November 17 (A Double)

1558 - Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary (Bloody Mary).

Elizabeth is also known as 'The Virgin Queen' (since she never married or had children), 'Gloriana,' or 'Good Queen Bess'...She is also one of the few people in history to have an era named after her: 'The Elizabethan Era.'

Her reign proved to be one of the most important in English history, and saw the rise of England from a minor power to becoming one of the greatest powers ever.

1869 - The Suez Canal opened in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and Red seas.

The importance of the Suez Canal cannot be minimized, because it allows direct, north-south trade between Europe and Asia without the need to go around the African continent.

Since the time of the Ancient Egyptians, attempts have been made to link the two continents through the Mediterranean water route, and at various times temporary canals have succeeded...It wasn't until the Suez Canal, however, that a permanent, reliable mode of passable transport was accomplished.

Sadly, the canal is in the middle of Jihadistan and has been, and will forever be, a tool used by Egypt and the Jihadists against the West.

1800 - The U.S. Congress held its first session in Washington D.C. in the partially completed Capitol building.

The U.S. Congress is the greatest legislative body in the history of the world, even though it is, and has always been, filled with a bunch of lying, cheating, scoundrels...Which speaks volumes about the rest of the world.

1917 - Vladamir Lenin defended the "temporary" removal of freedom of the press.

Quite the funny guy, ol' Vlad was...There was no such thing as a 'temporary removal' of anything in the Soviet Onion (spelling by intent).

I'll never understand how the Beatles got away with singing "...you don't know how lucky you are, boy, back in the U.S.S.R." These dumb SOB's obviously never read Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

1956 - "We will bury you," said U.S.S.R. Premier Khrushchev at the end of a long speech given at the Polish Embassy in Moscow.

Nikki was a beauty, but he was a true believer in the communist system...And truly believed it would 'bury' the capitalist system.

Thankfully, he and the Soviet Hell Sate have long since been 'buried.'

1993 - The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve legislation implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement in what was seen as a major political victory for President Clinton.

NAFTA is a complete mess, and the politics of it brought strange bedfellows together: The Republicans in Congress sided with Clinton, and the Democrats in Congress sided with traditional Conservatives.

I will say the acronym was at least proper: North American Frequent Trafficking of Aliens (NAFTA).

July 26

1956 - Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

This is the possible reality of every business in a foreign land...Also, it's nice to know the link between the Mediterranean and Red seas are controlled by a possible Islamist nation.

Some day this could be an incredibly costly event.

1945 - The USS Indianapolis, carrying the atomic bomb, arrived in the Marianas:  WWII.

In 11 days the world saw the power of this awesome weapon. A weapon which changed the world forever.

1945 - Winston Churchill resigned as British Prime Minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labor Party. Clement Attlee became the new prime minister.

How the Brits turned on Churchill almost immediately after WWII in Europe was decided is beyond me...But, I shouldn’t be surprised.

The Brits didn’t want Churchill until they had to - due to the reality of the war...And they didn’t want him after the war was no longer in doubt.

1948 - President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the U.S. Military.

This action belongs alongside those of Jackie Robinson, MLK, Rosa Parks, etc., in the history of the Civil Rights movement.

1953 - The Battle of Moncada Barracks: Fidel Castro began the Cuban rebellion with the '26th of July Movement,' against the Fulgenico Batista's regime.

The Cuban revolution began here, even though the battle was a failure...It took Castro six years to overthrow Batista, but like every successful revolutionary leader he was able to create a cult of personality which helped him achieve power. Fidel's began at the 'Barracks.'

2000 - A federal judge in New York approved a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than half-a-million plaintiffs who alleged the banks hoarded money deposited by Holocaust victims.

Lets do the math: $1,250,000,000/500,000 people = $2,500/person...This is a cruel joke.

April 25

1859 - Ground was broken for the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

The canal was a great project, creating a direct waterway between Europe and Asia...Prior to the Suez Canal, trade between the East and west required sea trips around Africa, or overland transport between the two continents. Both were dangerous, and cost much in the form of money and human lives to get through/around.

Amazingly, this canal-link wasn’t the first in the area. As early as 1900 B.C. the Egyptians linked the Nile with the Red Sea, a canal which was in various states of use (and disuse) until around 700 A.D.

1507 - Martin Waldeseemueller named America in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.

The name 'America' is a thing of beauty, but the New World should have been named Columbia after Christopher Columbus.

1792 - Execution by guillotine was used for the first time, to execute Nicolas J. Pelletier.

The first of many...In a little over a year the guillotine became a favorite tool for the French Revolution's ‘Reign of Terror.'
 
1862 - The Battle of New Orleans ended.  U.S. Admiral David Farragut occupied New Orleans:  U.S. Civil War.

The Civil War was far from over, and at this time the Confederates were routinely whipping the Union troops, but this event more or less was the doom of the Confederacy...New Orleans was the only great port in Southern hands, and it was their lifeline to European and South American supply.  It was also their last hope for European support.

As a result of capturing New Orleans, the Union was able to strangle the South and convince the Brits, French, etc., to mind their own business...As such, the Battle of New Orleans is one of the great turning points of the U.S. Civil War.

1928 - Buddy, a German Shepherd, became the first guide dog for the blind.

This is a minor event for most of us, but an immeasurable one for anyone requiring the services of such dogs.

1904 - New York Yankees pitcher Jack Chesbro won the first of his 41 wins for the year.

This is one of the few sports records which will likely stand for all time...If for no other reason, pitchers don't even get 40 starts per year anymore - even if they were to go undefeated they'd still be short of the record.

For those who are baseball junkies, the all time record for wins in a season by a pitcher is actually 59, by Old Hoss Radbourn in 1884...But this was before the rules and regulations of modern baseball were truly defined - anything before 1900 is considered before the modern era.

1945 - The Soviet Red Army completely surrounded Berlin:  WWII.

The war was all but over, but there were still plenty of lives to be lost.

1945 - U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, a meeting which dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany's defenses:  WWII.

A great symbolic event, but in reality it was nothing more than the beginning of the Cold War.