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.