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.