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.