was promoted to General-in-Chief of the Union Armies:  U.S. Civil War.

McClellan was a favorite of the ‘Eastern elite,’ and had a great reputation as a military commander. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the testicular fortitude to put the worlds largest and best equipped army to use...And make no mistake, at this point in history this army was exactly what I stated - huge, equipped, but with poor leadership and green troops.

McClellan spent a great amount of time planning battles instead of fighting them, and didn’t have the instincts it took to crush the Confederates when he had his chances in 1861-62...In other words McClellan was the Civil War's version of post-El Alamein Monty in WWII.

1871 - Gustav Mahler wrote he had become a vegetarian, saying he thought it would regenerate the human race if everybody stopped eating meat.

I wish people like this would stop eating all together.

1918 - The Habsburg monarchy of Austria-Hungary was dissolved.

This kingdom was also known as the Dual Monarchy or the K.U.K. Monarchy = 'Kaiserlich und Königlich.' German for 'Imperial and Royal.'

The dissolution of Austria-Hungary was long overdue, and good for both Austria and Hungary...That said, had it not been for the former strength of the Habsburg, it's likely most of Europe would be praying to Allah.

1922 - Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey became a republic.

The land of modern-day Turkey has always been one of immense importance, and continues to be...It's too bad in its current form it's much closer to its Ottoman than its Byzantine roots.

1936 - In a speech in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an "axis" running between Rome and Berlin.

The Paperboy almost had it right...He should have said 'asses' instead of axis.

1990 - President GHW Bush accused Iraqi forces of engaging in "barbarism" and "brutality," adding "I don't believe that Adolf Hitler ever participated in anything of that nature."

GHW Bush is a good man, but this was an absolutely ignorant comment.

There are few people in the history of the world who's actions can be compared to the barbarism and brutality of Hitler...The Iraqis may have been his peers, though not in quantity, but they were in no way his superior when it comes to either barbarism or brutality.

1993 - The Maastricht Treaty was enacted, establishing the European Union.

What a colossal joke!!!

Since the fall of Rome, Europeans have been hoping for a united Europe...And since this same time have failed.

The continent is made up of so many dissimilar people, and the history of warfare among them has been awesome. Brutally awesome.

It will never happen, And proof of the failure is the fact it is 2017 and there is no European constitution, because they can't work one out to everyone's satisfaction...If anything, it's much more likely the EU will collapse, the euro will fail, and traditional European states will splinter.

October 31

1517 - Martin Luther posted the '95 Theses' on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

The proper name for the '95 Theses' is 'The Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.'

Luther was a Catholic monk, and grew tired of the bastardizations of the Christian faith...Even a strict Catholic would have difficulty denying Luther's claims, because the Church had grown quite fat and abusive.

It's important to note Luther didn't set out to destroy the Catholic Church or to found his own version of Christianity...Instead he wanted to reform the existing church - to cleanse it of abuses of power and un-holiness.

This didn't work out because the Church was far too big for anyone to make demands on, and the Church had Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to lean on for military support...But, both the Papacy and Charles made a huge mistake: They allowed Luther to live. Had they killed him immediately, the Reformation would have likely died with him.

Instead, Luther found refuge in the German states and the Reformation took root - a pivot in European history the likes of which hadn't happened since the fall of Rome.

475 - Romulus Augustulus, last Western Roman Emperor, was elevated to the throne.

What a pathetic figure. He didn’t last long, though, and the Empire was in its last months.

It is interesting to look at the name of this last emperor and its irony: Romulus was the legendary founder of Rome, and Augustus the founder of the Roman Empire...Romulus Augustus proved to be much less than either.

1803 - The USS Philadelphia grounded off Tripoli and was captured by the Barbary pirates.

This event sparked the Barbary Wars, which were the U.S.'s first as an independent nation...It's not surprising it was Muslim pirates who were our first enemy. Just as they are today.

1846 - The Donner party, unable to cross the Donner Pass, began constructing a winter camp.

It was a long Winter - For some.

1914 - The Battle of the Vistula River ended.  Russian troops pushed the Germans back to their original positions:  WWI.

This battle is also known as the Battle of Warsaw.

It was one of the first WWI battles on the Eastern Front, and the Russians were able to overwhelm the Germans due to superior numbers...This was the case for all of 1914 and much of 1915, but it didn't last past that point. After 1915 the Russians found themselves on the opposite end of most of these battles.

1942 - One of the great wartime radio shows premiered, as CBS debuted 'Thanks to the Yanks.' The show, starring Bob Hawk, became one of the most popular of the wartime programs.

This was back in the day when the media and Hollywood were pro-American...Oh how things have changed.

1961 - The body of Joseph Stalin was removed from public display (in Stalin's Tomb). The longtime dictator of the former Soviet Union was reburied in a simple grave, beginning the USSR's 'de-Stalinization policy.'

Uncle Joe is one of the greatest butchers in the history of the world, causing death and suffering for millions of his enemies and his own countrymen...They should have drawn and quartered his dead corpse, then burned the remains in the hope of every part of his existence going straight to Hell.

1968 - President Lyndon Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing in North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace negotiations.

Peace never comes through weakness...He should have bombed them into submission and allowed the infantry to force Ho Chi Mihn to surrender.

1998 - President Bill Clinton signed the 'Iraq Liberation Act' which stated it was "... the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime."

Getting rid of Saddam was the official policy of the U.S.

"Today I am signing into law H.R. 4655, the 'Iraq Liberation Act of 1998.' This Act makes clear that it is the sense of the Congress that the United States should support those elements of the Iraqi opposition that advocate a very different future for Iraq than the bitter reality of internal repression and external aggression that the current regime in Baghdad now offers." - President Bill Clinton

So, why didn't Clinton follow through with this official U.S. government policy instead of leaving it to his successor to handle?

It's important to point this out to every fool who questions why Bush took out Hussein. He followed the official policy of the United States, which was signed by Bill Clinton...Clinton wouldn't, Bush did.

I was all for this measure.  The problems began when Bush thought he could bring Western-style freedom and democracy to the Middle East.

October 30

1961 - The Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb - with an estimated force of 58-megatons.

The Soviets called this monster the 'Tsar Bomba.'  And bomba it was - the largest man-made explosive device ever!

Which surely is enough to be the greatest event on this day.

1270 - The Seventh Crusade ended with the Treaty of Barbary.

This ended another tactical failure by the Crusaders, who never could have won the Crusades, because the logistics of ruling the region were impossible for the West.

It's important for people to understand the Crusades were a strategic victory, however...Even though the result was unintentional.

Islam swept through Southwest Asia, North Africa, parts of Eastern Europe, and Spain...The Crusades played a large role in keeping the Muslim Horde from overrunning all of Europe.

If Islam didn't have to fight the Crusaders in the Middle East, it's likely they would have invaded all of Europe, and at least possible they could have succeeded...This is important to keep in mind with the current Islamists. We will either fight them in their homeland or ours.

Also, the Crusaders brought much information and knowledge back from the Middle East; information lost after the fall of Rome; information which helped bring and end to the Dark/Middle Ages in Europe - leading to the Renaissance.
 
1650 - In a court case, the members of the Society of Friends were first called Quakers because of the admonition of their founder George Fox to "quake and tremble at the word of God."

I'm not a religio, but I love this kind of stuff.
 
1918 - Turkey signed an armistice with the Allies, agreeing to end hostilities at noon October 31:  WWI.

WWI was winding down, but the world woke up to the reality of the Hell created in the previous four years.

Europe was a mess, and the Middle East was about to be transformed...For the better part of the previous 400-years the Islamic World had been ruled by the Ottoman Turks, which was about to change.

The Ottoman Empire was dissolved, and the peace which ended the war proved to be a 'Peace to End All Peace.' I highly recommend you read this book.
 
1938 - Millions of Americans were panicked by the radio broadcast of 'The War of the Worlds,' a book by H.G. Wells dramatized by Orson Welles.

This sounds illogical, but the country was on pins and needles...Asia was at war, Europe was about to explode, the Great Depression was in it's ninth year, and the Red Scare was ever present. Try to imagine if these factors were all present in our time.

Actually, it isn't that hard, especially considering the some of those factors are more or less present now.
 
1945 - The U.S. announced the end of shoe rationing:  WWII.

Rationing during wartime? How un-American!

I'm just practicing for my ACLU registration test...SOB's.
 
1988 - Responding to Republican attempts to pin the term "Liberal" on him, Democrat Michael Dukakis declared on the campaign trail, "Yes, I am a Liberal, in the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John Kennedy."

What a joke!! These three Democrat presidents would be considered Conservatives by today’s standards. And it’s not even close.

Dukakis (and every Democrat nominee after Kennedy) should properly call themselves “Liberals in the tradition of Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter”...A stigma no one wants to be stuck with.
 
1990 - The Iraqi News Agency quoted Saddam Hussein, saying Iraq was making final preparations for war, and that he expected an attack by the United States and its allies within days.

GHW Bush should have taken care of Hussein when he had the chance...And Clinton should have as well.

October 29 (A Double)

539 B.C. - Persian King Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon.

The Persians had long been kicking at the gates of Mesopotamia, but it wasn't until Cyrus came along that they had the leadership it took to overwhelm the Assyrians (Babylonians)...Cyrus proved to be much more than an average leader, and eventually conquered most of the area of the modern-day Middle East. Which is why he was able to found the world's first true empire, was known as the King of Kings, and later as 'the Great.'

1929 - Black Tuesday.

The day the Great Depression began, with the massive trading of 13,000,000 shares on the N.Y. Stock Exchange.

There were many reasons for the Depression, which was a global phenomenon not an American one...Most important was the destabilization of the world economy after WWI, and the excessive reparations put on German with the Treaty of Versailles.

Unfortunately, this state of economic destabilization was one of the many factors leading to WWII.

1940 - U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson drew the first number (158) in America's first peacetime military draft:  WWII.

This was a year before the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor...Thankfully the U.S. military was ramping up.

FDR should have begun this process in 1939, and entered the war in 1940, but didn't have the courage or conviction to do what was right, because it would have been unpopular...In other words, FDR was a politician not a statesman.  That said, he did prove to be a great war president once he was dragged into it.

1942 - Nazis murdered 16,000 Jews in Pinsk, Soviet Union:  WWII.

Another big day for the 'Master Race.'

1966 - The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded.

This name is so deceiving...It should be NOMLMHW: National Organization for Marxist Lesbian Man Hating Women. Anything less is a huge lie.

1997 - Iraq barred Americans from the U.N. disarmament effort in Iraq. A move which outraged chief weapons inspector Richard Butler and prompted him to suspend inspections.

It’s a good thing the Clinton Administration was tough on Saddam. Riiiiiiiight...Instead he left the problem for his successor.

October 28

312 - The Battle of the Milvian Bridge: Roman civil war.

1. Constantine the Great became the undisputed master of the Roman Empire by defeating Maxentius in this battle, ending the civil war.

2. This battle also marks the beginning of the Christian Era in Europe.

During this battle Constantine's army wore the Christian Cross after Constantine trusted a vision he had seen of the Cross, inscribed with the words "In this sign conquer"...As a result, Constantine converted to Christianity after emerging victorious in the battle, and became the first Roman emperor to embrace the Christian faith.

This act of faith (regardless of his reasoning) is every bit as important as Moses’ at the ‘burning bush’ (in real terms not religious ones), because it changed Rome, which changed the Western World, because Rome was the axis upon which the West revolved and evolved from.

1886 - The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland.

'Gift from the people of France' my ass…This is one of the great myths in American history, but it is definitely a myth.

The Statue was a gift from a few financiers who graciously gave it to the U.S. in the name of the French people...The French have never been our friends, even though they have often been our 'ally.'

In the 18th-19th Centuries they were often on 'our side,' but only did so to spite the Brits...In the 20th Century they were on 'our side' in WWI and WWII because they needed our help to save them from the Germans.

1919 - The Prohibition Enforcement Act (also known as the Volstead Act) became law. This act enforced the 18th Amendment to the Constitution - the prohibition of alcohol manufacture, sale and consumption.

Someday we’ll face a similar attack on personal freedom when the health-nuts try to ban cigarettes or food...While at the same time they fight to allow people to smoke pot, and kill fetuses. I just don’t get the logic.

1922 - Italian Blackshirt Fascists began a march on Rome which ended two days later with the formation of a government led by Benito Mussolini.

The Italians have always reached out for a strongman, and this they found in the 'Paperboy.'  Unfortunately, they were led down the road to Hell, and it took the destruction of much of Italy to escape the tyranny they so dearly wanted.

But at least Il Duce got the ‘trains to run on time.’

1940 - President Franklin Roosevelt complained "Republicans...after opposing rearmament for years, are now protesting that the United States is too weak":  WWII.

It’s interesting to note at this time in history the Republicans were the Chickens and the Democrats the Hawks...And FDR's comment could perfectly be flipped today.

Which is why people shouldn’t get tied to political parties, but to political ideals...When it comes to national defense, FDR Democrats should be modern-day Republicans, as should JFK Democrats.

1940 - Italy invaded Greece:  WWII.

Per normal, the Italians bungled this invasion, and required German help to get out of the mess.

Hitler was very fond of Mussolini, but he had to regret getting in bed with such incompetence…The Brits (the only ones fighting at this time) were happy, though, because Germany diverted many forces to Greece which could have been used elsewhere.

Most important, Germany having to save the Italians in Greece delayed the invasion of Russia, which pushed the calendar closer to winter...A fact which ultimately cost them the war.

1959 - Turkey and the United States signed an agreement for the deployment of fifteen nuclear-tipped Jupiter missiles in Turkey.

Most Americans don’t realize it, but Turkey is a NATO ally...Most also don’t know it, but the decision to put these missiles in Turkey was the Soviet’s excuse for trying to put theirs in Cuba.

1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis effectively ended when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced its missiles would be dismantled and returned to the U.S.S.R. President Kennedy immediately replied that the U.S. would lift its blockade of Cuba.

The world wondered who would blink first, and it was Nikki...The world was lucky, too, because I’m pretty sure Kennedy was (rightly) going to the wall on this matter.

1988 - In London, the High Court ruled former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was immune from prosecution in British courts. The House of Lords later overturned the decision, saying Pinochet's arrest could stand.

Pinochet was a brutal dictator, and should have been sent back to Chile for a good ol' fashioned hangin.’

October 27 (A Slow Day)

1787 - The first of the 'Federalist Papers,' a series of 85 essays calling for ratification of the United States Constitution, was published in a New York newspaper.

These essays were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, under the pseudonym 'Publius,' in honor of Publius Valerius Publicola (one of the founders of the Roman Republic in 509 B.C.).

These three men were some of the giants of their time - or any time - and fought hard for the passage of the U.S. Constitution, because they recognized the dangers the young (dis)United States faced if they did not unite in a federated system, under a republican (small 'r') form of government.

The threat of the 13 ‘states’ going to war with each other - economically and militarily - was a real problem, but it was the threat of invasion by the various European powers against separate groups of states which worried the Federalists more than anything.

Luckily, the Federalists won out, and the Constitution was passed. Otherwise there may not be a U.S.-as-we-know-it, and possibly wouldn’t be a U.S. at all.

1553 - Michael Servetus, who discovered the pulmonary circulation of blood, was burnt for heresy in Switzerland.

The price of genius has often been great...Servetus wasn’t the first to pay with his life for heretical discoveries, nor the last.

Here’s how John Calvin justified the execution:

"A thief only deprived one of worldly goods. A murderer only threatened a mortal life. A heretic threatened the immortal soul. A responsible government, a Christian government had no alternative but to silence the heretic forever by executing him, thus protecting the community from the infinite danger he represented."

October 26

1962 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev sent a note to President Kennedy offering to withdraw his missiles from Cuba if the U.S. closed its bases in Turkey. The offer was rejected and the Cuban Missile Crisis continued.

I love Kennedy’s defiance and unwillingness to deal with the Soviet Hell State. He refused to blink and forced Nikki to stand down. Exactly what should be done with every rogue state threatening the U.S...And if we need to swing the 'big stick' so be it. I'm quite certain JFK was ready and willing to swing it like a mother.

Modern-day Democrats would cringe at such a decision, but this is one of the many differences between John Kennedy and 21st Century Democrats...It'll be nice when 'Kennedy Democrats' and 'FDR Democrats' wake up to this reality. Sadly, I'm afraid both will die off before they do.

33 - The traditional date for the death of St. Stephen, first martyr of the Christian Church.

I thought John the Baptist was the 'first martyr? I guess he would be considered before the Church, though.

1774 - The first Continental Congress, which protested British measures and called for civil disobedience, concluded in Philadelphia.

The Colonists didn’t vote to split from Britain, but this congress set the stage for the Colonists building up the nerve to do so...Never forget, the Brits were the superpower of the world, and taking them on was a dangerous measure - thought by most to be impossible.

1881 - The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place in Tombstone, Arizona, as Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and Doc Holliday confronted Ike Clanton's gang. Three members of Clanton's gang were killed; Earp's brothers were wounded.

Stories like this one make for good folklore, but as far as having real historical value, I don't think so.

1906 - Workers in St. Petersburg set up the first Russian 'soviet,' or council.

Petersburg was the home of the 1905 Revolution, which was squashed by the Czarists. Even though it was a failure, it was a breeding ground for Russian communism, however...This 'soviet' was an outgrowth of the 1905 Revolution, and a strong point for the Communists in the 1917 Revolution.

Prior to 1905 almost all communist activity took place in nothing more than the minds of the movement's intellectuals - in safer lands in Western Europe...This revolution was spontaneous, had little to no involvement from the communist, and was an outpouring of anger against the Czar.

1920 - The Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, Terence McSwiney, died after a two-and-one-half-month hunger strike in a British prison cell, demanding independence for Ireland.

If the Irish truly want independence from the Brits they must either force the Brits to let them go or remain part of the United Kingdom...Yes, that means they must go Palestinian, or not.

If they can’t earn their freedom, they don’t deserve it...I know many will be shocked by this comment, but I believe in the 'right of conquest.' The Irish don't deserve their own land/nation anymore than the American Indians, Sumerians, Hittites, etc., did. If they want it, they must reconquer it.

1956 - The International Atomic Energy Agency was established.

What a waste of perfectly good American money...And make no mistake the U.N. runs on the back of the American taxpayer.

Every major country who wants to have nukes has them, or will have them...And there are plenty of minor countries who will eventually have them, because they recognize the geopolitical clout it gives them.

So, what exactly is the IAEA doing?? Not much. It's just another hand in the world’s largest Circle Jerk Group.

1988 - French pharmaceutical company, Roussel Uclaf, announced it would halt worldwide distribution of RU-486, a pill to induce abortions, because of "an outcry of opinion at home and abroad." The French government ordered the company to reverse itself two days later.

Re-read that. The pharma company was going to stop making the product, but France ordered them to continue!!! Imagine if the American government ordered a company to continue doing this?

I take that back, similar things are happening - through forced measures in ObamaCare.

1999 - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study which said the number of Americans considered obese soared from about one in eight in 1991 to nearly one in five in 1998.

They can get whatever percent they want depending on how they want to skew the data. They can change the data statistics and parameters to make 100% of America obese...Or they can play with the stats to make 100% of America underweight.

Statistics are interesting, but they can be toyed with to come to just about any conclusion the statistician desires...Which is exactly what they do - depending on what their goal for that particular set of statistics is.

That said, if you look around you will see plenty of overweight and out of shape Americans, but you won't see 1 out of every 5 to be obese.

October 25 (A Double)

1415 – The Battle of Agincourt.

This is one of the most decisive battles of the Hundred Years War - a complete English route of the French.

The French greatly outnumbered the English (at least 2-1), but the English had the dominant weapon of the time: The longbow...Amazingly, the English suffered around 500 casualties compared to over 5,000 for the French.

From this point till the Battle of Orleans (1428-29) England dominated France, but was unable to force a conclusion to the war...It took a woman (Joan of Arc) to turn the tide in the favor of the French and bring an end to this seemingly endless war.
 
1556 - Charles V abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor.

Charles’ empire was one of the largest in history (Holy Roman Empire, Spain and most of South and Central America, much of Italy, the Netherlands, etc.)...It was also one of the most tumultuous in history, as well, which is why he resigned at such a young age (56).

His abdication saw the split of the Habsburg lands between the Austrian and Spanish branches, and severed the Netherlands from the German lands, giving it to Spain...This was the final reward for Spanish loyalty, and final slap for the troubles the Germans caused him.

But , this switch was bad for both Austria and Spain.

Spain spent the better part of the next century unsuccessfully fighting to keep the Low Countries.

The Austrians and Holy Roman Empire lost the most important part of its economy (trade, banks, ports, etc), and was weakened militarily by not having the Dutch Navy at it's disposal...All of which more or less ruined it's influence in the West, and limited it to Central and Eastern Europe.

As a result the Dutch were the only winners in Charles' decision, because there was no way the Spanish could ultimately control the Netherlands as effectively as the Germans could (not with France between them, and England supporting them), which eventually resulted in Dutch independence.

2137 B.C. - Ho and Hsi, Chinese royal astronomers, were beheaded after failing to accurately predict an eclipse of the sun, which caused panic in the streets of China.

How sad...The Chinese should have known it wasn’t the astronomers fault, and there was no way Bush could have gotten FEMA out fast enough to stop the 'panic in the streets.'

1854 - The 'Charge of the Light Brigade': Crimean War.

Britain's Lord Cardigan led a cavalry attack against the Russians at Balaclava, one of the most heroic episodes in British military history.

'Heroic' and stupid...670 British cavalrymen attacked a heavily fortified Russian position and were wiped out. They met no objective, except death - and mythological status.

1917 (November 7 on the new-style calendar) - In Russia, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power.

This event will be detailed in November, but is noted here to help explain why this part of the Revolution is often referred to as the 'November Revolution' as well as the 'October Revolution.'

Changes in calendar systems always cause problems with dating, but it is the event, not the date which is important...Anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool.

1923 - The Teapot Dome scandal came to public attention when Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, revealed the findings of the past 18-months of investigation. His case resulted in the conviction of Harry F. Sinclair of Mammoth Oil, and later Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall, the first cabinet member in American history to go to jail. The scandal, named for the Teapot Dome oil reserves in Wyoming, involved Fall secretly leasing naval oil reserve lands to private companies.

This was a terrible scandal in its day, but would be nothing compared to the shenanigans going on in both parties today.

1932 - Mussolini promised to remain dictator of Italy for 30-years.

He didn’t even make it half way...At least he didn’t promise a '1000 year Reich' like his lunatic pal Adolph.

1994 - Susan Smith reported to police that her two young boys had been taken in a carjacking. Nine days later, she confessed she rolled the car into a lake, drowning the children.

This sick bitch committed the ultimate crime: She killed her children!!! And she won’t be executed!! Instead she was given a life sentence, with a shot at parole in 2025.

I guess performing 'post-term abortions' isn’t a crime worthy of the death penalty...Which is only logical since we allow 'pre-term abortions.'

It makes me sick that this woman is still alive, and we should hope 'Shanks' becomes her cell-mate sometime between now and 2025.

October 24 (A Double)

1648 - The Treaty of Westphalia was signed, ending the Thirty Years War.

The 30 Years War was one of the greatest of the general wars in Europe, and did much to create the foundation for some of the other great wars to follow.

The treaty took a large chunk out of the Holy Roman and Habsburg empires - which largely overlapped...As a result the map of Europe was redrawn, and Westphalia is considered the major turning point in the modernization of the European state system - for better or worse.

It's possible we are witnessing a type of 30 Years War occurring in the Middle East...One which will be just as destructive and meaningful.

1882 - Dr. Robert Koch discovered the germ which causes tuberculosis.

The 'Consumption' (TB) is one of the greatest killers in the history of mankind, and during Koch's time was the world's greatest killer...Koch's find led to the discovery of treatment options for those suffering from TB.

Much of the civilized world has seen the virtual disappearance of tuberculosis, but it is ever-present in Russia, Africa, Asia, and South America...Unfortunately, this monster is beginning to show signs of escaping treatment and finding it's way back into prominence in the West, due to over-treatment (leading to germ mutation) and unchecked immigration - better known as unchecked, state-sponsored stupidity.

1147- Lisbon was captured from the Moors by Alfonso I, King of Portugal.

The Portuguese kicked out the Muslim Horde, and spent the next 300-years helping their Spanish cousins do likewise.

1795 - The Third Partition of Poland: Between Austria, Prussia and Russia.

The Poles have long suffered the sting of history, having settled their homeland in the region between the beasts of the German and Russian people. Unfortunately, this partition wasn't its last, nor anywhere near as horrific as its next - WWII between the Nazis and Soviets.

Those who wonder why the Poles have become one of America's most loyal allies need look no farther than the first sentence in my comment above.

1973 - The Yom Kippur War ended.

The Arabs states are lucky the U.S. persuaded Israel to stop their counter-offensive, because they were only 65 miles from Cairo and 26 from Damascus.

1987 - Thirty years after it was expelled for refusing to answer allegations of corruption, the Teamsters Union was welcomed back into the AFL-CIO by a vote of the labor federation's executive council.

Of course the Teamsters were and ARE 'corrupt', but how bad must they have been to be booted from the 'corrupt' AFL-CIO?

1993 - Two George Washington University researchers who cloned non-viable human embryos told a news conference that science was still far from duplicating human beings, but they urged ethicists to prepare for the future.

'Far' as in decades away...And yes, the 'ethical' problems with succeeding are astronomical.

But I'm sure the Frankensteinians will continue their quest to produce a human...While at the same time, their brothers in 'science' are looking for ways to kill as many humans as possible - born and unborn.

1998 - Officials from the United States, China and North and South Korea seeking a permanent peace for the divided Korean peninsula announced they removed the last obstacles to full-blown talks.

Uhhhhh, the 'last obstacle' is the Kim family and their cronies...Who have been anything but removed from the process.

October 23

1942 – The Battle of El Alamein began:  WWII.

The battle lasted until November 3rd, and is one of the first WWII battles the British were able to defeat the Germans...As such it is one of the great turning points of the war in the West European Theatre.

Prior to El Alamein, Churchill muttered these famous words: "Is it really impossible to find a general who can win a battle?"...Sounds like President Lincoln in the American Civil War prior to General Grant.

Luckily, Churchill assigned a new commander to North Africa, replacing General Auchinleck with General Montgomery, who has been rightly criticized for his slowness in the European campaigns...That said, it is undeniable before he was given command of this British army the Allies won scarcely any battles, and after he was given such command the Allies lost hardly any battles.

El Alamein was Monty's finest hour, and showed the brilliance of the soon-to-be British Field Marshal...Unfortunately, it was one of the last times his brilliance matched his testicular fortitude.

4004 B.C. (9:00 AM) - According to 17th Century diviner James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, and Dr. John Lightfoot of Cambridge, the world was created on this day, at this time.

Cuckoo, cuckoo!! Not only are they off by a few billion years, but how could these nuts be so vain to predict the exact time the world was created?

"Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." - Andre Gide

1783 - Virginia emancipated slaves who fought for independence during the Revolutionary War.

It's amazing they could justify freeing some, but not all of the slaves...And then become one of the paramount slave states up to and during the Civil War.

I wonder if peacenick idiots think fighting a civil war was worth ending slavery? Here's betting they'd rightly say 'yes,' but wouldn't be able to defend the change in their ignorant position against war...They'd say 'yes' because there's no way they could say slavery was better than fighting to end it.

Keep this in mind about peacenicks: They are emotional, illogical idiots.

1944 - The Battle of Leyte Gulf began:  WWII.

Leyte Gulf is considered the largest naval battle in history, but is in no way one of the greatest...This battle is also the first where the Japanese employed it's 'special attack forces' - kamikaze's.

American forces pounded the Japanese for three days and the end result was the complete destruction of Japan's strategic naval force, which lost all four of its aircraft carriers, three battleships, six cruisers, 12 destroyers and over 10,000 dead sailors...Just as a point of showing the American dominance of the situation: There were 17 U.S. carriers in this battle!!!

The war was still far from over and there were plenty of hard-fought battles between here and August 1945, but from this point control of the air and sea was completely in U.S. hands.

1946 - The United Nations General Assembly met for the first time in New York.

Garbage in, garbage out.

The League of Nations should have died a quiet death...Instead the 'Frankenstein' was revitalized under the name of the U.N.

1983 - A truck filled with explosives, driven by a Muslim terrorist, crashed into the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The bomb killed 237 Marines and injured 80. Almost simultaneously, a similar incident occurred at French military headquarters, where 58 died and 15 were injured.

Many cheered when Reagan sent a missile into 'QaDaffy's' tent in reply to this attack, but that did nothing but scare the 'Libyan Drag Queen'...The fact there was no real response added to the boldness of the Islamists, and showed them we were unwilling/unable to protect our people.

Sadly, this became a pattern...Luckily, President G.W. Bush decided to put an end to the pattern of terror, and took the fight to the terrorists lands.  If only he hadn't turned a punitive mission into an Utopian democracy fantasy.

1988 - Democrat Lloyd Bentsen and the Reverend Jesse Jackson accused Republican George H.W. Bush of injecting race into the presidential campaign by focusing on prison escapee Willie Horton; a charge a Bush spokesman labeled "absolutely ridiculous."

Who injected race into the election?? Every U.S. election is dominated by Democrats demonizing Republicans as racists.

1989 - Hungary proclaimed itself a republic and declared Communist rule had ended.

The term 'Velvet Revolution' is usually applied to the Czechs, referencing the bloodless coup which overthrew the Communist government...This term should be applied to Hungary as well.

2002 - The Moscow Theatre Siege:  Chechen rebels seized a crowded Moscow theater, taking hundreds hostage.

The Chechens held 700 hostages, demanding the Russian evacuation from Chechnya...I bet you couldn't guess the hostage takers were Muslims. Or could you?

On October 24, The Ruskies ended the standoff by killing all of the terrorists...Unfortunately, they also allowed 130 of the hostages to die in the chaos of the cleanup.

October 22

1962 - President Kennedy ordered U.S. air and naval troops to blockade Cuba, after discovering Soviet missiles on the island. He also demanded Russia dismantle the rocket sites.

Kennedy recognized the seriousness of the situation and ceased 'speaking softly,' threatening to wield his 'big stick.'

Thank God we didn't have a peacenick in office. I hope you realize JFK was a Democrat, but in no way was he a modern-day Liberal...That said, had Kennedy not completely misread Soviet intentions and led them to believe he was a light-weight in the first place, this whole event may have been avoided.

Needless to say, the Cold War almost got extremely HOT, but it was an order which had to be made.

1836 - Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected President of the Republic of Texas.

It wasn't long before Texas entered the U.S, but it's important to realize Texas was an independent nation for a brief period.

1979 - Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi, deposed Shah of Iran, was allowed in the United States for medical treatment. This action led to the Iran hostage crisis.

Another great decision by Jimmy Carter.  He should have helped the Shah or not, but cutting both ways was stupid.

At least he didn't allow the Persians to keep our hostages very long...Doh!

1995 - The largest gathering of world leaders in history marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

The ‘Ultimate Jerkoff’ at the Worlds Largest Circle Jerk Organization.

1997 - President Bill Clinton presented a modest strategy to combat global warming by gradually reducing greenhouse gases over the next two decades.

Wait a minute! There was global warming back in Clinton’s days? This has to be a mistake, because I thought it was all Bush’s fault...Hmmm?!?!

October 21 (A Double)

1805 - The Battle of Trafalgar.

This is one of the greatest naval battles in world history, ending with a British victory which destroyed Napoleon's hope of invading England.

Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson was the commander of the British force, and is forever linked to the battle...Unfortunately, he was fatally wounded, but lived long enough to see the British victory.

1879 - Thomas Edison successfully tested an electric incandescent lamp with a carbonized filament at his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory. It stayed alight for over 13-hours.

The world of darkness was lit with this event...It's impossible to evaluate the importance of 'light,' but it is more than enough to make this one of the great events in world history.

1837 - General Thomas Jesup of the U.S. Army managed to win the Seminole Wars in the Florida Everglades by the use of deception. He invited Osceola to a peace conference, where Osceola and his cohorts were captured. Osceola died in jail shortly thereafter.

You know the old saying: "All's fair in love and WAR!!"...Truth is the Seminoles were doomed the day the white man was allowed to survive its first day in North America.

1944 - The first Japanese kamikaze attack took place near Leyte Island:  WWII.

The war was going very badly for the Japanese, and they were getting desperate...As such, they resorted to desperate tactics -
 tactics which accomplished little.

The importance of the Japanese using this kamikazes is they showed they wouldn't give up without a thorough ass kicking.

1971 - The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to KGB agent Pablo Neruda.

A KGB agent should never earn any award...Unless it is a Nobel Peace Prize, of course, which can go to any degenerate. Even Barack Obama.

1992 - A report prepared for the Los Angeles Police Commission found the city was unprepared to handle the rioting which broke out the previous spring.

They were unprepared because they were unwilling to gas, mace, shoot and arrest every scumbag involved in the riot...I guarantee this solution would end almost all rioting - end and stop them from occurring in the future.

1994 - The United States and North Korea signed an agreement requiring the communist nation to halt its nuclear program and agree to inspections.

This turned out well...Thank goodness the North Koreans always keep their word.

I'm sure the Iranians will follow suit, as well.

1997 - Reversing months of strong opposition, the Clinton administration endorsed a revised Republican bill to restructure the Internal Revenue Service and shift the burden of proof from the taxpayer to the government in court-contested cases.

What a concept.  This country was founded to defend the people against the government, and the burden of proof should always be on the accuser.

Good for President Clinton to do the right thing.

1998 - A radical environmental group, the Earth Liberation Front, claimed responsibility for fires which caused $12 million in damage at the nation's busiest ski resort in Vail, Colorado.

Every member of this group should have been charged and convicted...Instead they got a slap on the wrist.

We have lost our minds allowing the 'Enemies Within' to bend us over and do just about anything they want in the name of their radical causes.

October 20

2011 - Muamarr Gaddafi and his son were killed by a U.S.-supported insurgency in Libya.

I'm all for killing anti-American dictators, but we need to be careful what we ask for.  In this case we killed an anti-American dictator who was willing to be paid off to keep the peace, and replaced him with - anarchy...Anarchy among those who hate the U.S. as much, if not more than Gaddafi ever did, and aren't as likely to be appeased by cash.

Needless to say, this wasn't Barack and Hillary's finest strategic decisions...Unless their goal was to create chaos, that is.

Which is entirely possible.

1534 - The English Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, making King Henry VIII Head of the English Church.

Henry had no concern about being excommunicated from the Roman Church, and figured he could enter his own Heaven as the leader of his own church.

1600 (September 15 on the old Chinese Calendar) - The Battle of Sekigahara.

This battle cleared the way for the Tokugawa clan to establish themselves as the rulers of Japan...The Tokugawa Shogunate was the last in Japanese history, ruling until 1868.

1818 - Great Britain and the United States signed a diplomatic convention establishing a boundary between the U.S. and Canada along the forty-ninth parallel.

The northern border has been much more finite than the Southern border, which is nothing but a figment of our imagination.

1935 - Just over a year after the start of the Long March, Mao Zedong arrived with 8,000 survivors in Yunan, where he set up the Chinese Communist headquarters.

The Long March was over, but the long war still had 14-years...Other than the fact the Communist survived the 'march,' the most important result of this event is that Mao arrived as the undisputed leader of the Chinese Communists.

1944 - General Douglas MacArthur kept his promise to return to the Philippine Islands as he landed with American forces:  World War II. Two and a-half years after he said, "I shall return."

MacArthur insisted on returning, but the Philippines were unnecessary strategically. It was important to him, though, and neither FDR or the Army had the balls to tell him no.

1944 - The Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik were liberated:  World War II.

’Liberated by Soviets’ = The ultimate oxymoron.

1947 - Hollywood came under scrutiny when the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration within the motion picture industry.

I know it’s not politically correct, but McCARTHY WAS RIGHT!!!!! The proof is in the post-USSR opening of their secret files.

1973 - Arab oil-producing nations banned oil exports to the United States, following the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli war.

This event should have opened our eyes to the necessity to lessen (eliminate) our dependence on the Arab dirt-farmers.

Our national economy and defense cannot be held up by any country or group of countries. We must drill on American soil and off-shore, and also greatly increase our refining capacity...Or we can keep our heads up our ass, and allow the 'Oil Bomb' to explode in our face - again.

1975 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled teachers could spank their pupils if the pupils were warned in advance their behavior could trigger a spanking.

We’d be a much better country if we returned to these days...The loss of control in the classroom is a detriment to learning, which is a detriment to American society.

Which is exactly what Liberals want.

1993 - U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno warned the T.V. industry to limit violence in programs.

Or what? Was she going to come after Hollywood with flame-throwers, using the Waco technique?

October 19

202 B.C. – The Battle of Zama:  Rome v. Carthage.

The Battle of Zama is one of the five most important battles in Western history, fought between two of the super-powers of the ancient World, and was the decisive battle of the Second Punic War.

Prior to Zama, Rome was in dire straits, losing just about every battle in Europe against Hannibal...Hannibal kicked the Romans around for years, but had no ability to force a siege of the Roman walls, which made it impossible for him to defeat Rome.

The Romans realized they couldn’t defeat Hannibal in the open battlefield, so they put together an army led by Scipio Africanus to invade Carthage...The Carthaginians were caught completely off-guard, and Hannibal was unable to get back to Zama in time to change the outcome of the battle.

As a result, Carthage was forever weakened, and never powerful enough to threaten Rome again. A fact which destined the West to a Roman Civilization instead of a possible Carthaginian one.

439 - The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, conquered Carthage in North Africa.

North Africa was an important part of the Roman Empire, but the decline of the region began its slide from the West (not just from Rome, but from Western Civilization) with this event...The Vandals and other Germanic people held it for awhile, and the Byzantines for another short period until the Muslims conquered North Africa in the 7th Century - removing North Africa from the sphere of Western Civilization; forever lessening its standing from what it had previously been.

1448 - Ottoman Sultan Murat II defeated Hungarian General Janos Hunyadi at Kosovo, Serbia.

The Ottoman Empire was growing by leaps and bounds, and this victory gave them virtual control of the Balkans, and an invasion route into Central Europe.

That said, the Serbs lost the battle, but never quit fighting the war, which continues to this day.

1453 - The Hundred Years War ended:  England v. France.

The Hundred Years War was actually 116-years long, not 100, and was the result of over 400-years of French, English, Viking, and Norman confrontations.

The result of the war was the end of English territorial claims in France, and is noted as the ‘end of chivalry,’ with the increased use of standing armies, the longbow and gunpowder.

1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte began the retreat of his Grande Armie from Moscow.

The Emperor invaded Russia with 500,000 of his finest troops...He returned to France with around 20,000.

Napoleon was bested by 'General Winter' and the Russian's willingness to suffer, beginning a string of losses for the brilliant commander...Fortunately, the next great European tyrant (Hitler) made the same mistake.

1926 - The Russian Politburo expelled Leon Trotsky and his followers.

Stalin took firm control of the Soviet Union, and tossed his greatest political nemesis out on his ass...Then Uncle Joe spent the next 15-years searching for him all over the globe - for elimination.

1951 - President Truman signed an act formally ending the state of war with Germany:  WWII.

The war ended in 1945, but the state of war ended six years later...This is important to remember in our current and future wars.

2005 - Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent to charges of murder and torture as his long-awaited trial began with the one-time dictator arguing about the legitimacy of the court and scuffling with guards.

Who knows how many Saddam tortured, but we know he killed a million or so...No big deal, I guess.

October 18

768 - Charlemagne and his brother Carloman were crowned co-rulers of the Franks.

Within three years Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Franks, and before his death collected many other titles, including: King of the Lombards, and Emperor of the Romans...Don't confuse the last title with that of the emperors of the Roman Empire or the Holy Roman Empire, because none of the three were the same.

Charlemagne’s importance in European history is immeasurable:  He greatly furthered the spread of Christianity, helped halt the Muslim advance in Western Europe, and is also considered one of the founders of both the French and German nations...His greatest contribution to Europe, however, was a pre-Renaissance enlightenment - as the first great European leader to revive the spirit of the Romans, bringing a little light to the Dark Ages.

1016 - The Battle of Assandun: The Danes defeated the Saxons.

Danish king, Canute defeated Edmund Ironside, and took possession of half of England (Edmund kept the other half)...Within the year Edmund died, and Canute claimed all of England.

1469 - Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand II of Aragon, uniting almost all the Christian dominions of Spain under one monarchy.

23-years later all of Spain united as a Christian dominion under one monarchy.

That said, it's important to remember Spain was ruled by Muslims for 700 years...Longer than the current Christian run.

Equally important, though much less acknowledged and understood, Spain was ruled by Germans (Visigoths) between the Roman and Muslim periods.

1685 - The Edict of Fontainebeau: Louis XIV nullified the Edict of Nantes, which was signed by King Henry IV in 1598, giving the Huguenots religious liberty, civil rights and security. By revoking the Edict of Nantes, Louis XIV abrogated their religious liberties.

This decision by Louis was disastrous for France, even though it didn’t result in a renewal of the French wars of religion...What did happen was many French Protestants migrated from France to other parts of Europe and the Americas.

1748 - The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the War of Austrian Succession.

This war was known as King George's War in America.

The treaty didn’t do much, except return the conquests of the war to their pre-war masters, and set the stage for the next European war.

1867 - The United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia.

'Seward’s Folly' my ass...This was a stroke of genius.

Forget the oil, try to imagine Uncle Joe or Vlad with a foothold in North America.

1993 - Two defendants were acquitted of most of the felony charges in the beating of trucker Reginald Denny and other motorists at the start of the 1992 Los Angeles riots; the jury did convict Damian Williams of simple mayhem, and Henry Watson of simple assault.

The world watched these thugs beat Denny on live TV, but the jury found them not guilty...What a travesty of justice.

Rule #1 of Riots: Don’t go out in them.
Rule #2 of Riots: If you must go out in them, carry many guns and be willing to use them.

1996 - Democratic Party fund-raiser John Huang was relieved of his duties following days of attacks by the Republicans over what they called improper and possibly illegal contributions.

'Improper'? I’d say so! Any time a foreign nation (China; a communist nation to boot) is pouring money into an American candidate’s coffers (Bill Clinton) there is a problem.

1997 - A monument honoring American servicewomen was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.

Although I find it disgusting that we have women in the military (feel free to ask why, the reason isn't sexist), they are there and as such deserve this monument.

October 17 (A Triple)

1777 - The Battle of Saratoga ended: American Revolutionary War.  British General John Burgoyne surrendered to American General Horatio Gates.

Saratoga was a series of battles, and one of the most important in the American Revolution because it kept the Americans in the war and was the deciding factor in the French entering the 'North American skirmish' against the Brits...As such it is one of the turning points of the Revolution.
 
1781 - The Battle of Yorktown ended:  American Revolutionary War.

Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution...The combined American and French troops killed or captured almost every British soldier in the battle, and the Brits were forced to the negotiation table as a result of their losses.

A true 'revolution' in the history of mankind, with an upstart group of colonies breaking away from the world's greatest power - creating a nation unlike any previously seen in history.

1956 - The first nuclear power plant in the world opened in England.

Someday every power plant will run on the power of the atom...It is much more efficient than oil, coal, water, wind, etc., and exponentially less dirty than oil and coal - secrets the EnvironMENTALists choose to ignore.

Why the U.S. has allowed the anti-nuclear psychos to keep us dependent on oil and coal is beyond me...Same for the nuts who think we can be powered by the sun and wind - or unicorn farts.

1244 - The Sixth Crusade ended when an Egyptian-Khwarismian force almost annihilated the French Army.

The Sixth Crusade is important because it was the first which wasn't called for by the Pope. Like the others, however, this one was doomed to failure, and after almost 250-years and six different invasions of the Holy Land the West reclaimed nothing...But did stall the advance of Islam towards the West.

1931 - Mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to eleven years in prison. He was released in 1939.

How does a notorious gangster get released early? Who cares if he was going to die? He should have died in his jail cell, or in the grips of 'Ol Sparky.'

1933 - Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

Hitler was a stupid-ass...Thankfully!

The present world might be spinning on the axis of the swastika had Der Fuhrer not chased off or killed most of Germany's Jewish scientists.

1973 - Arab oil-producing nations announced they would begin cutting back on oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo which lasted until March 1974.

To combat this the U.S. decided to cut back on oil drilling and refining...To appease the EnvironMENTALists.

Talk about national suicide.

1980 - Mt. St. Helens erupted three times in 24 hours, in Washington.

Global Warming!!!  No, make that George W. Bush’s fault.

1989 - An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale hit Northern California, killing 67 people.

Much of the U.S. watched this event unfold, during the pregame of the Giants-A's World Series...A horrible scene.

What's amazing is less than 100 people died in the earthquake...San FranSicko is an enormously dense city, and other cities of its size worldwide with such earthquakes usually have deaths in the thousands.

Again, Global Warming, or W...Or maybe Donald Trump's fault.

1995 - President Bill Clinton told wealthy contributors at a Houston fund-raiser "you think I raised your taxes too much? It might surprise you to know that I think I raised them too much, too." - A statement which drew criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.

I still don’t know how Bubba does the triangulated-calculus of the bullshit he spews out...It truly is a talent.

October 16 (A Huge Day)

1813 - The Battle of Leipzig.

This battle is also known as the Battle of the Nations, and was the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars...It was, also, another in a string of losses for the Emperor.

Napoleon was terribly outnumbered: 430,000 to 191,000, and faced a combined grouping of almost all his Continental enemies: Russia, Austrian Empire, Prussia, Sweden, and other German states.

The French forces fought well, but couldn't overcome the volume of its enemies, and Leipzig combined with the Russian and Peninsular Campaign, signaled the beginning of the end for the Napoleon.

1863 - General U.S. Grant was appointed commander of all operations in the Western Theater:  U.S. Civil War.

Lincoln suffered for years seeking a 'fighting general'- he finally found one in Grant...And he wasn't concerned with Grant's drinking or the way he threw his men into battle.

Lincoln knew the war could only be won if the fight was taken to the Confederacy. Grant was the perfect man to drive on the South, and this promotion was a major step towards ending the war.

1934 - Mao Zedong and 25,000 troops began the 6,000 mile Long March.

The history of the Long March is the decisive event of the Chinese Civil War between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists.

130,000 'Reds' were surrounded by 400,000 Nationalists, but around 25,000 managed to break out, and start the Long March, which was a full-scale retreat - a forced, fighting retreat.

The Communists should have been annihilated but weren't...Instead they survived, picked up followers among the peasantry, and most important this is where Mao established himself as the ultimate leader of the Chinese Communists.

1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis began when President Kennedy was informed reconnaissance photographs revealed the presence of Russian missile bases in Cuba.

Thankfully we had a Conservative president during this crisis...And make no mistake, this Democrat was a Conservative when it came to national defense!!!

There is no way a Liberal peacenick would have handled this problem in a similar way, and the fact that JFK took us to the brink of nuclear war was brilliant - brilliant because it had to be done...We can never succumb to fear, and must always be willing to swing our 'big stick' when our security is at risk.

Sadly, this is a problem we will likely have to face sooner or later with the North Koreans and Iranians...And then the Chinese.

1964 - China detonated its first atomic bomb.

Welcome to the club...Any nation who joins is an instant world power, and the event is a major one in history.

1859 - John Brown's Raid: John Brown raided the U.S. arsenal at Harper's Ferry, with the intention of obtaining arms to use to liberate slaves. Brown was captured two days later, and hanged on December 2.

Brown's intentions were honorable, but had no chance at succeeding...Also of note is the commanding officer who caught him: Soon to be Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

1901 - President Theodore Roosevelt incited controversy by inviting black leader Booker T. Washington to the White House.

Teddy was a man of bold actions...That said, he never did this again.

The reaction he received for inviting Washington was more than a little loud, and he learned very fast that the country wasn't quite ready to normalize relations between blacks and whites...A sad reality, but a reality, nonetheless.

1925 - The Locarno Pact was signed: European nations agreed to accept their national boundaries as they were at the time of this signing.

This treaty was wishful thinking, but the terms of the Versailles Treaty made it impossible.

The Allies wanted too much from the Germans, and the Germans weren't thoroughly beaten in WWI...The result was plenty of Utopian thinking, but the pact did little but help set the stage for WWII.

1953 - The Batista regime sentenced Fidel Castro to 15-years in prison for rebellion.

Rule #1 of National Defense: Execute all traitors...If you don't the decision will come back to haunt you later.

1978 - The College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to be the new pope; he took the name John Paul II (The first non-Italian pope since 1542).

John Paul II proved to be one of the greatest ‘freedom fighters’ of the 20th Century, belonging in the class of Winston Churchill, FDR, Ronald Reagan, Margarette Thatcher, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

2002 - The White House announced North Korea disclosed the existence of a secret nuclear weapons program.

This was the world's worst-kept secret...But it was a huge announcement.

Thank you very much Bill Clinton!! At least Kim Jong Il thanks you, Madeleine Albright and Jimmy Carter for the light-water reactors you gave them.

October 15

1529 - The Ottoman Turks, led by Suleiman, abandoned the siege of Vienna.

The importance of the Habsburgs (rulers of the Austrian Empire - among many other holdings) can’t be minimized when it comes to stopping the spread of Islam. There was no other power to stop the onslaught from East to West, and had the Habsburgs not been such staunch defenders it’s likely much of Europe would be speaking Arabic at this time.

1582 – The Gregorian calendar was adopted in Catholic countries.

Ten days disappeared from the calendar...It’s funny to note, many Europeans thought this was nothing but a tax-collection scheme.

1892 - The U.S. government convinced the Crow Indians to give up 1.8 million acres of their reservation for 50 cents per acre.

Sounds like a rip-off, but it’s much more than most Indians got.

Again, I must repeat Rule #1 of invasions: Do not let the defenders off the beach...This rule held absolutely true for the Crow and every other conquered population. As it always has, and will.

1914 - The Clayton Antitrust Act became law.

This law was passed to eliminate monopolistic policies, and put limits on big-business...Worked very well didn’t it?

1923 - The N.Y. Yankees won their first World Series.

It wouldn’t be their last, with the Bombers founding the greatest dynasty in the history of American sports.

1946 - Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering poisoned himself hours before he was scheduled to be executed.

What a complete miscarriage of justice...The Fat Field Marshal had to die, but it shouldn’t have been at his own hands.

The executioner was cheated and so was justice.

1964 - It was announced Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev had been removed from office. He was succeeded as Premier by Alexei N. Kosygin and as Communist Party Secretary by Leonid I. Brezhnev.

Nikki proved to be the last competent Soviet leader (an oxymoron in its own right), and the Evil Empire began a slow period of deterioration from this point on.

1966 - The Endangered Species Preservation Act became law, and the Fish and Wildlife service initially listed 78 species as being 'endangered.' The number of 'endangered species' grew greatly over the following years to a count of 984 in the U.S., as of September 2002.

We protect animals, but we've had no problem executing over 45,000,000 UNBORN BABIES in the past 40-years...Nice set of principles we have.

October 14

1066 – The Battle of Hastings.

In one of the most important battles in history, William, Duke of Normandy led his invading army to victory over England's King Harold.

Prior to William's conquest, England was a loosely-held-together country faced with constant invasion and warfare...Amazingly, this invasion was the last successful invasion of England

Although it wasn't apparent at the time, the Norman conquest was a blessing for England, and it wasn't long until she was on par with the great powers of Continental Europe - later surpassing them, as one of the grandest empires in world history.

1322 - Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, defeated King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scottish independence.

I’ll take any chance to push my proud progeny from the ‘Clan Bruce.’

1806 – The Battles of Jena and Auerstedt.

These were independent battles, fought between the forces of Napoleon and Frederick William III, of Prussia.

Jena was one of Napoleon's finest battles, but nowhere near as impressive as the French victory at Auerstedt...But Napoleon wrote the history of the battles, and made sure to play up his role.

The battles are earmarked together, because they were fought in close proximity, by the divided forces of Napoleon and Frederick's main armies.

Napoleon personally led the French at Jena and crushed the Prussians...At Auerstedt, Napoleons generals did likewise, to the Emperor's surprise, because the main Prussian force was at Auerstedt.

1832 - The Chickasaw Indians ceded their lands east of the Mississippi River to the United States. This cession avoided a pitched war between the two cultures, which the Chickasaw didn't have the manpower, technology, nor the military skill to win.

In the minds of the Chickasaw the whole world was their territory, and their whole world came to an end...Lucky for them, they gave up without a fight, or their belief would have become reality.

1933 - Nazi Germany announced it was withdrawing from the League of Nations and would take no further part in the Geneva Disarmament Conference.

This is one of the many promises Hitler kept.

He kept most of those he made before 1933, and broke most of the ones he made after...I hope you understand this reference. If not, you need to come by this blog much more often.

1944 - German Field Marshal Rommel, suspected of complicity in the July 20th plot against Hitler, was visited at home by two of Hitler's staff and given the choice of public trial or suicide by poison. He chose suicide and it was announced that he died of wounds:  WWII.

Rommel wasn't a major player in the plot, but he did have knowledge of it...And welcomed it.

Hitler knew it would be a propaganda nightmare to kill Rommel, so he gave him an offer:

1. Kill himself, and die with full military honors.

2. Be killed, along with his whole family, as a traitor of the German Reich.

He made the honorable choice.

1964 - Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel crowd has given many bizarre Prizes, but this one was very well earned and deserved.

1992 - Russia's worst serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, was convicted of mutilating and killing 52 women and children. He was executed in 1994.

Andrei killed 52 Russian and was rightfully executed...Stalin killed millions of Russians and had statues built and songs sung in his honor.

Such is human history.

1994 - The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

The 'Hitler in a Head-Dress' was given a Peace Prize??? (See the first part of the 1964 comment.)

By this logic, the Nobel Clowns should have given Stalin a prize for keeping peace in the Ukraine.

Or give Obama one for doing nothing...Or give John Kerry one for working out a deal to give the Iranians a nuke.

1999 - President Bill Clinton accused Senate Republicans of recklessness and irresponsibility for defeating the nuclear test ban treaty, and pledged the United States would refrain from testing despite the treaty's rejection.

Hey Bill, if we don’t stay ahead of the ‘weapon’s curve,’ we will fall behind it..And pay dearly for such stupidity.

Reason #46,209 why we can't trust Democrats to protect our country.

October 13

1035 - Canute, King of Denmark and England, died.

Canute’s reign was incredibly important:

1. He ended the major Viking raids and invasions of England - because he was the leader of the Vikings.

2. Canute was the first of the English kings to be a true Christian.

3. He established the dynastic link between England and Normandy by marrying the Duke of Normandy's daughter...This link provided the basis for William, Duke of Normandy’s invasion in 1066, which completely overturned the history of England, and greatly affected the history of France.

This man, who most Americans have never heard of changed British, French and World History...A pathetic mark against the American education system.

1775 - The U.S. Continental Congress ordered the construction of America's first naval fleet.

There was no United States at this time, but this is considered the founding of the United States Navy...What started out as a pathetic little force of 17 ships evolved into the greatest and most dominant naval force the world has seen.

1943 - Italy declared war on Germany, its former Axis partner:  WWII.

Gotta love the Italians...I'm sure they believe they were on the winning side.

1997 - Roll Call Magazine reported "the Senate barber shop and beauty salon have lost $1.8 million in taxpayer funds over the last five years."

Why in Hell does the Senate have a taxpayer funded barber shop and beauty salon? These pukes have plenty of money and can surely find their own, non-taxpayer funded, hair-cutters.