February 3 (A Triple)

1451 - Mehmed II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Mehmed wasn't any ol' sultan - he was one of the greatest Ottoman rulers...Also known as Mehmed the Conqueror, for taking Constantinople - ending the Byzantine empire, which put an end to the Roman Empire - as well as reclaiming all of Anatolia, portions of the Balkans in Europe, and extending the empire further into Asia.

As such, the Ottoman Sultanate became not only an empire, but one of the most powerful and vibrant nations on earth.

1870 - The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting the right of citizens to vote regardless of race, color or previous condition of servitude.

For all its greatness, the Constitution and its founders failed on this issue. Many of the Founders knew they were wrong to allow slavery to continue, but they also knew the Constitution would have never been passed by the states if the issue of slavery was tackled at that time...Like most things in life, they had to serve the greater good at the expense of some obvious wrongs.

Fortunately, the Founders were brilliant enough to know the document's flaws and left it open ended with a means of righting this and other wrongs...Such was the brilliance of the amendment process.

1913 – The 16th Amendment, allowing the establishment of an income tax, was ratified. The new income tax laws included an exemption on life insurance to help widows and orphans. Also, the first $3,000 was exempted, and the top rate on incomes over $500,000 was 6%.

The Founders may have missed on the issues of the 13th-15th Amendments, but...

That said, there is no reason we shouldn’t return to the 6% top rate, and then tax consumption at a reasonable rate...Business would boom, and the government would get more money than it ever dreamed.

But this will never happen, because everyone would have to pay the consumption tax, including those who currently don’t pay income tax...The Democrats aren't about to do this to one of their primary voting bases.

1160 - Emperor Frederick Barbarossa hurtled prisoners, including children, at the Italian city of Crema, forcing its surrender.

That might have be a violation of the Geneva Conventions :)

1887 - The U.S. Congress passes the Electoral Count Act, designed to prevent the sort of confusion which marred the 1876 presidential election. Individual states were to be responsible for determining their own electoral vote counts.

The system could use a few more tweaks, but fraud will never be completely avoided...Not as long as politics is the method of choice to determine who rules the country. Which isn't perfect, but is highly preferable to civil war.

1919 - The first meeting of the League of Nations took place in Paris.

What a waste of time. Almost as much as the U.N...ALMOST!

1950 - Nuclear physicist Klaus Fuchs was arrested on spy charges. His confession revealed the Soviet Union obtained the atomic bomb from sources within the Manhattan Project.

The Ruskies would have caught up eventually, but treasonous American help definitely sped them up.

This event drastically altered the world, and led to the enslavement of many million people, because the U.S. no longer had the ultimate power to save them without having to commit millions of troops to the cause (E. Europe, Korea, China, etc).

1969 - The Palestine National Congress appointed Yasir Arafat head of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The Hitler-in-a-Headdress got a promotion...Congratulations.

1973 - President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law.

I can't imagine Nixon had any idea how drastically this law would be used to restrict production and commerce, instead of as a method to 'save our precious animals.'

Lefties were very aware of its potential future uses, however.

1998 - The state of Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker for the pick-ax killing of two people in 1983.

What’s good for the gander is good for the goose...At least it should be.