February 26

1848 - Karl Marx and Frederich Engels published 'The Communist Manifesto.'

The communist Bible was born...Lenin was the first to put it into play, Stalin and Mao perfected it.

In Marx’s defense he would have been shocked and disgusted by all of these characters (as well as every other communist leader)...Unfortunately these types of leaders have proven to be the reality of communism, which alone proves its insanity, because it leads to a few questions: Does communism create dictators? Is a dictator necessary for communism to survive?

History has proven the answer to both to be YES!

747 B.C. – The Era of Nabonassar began.

This was a calendar system created by Ptolemy to describe his astrological findings...It has many flaws, and needs many corrections to correlate with the modern-day calendar, which is why there are so many dates in ancient history so difficult to pinpoint, and are disputed by historians.

As a result there are very few ancient events noted with a specific date. They are usually noted simply by their year, and when we are lucky with their month and year - both are often dubious at best.

This event isn't as great as those listed below, but it is important to history because of the chaos it creates for accurate record collection...Which drives me nuts!

1815 - Napoleon left his exile on the Island of Elba, intending to return to France.

Was Napoleon Houdini or what? It is unimaginable how the Brits allowed him to escape.

1848 - The Second French Republic was proclaimed.

France has gone through constitutional systems like a Russian goes through Vodka...They are on their fifth system since the French Revolution, none of which were worth a damn.

So the next time you hear someone speak of the brilliance of French politics, make sure you ask them why France has gone through five constitutions since the U.S. Constitution was founded...The U.S. has had one in this same period.

By the way, I was probably a little unfair with the crack above about Russian drunks, and I'd like to amend the statement to: '...like a German army goes through France.'

1924 - The 'Beer Hall Putsch Trial' began, in Munich.

How were Hitler and his pals allowed to serve out short sentences for trying to overthrow the German government? This little bastard should have been dead by 1925.

Not applying proper justice, allowing him to live, cost Germany - and the world - tremendously.

1935 - Germany announced the establishment of the Luftwaffe, led by Herman Goering.

The Luftwaffe was an excellent air force, but the world should be thrilled the 'Fat Field Marshal' was its leader...It is hard to believe any legitimate German officer could have screwed up German air strategy the way Goering did, and it's debatable if the Brits could have overcome 'The Blitz' if anyone other than Goering was it's leader.

1942 - Werner Heisenberg informed the Nazis about the possibility of creating nuclear weapons:  WWII.

Can you imagine if Hitler had been able to keep his head, and not throw out or kill all German-Jewish scientists? They would have surely had an atomic bomb before 1945, and would’ve found a way to get them on the V-1 and V-2.

I’m pretty certain the little psychopath would have launched them, too.

1951 - The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, limiting U.S. presidents to two terms of office.

You'd think this would be unnecessary, and all presidents would follow the unwritten precedent set by Washington...But the egomaniacal FDR forced it to paper by running for four terms.

1992 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that sexually harassed students may sue to collect monetary damages from their schools and school officials.

How is this defined? The Supremes shouldn’t be passing such judgments without being more precise in the offense’s definition...Once again, this leaves much room for 'lawyerly misdeeds.'

1999 - President Bill Clinton, outlining foreign policy goals for the final two years of his administration, urged continued American engagement in the quest for peace and freedom abroad.

Sounds similar to what President Bush said in his 2005 State of the Union Address...But the world knew Billy was blowing as much smoke as Monica was blowing in general.

1993 - A bomb exploded in the parking garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

I’m sure some have forgotten this incident, but we must always remember 9/11/01 was not an indiscriminate attack by a few nuts...It was part of a long-term strategy, which included 2/26/93.

There will be more.

1997 - Democratic fund-raisers "explicitly sold invitations to White House coffees with President Clinton." Clinton even authorized overnight stays in the Lincoln bedroom in exchange for generous contributions to the Democratic Party.

To say Clinton whored out the White House isn’t a stretch, and Heaven only knows what 'generous contributions' the Chinese gave him to get our military secrets.

2003 - French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin warned that waging war against Iraq now would split the international community and "be perceived as precipitous and illegitimate."

The fact the French sat out the eventual invasion of Iraq is proof enough to me of its legitimacy...Had they entered I would have wondered what their angle was, and began to doubt its goals. Without them, I had no doubt it was a good thing.

A few years later we found out exactly why the French (as well as other NATO members) didn't want to take out Saddam Hussein: 'Oil for food bribes.'

February 19

1945 - The Battle of Iwo Jima began: WWII.  Over 60,000 U.S. Marines went ashore at Iwo Jima, where they began a month-long battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces. The 36-day battle took the lives of 7,000 Americans and about 20,000 of 22,000 Japanese defenders.

25% of the U.S. Marines who received the Medal of Honor in WWII received theirs as a result of heroics in this battle:

"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue." - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.

If you ever get the chance, go to the Iwo Jima Memorial (just outside Arlington National Cemetery). Looking into the eyes of the soldiers in the statue is absolutely breathtaking, awe-inspiring and heart-breaking...I'm not too proud to admit tearing up at this magnificent monument.

197 - The Battle of Lugdunum.  Roman Civil War:  Emperor Septimius Severus defeated Claudius Albinus.

Lugdunum is considered the largest and most bloody civil war battle in Roman history.

The barbarians, pestilence, constant war, failing economy, etc., etc., were all reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire, but the fact there was no routine 'peaceful' means of leadership transition was as big as any...Of course there were emperors who took office without fighting to gain it, but just as often succession was a simple matter of who could overthrow the previous emperor or win a civil war.

This is the historical norm for most countries throughout all of human history...Any modern states which have managed to have peaceful political transitions are truly rare.

1674 - The Treaty of Westminster was signed, ending the Anglo-Dutch War. Under its terms, New Netherlands became British.

New Netherlands later became New York, and the Dutch were all but eliminated as a New World power.

1800 - Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself First Consul of the newly established French dictatorship.

The modern-day Caesar was soon calling himself Emperor.

1807 - Aaron Burr became the first Vice President of the United States to be arrested; charged with treason for planning an expedition to invade Mexico.

Burr was an absolute nut, and it’s hard to imagine the damage he could have done if the House voted for him to break the tie in the 1800 Presidential Election instead of Thomas Jefferson.

1859 - Daniel E. Sickles, N.Y. congressman, was acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. This was the first time this defense was successfully used. He shot the D.C. district attorney for having an affair with his wife. Sickles pleaded temporary insanity and the sanctity of a man’s home and beat the murder rap.

Murder is an 'insane' act, so of course he was insane...This was a terrible precedent, and one the 'Red Diaper, Doper Babies' love to run out as a defense for their pathetic clients.

1861 - Russian Tsar Alexander II abolished serfdom.

A nice first step, but the Russian people were a long way from freedom...Sadly, they will have to cross the threshold from absolutism to Communism through their current post-Communist state to get there.

1918 - A decree was issued by the Soviet Central Executive Committee abolishing all private ownership of land, water and natural resources in Russia.

A giant leap for the Hell State, which more or less ended private property rights...Sounds like the wishful thinking of some American Democrats.

1942 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, giving the U.S. military the power to relocate and intern "any and all persons." The order was used to detain some 110,000 Japanese-Americans, most of them U.S.-born citizens:  WWII.

This is black-eye on American history, but it was the correct thing to do. Sooner or later, we will have to do something similar again...Mark my words.

1977 - President Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D'Aquino ('Tokyo Rose').

I don’t care how old she was, it is always a bad decision to free traitors...She should have been executed a long time before this date.

February 16

1808 - The Peninsular War began when Napoleon ordered a large French force into Spain under the pretext of sending reinforcements to the French army occupying Portugal.

Napoleon met his end at Waterloo in 1815, and his invasion of Russia in 1812 was a complete disaster, but the Peninsular War played as big a role as the other two in the emperor’s eventual downfall.

The Spanish fought a guerrilla war against Napoleon, and never won a large battle, but instead forced him to fight a war of attrition...Also, the Peninsular campaign is where the Duke of Wellington perfected the tactics he used to defeat the emperor seven years later.

There are many similarities between the Peninsular War and the WWII Allied attacks on Germany’s ‘soft underbelly’ (North Africa and Italy). Both were used:
- As a training ground for green troops and commanders.
- To soften the tyrant’s (Napoleon and Hitler) allies.
- To string out enemy troops from the far west of Europe to the far east.
- And equally important, both allowed the Brits (and U.S. in WWII) to buy time while their Eastern allies took the brunt of the Imperial and German assaults - largely at the hands of the Ruskies in both cases.

600 - Pope Gregory the Great decreed "God bless You" as the religiously correct response to a sneeze.

I bet you’ve been wondering where this came from.

1804 - The U.S. frigate Philadelphia, captured and held by Barbary pirates at Tripoli during the Tripolitan War, was set fire to and destroyed by a small group of men led by Stephen Decatur.

For those of who didn’t understand the line in the Marine Corp Hymn: “...to the shores of Tripoli” - Now you know.

1862 - About 14,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered at Fort Donelson, Tenn., earning Gen. Ulysses S. Grant the nickname 'Unconditional Surrender Grant.'

Grant wasn’t a military genius by any means, but he was a fighter. Sadly it took Lincoln a few more years to realize Grant was the commander he was looking for...Amazingly, in our time a general like Grant would be run out of the military for being 'too tough,' 'indiscriminate with the use of his troops,' 'a butcher,' 'a drunk,' or for not being 'Politically Correct.'

Thank God for men like Grant; Pershing, Patton, etc.!!! Our nation is at risk because our military has become 'too nice' - and too feminine - figuratively and literally...Someday our armed services will have to revert to their natural roots, which is to 'break stuff and kill people' in the process of protecting our nation.

Unfortunately, it's likely many troops (and probably civilians) will pay the price for our current stupidity on the way to re-learning this ancient knowledge.

1923 - Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamen.

An incredible find...But it was nothing compared to what the ancient grave diggers found with most of the other pharaohs.

Tut was a boy king, and a very unimportant figure compared to most of ancient Egypt's rulers...Yet Carter found a true treasure trove.  Imagine what the powerful pharaohs were buried with.

1951 - Joseph Stalin contended the U.N. was becoming the weapon of aggressive war.

Against who??? This is the ultimate ‘pot calling the kettle black.’

2005 - The Kyoto Protocol took effect.

What a joke.  The Global Warmers got their global law, and it has done nothing...No one who signed the deal has bothered to follow through.

The world just wanted the U.S. to agree to it, which is never has, in order to chop the world's superpower down a few notches - and to dip its hands in her coffers.

February 8

1904 - The Battle of Port Arthur: In a surprise attack at Port Arthur, Korea, the Japanese disabled seven Russian warships, beginning the Russo-Japanese War.

This is one of the most decisive naval battles in history, with the Japanese completely destroying the Russian Far East Navy.

It is also the beginning of the great modern Japanese Navy, and set a precedent for Japanese surprise attacks...The Pearl Harbor attack was based primarily on this one, and was equally successful on a tactical level.

An interesting note on the Russo-Japanese War: It is considered the first war in history where more troops died in battle than due to disease.

421 - Flavius Constantine became co-emperor as Connstantius II.  He was emperor of the Western part of the empire, and Honorius was emperor of the East.

Emperor was a nice title, but being in charge of Rome was a brutal position by this point...Western Europe was besieged by barbarians of every sort, and in the process of being overrun by Germanic tribes.

The East, on the other hand, had another 1,000 years of existence...Not that it was nearly as grand an existence as it had been.

1587 - Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

Legend has it, her head fell down the scaffold, and her pet dog grabbed it by the hair and ran though the streets for hours...True or not, it’s a great story.

1807 -  The Battle of Eylau:  Napoleon defeated the Russians.

The French held the field, but the battle accomplished very little for them:  "What a massacre!  And all for nothing." - French Marshal Michel Ney

The Russians didn't win, but Napoleon didn't crush them, which was a strategic victory for the Allies.

1924 - The first execution by gas in the United States took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City - Gee Jon was put to death for murder.

Gas, beheading, lethal injection, by noose or by the bullet, I couldn't care less how murderers are executed. We shouldn’t worry about how, but about the lack of them on a regular basis.

If you murder, you should be executed. It's a pretty simple concept.

1940 - Nazis shot every tenth person in two Polish villages near Warsaw in reprisal for the deaths of two German soldiers:  WWII.

A slow day by Nazi standards.

1943 - FDR ordered a minimal 48-hour work week in war industry:  WWII.

Gasp!!! The horror!! Try to imagine a modern-day American president trying to make such a requirement...Even during a time of war the Liberal scum would throw a fit.

January 7 (A Double)

1789 - The first nationwide U.S. presidential election was held. The electors unanimously picked George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President.

Two better men couldn't have been chosen for the position of President and V.P...It's doubtful anyone will ever surpass Washington in importance in American history, and although Adams was no Washington he was more than up to the task of succeeding Washington eight years later.

Our nation would never have survived without these early leaders, and it's been said a million times: "America has always been blessed with the right man, in the right place, at the right time." - Orignial Author Unknown

Unfortunately, this axiom isn't a guarantee.

1971 - DDT was outlawed by a U.S. Court of Appeals.

It takes a lot for an event to share a day with Washington, but the long term suffering and death caused by this decision puts it right up there in importance.

DDT kills a lot of insects, birds and small animals...But not using it has led to the death of tens of millions of HUMANS.

I'm sure the people of Africa, South America and Asia would rather see animals and bugs die from DDT than their family members from Yellow Fever and other diseases.

I'm also sure it's coincidental (not racist, of course) that Liberals across the planet have chosen to protect the furry little creatures of the world instead of its most destitute people - often 'people of color'...Sure!

49 B.C. - The Roman Senate declared Julius Caesar a public enemy, unless he would disband his army.

Caesar scoffed at this pitiful order...The Republic was on its last legs, and Caesar soon cut them off.

1558 - The Duke de Guise captured Calais for France.

Calais was one of England's last Continental properties, and after hearing the news of the loss Queen Mary I reportedly said: "When I am dead and opened, you shall find 'Calais' lying in my heart."

I'd say getting off the Continent was a blessing for the English, because it forced them to look inward and turn away from the decadence of Europe.

1807 - Responding to Napoleon Bonaparte's attempted blockade of the British Isles, the British blockaded Continental Europe.

Neither the Brit nor French 'blockades' were very successful, and Europe continued to be bled out until Britain was able to put together a strong enough alliance to finally defeat the Emperor.

1934 - Six-thousand pastors in Berlin defied the Nazis insisting they would not be muzzled.

These pastors were brave - they were also out-gunned.

1935 - Fascist Italy and France agreed to protect Austria against Nazi German encroachment.

France has been Germany's whipping-boy since 1870. What made them think they could stop Hitler from taking his homeland?

Italy?  Hahahaha!  Actually, it's pretty sad to think Musso was going be of any help to anyone - other than to Hitler, that is.

1945 - British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery gave a press conference where he all but claimed complete credit for saving the Allied cause in the Battle of the Bulge:  WWII.

Montgomery is a favorite target of ridicule for American historians (myself included), but it is foolish to deny he was a good general...As Churchill rightly noted: "Before Monty the Germans never lost a battle, but after Monty they never won one."

The unstated coincidence is the U.S. entered the war soon after Monty took command in Africa.

For the Field Marshal to make any claim for the success at the Battle of the Bulge was a complete farce, though...If anything, his waste of time at 'Market Garden' made the Battle of the Bulge possible for the Germans, and slowed down the effort in the West so much the Ruskies were able to get to Berlin first.

1951 - Hostile demonstrations welcomed Dwight Eisenhower to Paris during talks on European defense strategy.
Hostile towards Ike?  The man who led the effort to save them from their German overlords?  Par for the course for the Frenchies.

Some have fallen for the Liberal propaganda that France has always been our friend (prior to G.W. Bush, that is)...Think again.

The French have never been our friends:

1. Sure they helped in the Revolutionary War, but they did so to spite Britain, not because they were supporters of liberty or the American colonists.

2. They sold us the Louisiana Territory, but had no choice. France was at war all over Europe and couldn't hold on to its American prize even if they wanted to...Plus, after their defeat in Haiti, Napoleon had to scrap his plans of invading the U.S. But that's not something taught in public school. Hell, it's not even taught in American universities.

3. The French gave us the Statue of Liberty; sort of...A group of French citizens gave it to 'the American people' in France's name, but the French government could have cared less.

4. In WWI, France treated our troops like dogs, and didn't want them there other than as fodder against the Hun.

5. In WWII, France rolled over like a cheap whore for the Germans, and hate the fact the U.S. and Brits saved it from becoming a nation of bars of soap and lampshades.

Etc., etc., etc...They were self-serving bastards then, just as they were in 1951 (not even six years after being liberated), just as they are today.

1953 - President Truman announced in his State of the Union Address, the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb.

This monster has been tested but never used in anger. I wonder who will be the lucky 'first' recipient? Will it be the U.S.?

Who really knows what our enemies have?  Or what our 'friends' will eventually sell to our enemies.

1999 - For only the second time in history, an impeached American president (Bill Clinton) went on trial before the Senate.

The House did its job properly, and so did the Senate...He should have been impeached by the House, and acquitted by the Senate.  I hope you follow this logic.

The threat of impeachment should be held over every public official, and wielded like a hammer...For too long our presidents, representatives, senators, judges, and bureaucrats have acted without fear of repercussion. The Constitution has specific means for protecting the 'people' from these officials and it is Congress' duty to use impeachment as needed to protect the people.

Unfortunately, many government officials have long since ended the promise of working for and protecting the people, and now simply work for and protect themselves and their friends.

December 25 (A Triple)

1 - The date celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ.

Was Christ born on this date? No. Is Christ the son of God? Personally, I'd say no...Neither of these questions - or my opinion - is of importance, however.

What is important is the life and death of Jesus Christ, and the historical results of his life and death...Results which have been as important as any life and death in history.

336 - The first recorded celebration of Christmas on December 25th took place in Rome.

The ‘birth of Christ’ had been celebrated on various dates for over 200 years, but this is the first sanctioned by the 'Church' on the 25th.

800 - Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans.

The Pope crowned Charlemagne emperor in order to pay back the many times Charles saved him from his enemies in the Vatican, and also from his own family...Charlemagne was also a strong defender of the church, and liked to think of himself as the founder of a new Roman Empire.

There are many who consider Charlemagne as the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, and there are others who consider Otto I the founder in 962...I fall in line with those who look at Otto, because it was he who stabilized the 'Germanic nation,' and made the HRE a consistent functioning institution.

Either way, I hope you aren't foolish enough to think the Holy Roman Empire was either 'Holy,' 'Roman,' or an 'Empire.'

1. 'Holy': Hahahaha! This was a political entity if there ever was one.
2. 'Roman': Hardly. Remember Charlemagne was a Frank and Otto a Saxon (both were Germanic tribes), and the HRE was always ruled by Germans/Austrians in the future.
3. 'Empire': The HRE had a brief period as an empire thanks to it's association with the Spanish Empire (during the reign of Charles V), but other than that, it was a loose confederation of German States...Nothing more, nothing less.

1066 - William the Conqueror was crowned King William I of England.

A great day in the history of what had previously been a backward nation, and what would eventually became one of the greatest empires in world history.

1651 - The General Court of Massachusetts passed a law making the observance of Christmas a penal offense and ordered a fine of five shillings for "observing any such day as Christmas."

During this time, Christmas in the Americas resembled Mardi Gras, and the Massachusetts Puritans wanted nothing to do with such debauchery...As a result it was a long time before Christmas became a mainstream American holiday.

1776 - The Battle of Trenton: American Revolution.  General George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River in a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey.

A 'surprise attack' on a drunken force...It was a minor tactical battle, but an enormous strategic victory because it provided an important psychological lift for the Colonists.

1799 - Napoleon’s new constitution went into effect. It gave him, as First Consul, powers to promulgate laws, nominate senior officials, control finances and conduct negotiations with foreign powers.

A dictator was born, and France began a periods of true greatness...Though not necessarily one of 'goodness.'

1868 - President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Southern rebellion which resulted in the Civil War.

You have to wonder if Lincoln would have done likewise.  I tend to think he would have, because from the beginning of the war his intent was to keep the Union whole...This pardon went a long way towards re-establishing this wholeness - though it pissed off many in the North who felt the South should pay a much greater price then it did.

December 6

1865 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery.

It was overdue, and never would have happened without the Civil War...Never forget hundreds of thousands of white Americans died to keep the Union whole, and to bring about the freedom of their black brothers and sisters.

"Sometimes war is the only answer." - Dennis Prager

Keep this in mind every time you hear Liberals say otherwise.

1240 - Mongols under Batu Kahn occupied and destroyed Kiev, Russia.

FYI: The Mongols were also called Tartars and Tatars...If you’ve ever seen an old map or globe with much of Central Asia (including Russia) labeled as Tartary or Tartaria, this is why.

1812 - The majority of Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Armeé staggered into Vilna, Lithuania, ending the failed Russian campaign.

What a disaster. After entering Russia with over 650,000 troops, the emperor returned to Paris with less than 10,000.

Like Hitler a century later, Napoleon took on much more than he could handle by invading Russia, and paid for it with the loss of his empire within three years.

1876 - The U.S. Electoral College picked Rutherford B. Hayes as president, although Tilden won the popular election. A questionable vote count in Florida ended and Hayes was ahead by 924 votes. The Democrat attorney general validated the Tilden electors.

Florida politics has always been interesting...Dirty and cheating politics isn't new, and isn't limited to any specific place, however.

1904 - Theodore Roosevelt confirmed the Monroe Doctrine with the pronouncement of the Roosevelt Corollary.

Teddy was the best. Here’s how he viewed American suzerainty over the Western Hemisphere:  Roosevelt proclaimed the United States, because it was a "civilized nation," had the right to stop "chronic wrongdoing" throughout the Western Hemisphere.

"Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. Chronic wrongdoing, however,...may force the United States to exercise an international police power."

1912 - China voted for universal human rights.

This is one of the funniest (and saddest) things I’ve ever read in my life...China is a long way from anything even close to acknowledging 'human rights.'

1917 - Former Czar Nicholas II and family were imprisoned by the Bolsheviks.

They weren't prisoners for long; instead they became dead...The Communists couldn't run the risk of a return of the Czar. Which is exactly what any good revolutionary would have done.

1924 - The U.S. Border Patrol was organized.

Any chance it can start patrolling? I don't blame the agents, I blame the politicians who've put restraints on the agents.

Again, can we please start patrolling the border?

1938 - France and Germany signed a treaty of friendship.

Hitler must have used all these treaties as toilet paper, and the French paid the price of appeasement and choosing bad 'friends' in less than a year.

1956 - Nelson Mandela and 156 others were jailed in South Africa on political charges.

South African apartheid was brutal and wrong, but it is mythology for anyone to see Mandela as anything other than an African Communist...Not a Stalinist or Maoist, but in the Marxist Utopian mold.

1991 - Senator Ted Kennedy, testifying at the trial of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, denied hearing screams on the night Patricia Bowman said she was raped by Smith at the Kennedy estate in West Palm Beach, Florida.

That fat, drunk, bastard didn’t hear Mary Joe Kopeckne’s screams either, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen...So much for this ‘murderer’ being a legitimate witness.

2006 - Somalian Sheik Hussein Barre Rage, an Islamic courts official in Bulo Burto, said residents who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded.

Religion of peace? Or, religion of pieces?

December 2 (Another Huge Day)

A day with many events which would be the greatest on most days...The greatest event on this day is the 'atomic breakthrough,' but the rest deserve to be highlighted in blue as well.
---------------------------
1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France by Pope Pius VII.

What a megalomaniac...In 1802 he was named Consul for Life, but he needed an even grander title.

It is interesting Napoleon got the Pope involved, in what must have been an attempt to come off as a modern-day Charlemagne the Great.

1805 – The Battle of Austerlitz: Napoleon defeated a Russian and Austrian force.

This is considered by many to be Napoleon’s greatest battle, and one which clearly set him up as the unchallenged master of continental Europe...The Emperor set a trap for the Ruskies and Austrians, and they fell right in, losing over 25,000 troops, compared to less than 8,000 for the French.

1823 - The Monroe Doctrine: U.S. President James Monroe, replying to the 1816 pronouncements of the Holy Alliance, proclaimed the principles known as the Monroe Doctrine, opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere.

"...that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by European powers."

The declaration also stated the U.S. would recognize President Washington’s plea for the country to stay out of European squabbles...As a result, this is the defining document for American international diplomacy in the country’s first 100-years.

As far as the isolationist elements of the doctrine, Teddy Roosevelt put a crack in it, WWI smashed it, and WWII forever ended it.

1929 – The first skull of Peking Man was found 50 km outside of Peking at Tsjoe Koe Tien.

I may be in the minority, but I have no problem believing in the dual nature of Creation and Evolution...Peking Man was part of this process.

1941 - Germany began it's final attack on Moscow:  WWII.

The Krauts were within 20 miles of the Russian capital, and never got closer, because the greatest of all Ruskie soldiers (General Winter) finally showed up - crushing the Germans with temperatures as low as -40 degrees...The end result of not being able to finish off the Soviets during the Fall was the destruction of the German army and nation.

Like Napoleon, Hitler started his offensive too late in the year...Like Napoleon, Hitler was never able to recover from the enormous losses he sustained at the hands of the Russians and it's brutal Winter.

1941 - Japanese Admiral Yamamoto sent his fleet to Pearl Harbor:  WWII.

1941 - First Air Fleet at 43 N, 158 30' E, c. 3,200 miles NW of Pearl Harbor:  WWII.

1941 - Hawaii Recon aircraft ordered to search 400 miles, NW to S only:  WWII.

1941 - Roosevelt asked Japan to clarify its intents with regard to French Indochina:  WWII.

I don’t see how it is even debatable that FDR knew the Japanese were coming...If nothing else British communication documents state the Brits told FDR, and actions such as those above show he had more than a hunch they were coming.

What's especially interesting is the 'recon' order which sent the pilots ONLY to the areas where the Japanese weren't...Hmmmmm.

1942 - The 'Atomic Age' was born when scientists demonstrated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at a laboratory below the stands at the University of Chicago football stadium:  WWII.

This is huge. Right up there with any development in the history of mankind...Nuclear technology has been the most important development since this day, be it in the realm of the military or its many civilian applications, and many more possibilities will emerge over time - for good and bad.

1944 - General George S. Patton's troops entered the Saar Valley and broke through the Siegfried Line:  WWII.

Generals Marshall and Eisenhower had the right man in charge to make the 'breakthrough,' and Patton pushed the 3rd Army farther than anyone could have imagined...Who knows what he could have accomplished if his supply lines were as quick and efficient as his battle lines.

Could he have saved Berlin from its eventual Soviet occupation???? It's a sad question, which can never be answered with certainty...But here's betting U.S. forces could have reached Berlin first had they not been hamstrung by politicians.

1954 - The U.S. Senate voted to condemn Senator Joseph R. McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."

McCarthy made a huge mistake taking on the military, but many of his claims about the U.S. government and Hollywood being infiltrated by communists were true.

It took almost 40-years, but the fall of the USSR unearthed what is known as the Venona Papers, and much of McCarthy’s accusations have proven to be based on truth.

1956 - Fidel Castro and his followers landed in Cuba, and after an initial setback began a campaign of guerrilla war aiming to overthrow General Fulgencio Batista's government.

1961 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist who would lead Cuba to communism.

It's absolutely shameful the U.S. allowed a communist nation to evolve right in front of its eyes, across the pond in a neighboring county.

November 29

799 - Charlemagne returned Pope Leo III to Rome.

So, why was he ‘returning?’ The previous Pope’s family tried to disfigure Leo to make him unfit for the papacy, wanting another family member to become Pope - and Leo fled to Charlemagne for help...Papal politics has always been ugly.

As a gift for protecting him, Leo crowned Charlemagne 'Emperor of the Romans' in 800...It wasn't just a gift to the King of the Franks - it was a way for Leo to guarantee his own safety.

That said, please don't mistake this as anything close to the Roman Empire...If anything, it was a path towards the Holy Roman Empire.

If you don't understand the differences you must come back to this blog more often.

1782 - Britain signed an agreement recognizing U.S. independence:  American Revolutionary War.

As if they had any choice.

1803 - Spain ceded her claims on the Louisiana Territory to France.

This sounds magnanimous enough, but in reality Napoleon controlled Spain and took the territory...It didn’t take him long to realize the territory was impossible to hold which led the Emperor to sell it to the U.S. - not as a gift to the U.S., but for the money and as a thorn in the side of the Brits.

1812 - The last elements of Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Armee retreated across the Beresina River in Russia.

What a mess. One of history’s greatest fighting forces was all but annihilated by the Russian Winter...Napoleon regrouped to fight another day, but was never able to compensate for the loss of this fighting force.

1947 - The U.N. General Assembly passed Resolution 181, granting the Jewish people a homeland in ‘Palestine.’

This makes for nice mythology doesn’t it? The reality is the Jews fought for every inch of Israel, and will have to fight to hold it for all of time - if they choose to keep it, that is...The U.N. gave them nothing, and surely hasn’t helped them defend it.

1949 – The Nationalist regime of China left for Formosa.

Those who don’t know: Formosa = Taiwan...Which is why the Chinese lay claim to it, and will eventually have it. It’s amazing they don’t already.

1989 - The Czechs ended the Communist Party's 40-year monopoly on power. The revolution in Czechoslovakia was called the 'Velvet Revolution' because it occurred with little violence.

This was the beginning of the end for the various Communist nations in Eastern Europe, and the reason for the lack of ‘violence’ is because of the will and determination of Ronald Reagan...Along with the decay of the Soviet Union.

Reagan's policies put the Soviets in a position where they were unable to force themselves on their neighbors, because they could barely hold on at home.

1991 - The chairman of the Soviet Union's State Bank said his institution halted all payments to the national government because it had run out of money.

They bled the population economically (physically, mentally, and emotionally as well) and there was nothing left to take...The same will eventually happen in the non-communist countries which do the same to their people - including the U.S.

1996 - A U.N. court sentenced Bosnian Serb army soldier Drazen Erdemovic to ten years in prison for his role in the massacre of 1,200 Muslims; the first international war crimes sentence since World War II.

Not that they were good guys, but one has to wonder: Why the Serbs?

The U.N. allowed such mass murderers as Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Mihn, Yasser Arafat, Papa and Baby Doc, Saddam Hussein (till G.W), etc, etc., to go without being tried for ‘war crimes’ or ‘crimes against humanity’...So why the Serbs??

2005 - The Vatican published its long-awaited document on gays in the clergy, saying men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies should not be ordained but those with a "transitory problem" could be if they had overcome them for three years.

This is how the Church got in trouble with gays banging little boys in the first place: by allowing them in the seminary schools and not throwing them out when they were discovered...Which is why the Catholic Church deserves most of the disdain they have received on the matter of molestation. They have allowed it to happen by allowing gay priests to stay in their posts.

November 20

1497 - Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, en route to discovering a water route to India.

At the time this was a much bigger find than Columbus discovering the New World. In fact India and China were Columbus’ real goal.

The trade route to India established Portugal as one of Europe’s great powers, but its star only lasted as long as the opinion that da Gama’s discovery was more important than Columbus’ - which wasn't for very long.

1521 - Arabs attributed a shortage of water in Jerusalem to Jews making wine.

I thought the Arabs started blaming the Jews for everything after the creation of Israel (400+ years later)...So much for that piece of popular fiction.

1815 - With the Second Peace of Paris, Napoleon was involuntarily exiled to St. Helena.

This time the Brits made sure there would be no escape...How Napoleon escaped the hangman I’ll never know.

1950 - U.S. troops pushed to the Yalu River, within five miles of Manchuria:  Korean War.

China was getting close, Truman was about to lose sphincter control, and General MacArthur was about to get fired.

We had victory in our hands, but backed off. Could we have completely destroyed the North Koreans and Chinese? Probably. Would going forward and pushing the Chinese have started WWIII? Probably not.  But, it would have resulted in an awful lot of American deaths.

I say Truman made the right decision to back off...Including not putting much thought into using our new Atomic Bombs, as well.

1959 - The United Nations issued its 'Declaration of the Rights of the Child.'

They’ve since 'unofficially' declared the 'Lack of Rights of the Unborn Child.'

1962 - President John F. Kennedy agreed to lift the American blockade of Cuba after the USSR agreed to remove bombers from Cuba, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The good ol’ days for the Democrats, a time when they were pro-America and anti-Communist...Oh how things have changed.

1975 - An interim report by the U.S. Senate revealed the Central Intelligence Agency had plotted to kill foreign leaders, including Fidel Castro of Cuba and Patrice Lumumba of the Congo.

And this is a bad thing for what reason? Both are/were minor Stalins, and it would have been a gift to their countries (and humanity) to take them out.

1999 - A day after violent anti-American protests in Greece, President Clinton sought to heal old wounds by acknowledging the United States failed its "obligation to support democracy" when it backed the Greek's harsh military junta during the Cold War.

Hey Bill, of course our first option shouldn't be to support 'military juntas,' but our other option was Communists!!!! Which is why he was upset about our support.

November 9 (A Huge Day)

A third Huge Day in a row...As such, I have highlighted the entire day in blue.
---------------------------
1799 - Coup de 18 de Brumaire: Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Dictator of France.

The French Revolution was about to take a new turn, and it ended with a dictator.  Luckily it slowed down the insanity of the French Revolution and the 'terror'...It's important to understand, Napoleon's elevation didn't end the Revolution - even though many historians claim it did.

Napoleon was a son of the Revolution, and his rule took it a different direction, but it most definitely didn't end the French Revolution...His downfall ended it.

Bonaparte's reign was amazing, however, and proved to be France's finest hour, but it was temporary and came with a tremendous cost for all of Europe.

1918 - Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and a Council of People's Delegates assumed power in Germany:  WWI.

The Second Reich came to a pathetic end, and the Wiemar Republic followed in it's footsteps...Which ultimately led to the Third Reich and the Nazis.

For those who don't know what these 'Reich's' are: reich = realm/empire.

1st Reich = The Holy Roman Empire (843-1871)...Please remember, the HRE was neither 'holy' nor 'Roman.'

2nd Reich = The Kaiser's Germany (1871-1918).

3rd Reich = Nazi Germany (1933-1945). The "Thousand Year Reich"...Which barely lasted 12 years.

1921 - Mussolini formed the Partito Nazionalista Fascista.

National Fascist Party.

1921 - The 'Unknown Soldier' arrived at Washington aboard the USS Olympia.

It's semantics, but there is no such thing as the 'Tomb of the Unknown Soldier'...It is properly called the 'Tomb of the Unknowns.'

I can't give enough praise to Arlington National Cemetery, and also can't state enough that each American should make a point of visiting this awesome memorial.

I spent two days there on my D.C. visit, and could have spent a lifetime...The memorials and symbols are amazing, but it's the simple rows of headstones that make the cemetery so brilliant - Headstones honoring those who who have served our nation, protecting us against foreign and domestic enemies.

If you haven't been, you must go...I must go again.

1925 - The Nazi Party formed the S.S. (Black Shirts) within the S.A (Brown Shirts).

At the time of its founding, the S.S. (Schutzstaffel) was nothing more than a battalion in the S.A. (Sturmabteilung), and the unit had a meager 300 troops, but was an elite corps.

The status of the S.S. remained in this order, until Heinrich Himmler took over in 1929...Amazingly, within three years, Himmler enlarged the S.S. to over 52,000 troops. All of which were personally loyal and bound by oath to Hitler and Himmler

S.S. Motto: "Meine Ehre heißt Treue" = "My honor is called loyalty."

It only took five years for Himmler to turn the tables on the S.A., with the Night of the Long Knives, where the S.S. killed most of the S.A. leadership and either killed or assimilated its masses.

1938 - Kristallnacht: Nazis burned and looted temples and Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland in a Reich-wide pogrom.

Also called 'The Night of the Broken Glass,' 'Reichskristallnacht,' and 'Pogromnacht' in reference to broken glass on the streets during this Jewish pogrom.

By this time, Himmler's S.S. had consolidated absolute power in the Reich, and used this event to kill and terrorize Germany's Jewish population (not that it hadn't for years)...200 synagogues were destroyed; 7,500 Jewish shops looted; and 30,000 male Jews were sent to concentration camps.

Oh by the way, it's not coincidental this event happened on November 9th. Look above, and you will see this was the S.S.'s birthday.

1953 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 1922 ruling that Major League Baseball did not come within the scope of federal antitrust laws.

How is Major League Baseball one of the only interstate businesses in the U.S. with an antitrust exemption?

Make no mistake, the owners handpicked Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as commissioner with this lawsuit in mind...And his influence in this court ruling was huge.

1989 – The Berlin Wall ‘fell’: East Germans on foot and in cars began arriving in West Germany and West Berlin only hours after the East German government threw open its border to the West.

This is one of the great events of my life...I was 19 years old, and remember watching in amazement as this horrible monument to tyranny was toppled and crossed over.

The Iron Curtain was being shredded and the chains of Soviet Communism were falling apart with each succeeding month...A truly magical moment, and an event which forever helped form my worldview.

1995 - In a pair of telephone interviews, O. J. Simpson told Associated Press reporter Linda Deutsch that people have supported rather than shunned him since his acquittal, and he has learned that fame and wealth are illusions: "The only thing that endures is character."

Only one person could have schooled O.J. so well in the delicate 'Art of Bullshitting': Bill Clinton.

At least Bill hasn't killed his wife...YET!  :)

October 21 (A Double)

1805 - The Battle of Trafalgar.

This is one of the greatest naval battles in world history, ending with a British victory which destroyed Napoleon's hope of invading England.

Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson was the commander of the British force, and is forever linked to the battle...Unfortunately, he was fatally wounded, but lived long enough to see the British victory.

1879 - Thomas Edison successfully tested an electric incandescent lamp with a carbonized filament at his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory. It stayed alight for over 13-hours.

The world of darkness was lit with this event...It's impossible to evaluate the importance of 'light,' but it is more than enough to make this one of the great events in world history.

1837 - General Thomas Jesup of the U.S. Army managed to win the Seminole Wars in the Florida Everglades by the use of deception. He invited Osceola to a peace conference, where Osceola and his cohorts were captured. Osceola died in jail shortly thereafter.

You know the old saying: "All's fair in love and WAR!!"...Truth is the Seminoles were doomed the day the white man was allowed to survive its first day in North America.

1944 - The first Japanese kamikaze attack took place near Leyte Island:  WWII.

The war was going very badly for the Japanese, and they were getting desperate...As such, they resorted to desperate tactics -
 tactics which accomplished little.

The importance of the Japanese using this kamikazes is they showed they wouldn't give up without a thorough ass kicking.

1971 - The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to KGB agent Pablo Neruda.

A KGB agent should never earn any award...Unless it is a Nobel Peace Prize, of course, which can go to any degenerate. Even Barack Obama.

1992 - A report prepared for the Los Angeles Police Commission found the city was unprepared to handle the rioting which broke out the previous spring.

They were unprepared because they were unwilling to gas, mace, shoot and arrest every scumbag involved in the riot...I guarantee this solution would end almost all rioting - end and stop them from occurring in the future.

1994 - The United States and North Korea signed an agreement requiring the communist nation to halt its nuclear program and agree to inspections.

This turned out well...Thank goodness the North Koreans always keep their word.

I'm sure the Iranians will follow suit, as well.

1997 - Reversing months of strong opposition, the Clinton administration endorsed a revised Republican bill to restructure the Internal Revenue Service and shift the burden of proof from the taxpayer to the government in court-contested cases.

What a concept.  This country was founded to defend the people against the government, and the burden of proof should always be on the accuser.

Good for President Clinton to do the right thing.

1998 - A radical environmental group, the Earth Liberation Front, claimed responsibility for fires which caused $12 million in damage at the nation's busiest ski resort in Vail, Colorado.

Every member of this group should have been charged and convicted...Instead they got a slap on the wrist.

We have lost our minds allowing the 'Enemies Within' to bend us over and do just about anything they want in the name of their radical causes.

October 19

202 B.C. – The Battle of Zama:  Rome v. Carthage.

The Battle of Zama is one of the five most important battles in Western history, fought between two of the super-powers of the ancient World, and was the decisive battle of the Second Punic War.

Prior to Zama, Rome was in dire straits, losing just about every battle in Europe against Hannibal...Hannibal kicked the Romans around for years, but had no ability to force a siege of the Roman walls, which made it impossible for him to defeat Rome.

The Romans realized they couldn’t defeat Hannibal in the open battlefield, so they put together an army led by Scipio Africanus to invade Carthage...The Carthaginians were caught completely off-guard, and Hannibal was unable to get back to Zama in time to change the outcome of the battle.

As a result, Carthage was forever weakened, and never powerful enough to threaten Rome again. A fact which destined the West to a Roman Civilization instead of a possible Carthaginian one.

439 - The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, conquered Carthage in North Africa.

North Africa was an important part of the Roman Empire, but the decline of the region began its slide from the West (not just from Rome, but from Western Civilization) with this event...The Vandals and other Germanic people held it for awhile, and the Byzantines for another short period until the Muslims conquered North Africa in the 7th Century - removing North Africa from the sphere of Western Civilization; forever lessening its standing from what it had previously been.

1448 - Ottoman Sultan Murat II defeated Hungarian General Janos Hunyadi at Kosovo, Serbia.

The Ottoman Empire was growing by leaps and bounds, and this victory gave them virtual control of the Balkans, and an invasion route into Central Europe.

That said, the Serbs lost the battle, but never quit fighting the war, which continues to this day.

1453 - The Hundred Years War ended:  England v. France.

The Hundred Years War was actually 116-years long, not 100, and was the result of over 400-years of French, English, Viking, and Norman confrontations.

The result of the war was the end of English territorial claims in France, and is noted as the ‘end of chivalry,’ with the increased use of standing armies, the longbow and gunpowder.

1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte began the retreat of his Grande Armie from Moscow.

The Emperor invaded Russia with 500,000 of his finest troops...He returned to France with around 20,000.

Napoleon was bested by 'General Winter' and the Russian's willingness to suffer, beginning a string of losses for the brilliant commander...Fortunately, the next great European tyrant (Hitler) made the same mistake.

1926 - The Russian Politburo expelled Leon Trotsky and his followers.

Stalin took firm control of the Soviet Union, and tossed his greatest political nemesis out on his ass...Then Uncle Joe spent the next 15-years searching for him all over the globe - for elimination.

1951 - President Truman signed an act formally ending the state of war with Germany:  WWII.

The war ended in 1945, but the state of war ended six years later...This is important to remember in our current and future wars.

2005 - Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent to charges of murder and torture as his long-awaited trial began with the one-time dictator arguing about the legitimacy of the court and scuffling with guards.

Who knows how many Saddam tortured, but we know he killed a million or so...No big deal, I guess.

October 16 (A Huge Day)

1813 - The Battle of Leipzig.

This battle is also known as the Battle of the Nations, and was the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars...It was, also, another in a string of losses for the Emperor.

Napoleon was terribly outnumbered: 430,000 to 191,000, and faced a combined grouping of almost all his Continental enemies: Russia, Austrian Empire, Prussia, Sweden, and other German states.

The French forces fought well, but couldn't overcome the volume of its enemies, and Leipzig combined with the Russian and Peninsular Campaign, signaled the beginning of the end for the Napoleon.

1863 - General U.S. Grant was appointed commander of all operations in the Western Theater:  U.S. Civil War.

Lincoln suffered for years seeking a 'fighting general'- he finally found one in Grant...And he wasn't concerned with Grant's drinking or the way he threw his men into battle.

Lincoln knew the war could only be won if the fight was taken to the Confederacy. Grant was the perfect man to drive on the South, and this promotion was a major step towards ending the war.

1934 - Mao Zedong and 25,000 troops began the 6,000 mile Long March.

The history of the Long March is the decisive event of the Chinese Civil War between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists.

130,000 'Reds' were surrounded by 400,000 Nationalists, but around 25,000 managed to break out, and start the Long March, which was a full-scale retreat - a forced, fighting retreat.

The Communists should have been annihilated but weren't...Instead they survived, picked up followers among the peasantry, and most important this is where Mao established himself as the ultimate leader of the Chinese Communists.

1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis began when President Kennedy was informed reconnaissance photographs revealed the presence of Russian missile bases in Cuba.

Thankfully we had a Conservative president during this crisis...And make no mistake, this Democrat was a Conservative when it came to national defense!!!

There is no way a Liberal peacenick would have handled this problem in a similar way, and the fact that JFK took us to the brink of nuclear war was brilliant - brilliant because it had to be done...We can never succumb to fear, and must always be willing to swing our 'big stick' when our security is at risk.

Sadly, this is a problem we will likely have to face sooner or later with the North Koreans and Iranians...And then the Chinese.

1964 - China detonated its first atomic bomb.

Welcome to the club...Any nation who joins is an instant world power, and the event is a major one in history.

1859 - John Brown's Raid: John Brown raided the U.S. arsenal at Harper's Ferry, with the intention of obtaining arms to use to liberate slaves. Brown was captured two days later, and hanged on December 2.

Brown's intentions were honorable, but had no chance at succeeding...Also of note is the commanding officer who caught him: Soon to be Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

1901 - President Theodore Roosevelt incited controversy by inviting black leader Booker T. Washington to the White House.

Teddy was a man of bold actions...That said, he never did this again.

The reaction he received for inviting Washington was more than a little loud, and he learned very fast that the country wasn't quite ready to normalize relations between blacks and whites...A sad reality, but a reality, nonetheless.

1925 - The Locarno Pact was signed: European nations agreed to accept their national boundaries as they were at the time of this signing.

This treaty was wishful thinking, but the terms of the Versailles Treaty made it impossible.

The Allies wanted too much from the Germans, and the Germans weren't thoroughly beaten in WWI...The result was plenty of Utopian thinking, but the pact did little but help set the stage for WWII.

1953 - The Batista regime sentenced Fidel Castro to 15-years in prison for rebellion.

Rule #1 of National Defense: Execute all traitors...If you don't the decision will come back to haunt you later.

1978 - The College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to be the new pope; he took the name John Paul II (The first non-Italian pope since 1542).

John Paul II proved to be one of the greatest ‘freedom fighters’ of the 20th Century, belonging in the class of Winston Churchill, FDR, Ronald Reagan, Margarette Thatcher, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

2002 - The White House announced North Korea disclosed the existence of a secret nuclear weapons program.

This was the world's worst-kept secret...But it was a huge announcement.

Thank you very much Bill Clinton!! At least Kim Jong Il thanks you, Madeleine Albright and Jimmy Carter for the light-water reactors you gave them.

October 14

1066 – The Battle of Hastings.

In one of the most important battles in history, William, Duke of Normandy led his invading army to victory over England's King Harold.

Prior to William's conquest, England was a loosely-held-together country faced with constant invasion and warfare...Amazingly, this invasion was the last successful invasion of England

Although it wasn't apparent at the time, the Norman conquest was a blessing for England, and it wasn't long until she was on par with the great powers of Continental Europe - later surpassing them, as one of the grandest empires in world history.

1322 - Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, defeated King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scottish independence.

I’ll take any chance to push my proud progeny from the ‘Clan Bruce.’

1806 – The Battles of Jena and Auerstedt.

These were independent battles, fought between the forces of Napoleon and Frederick William III, of Prussia.

Jena was one of Napoleon's finest battles, but nowhere near as impressive as the French victory at Auerstedt...But Napoleon wrote the history of the battles, and made sure to play up his role.

The battles are earmarked together, because they were fought in close proximity, by the divided forces of Napoleon and Frederick's main armies.

Napoleon personally led the French at Jena and crushed the Prussians...At Auerstedt, Napoleons generals did likewise, to the Emperor's surprise, because the main Prussian force was at Auerstedt.

1832 - The Chickasaw Indians ceded their lands east of the Mississippi River to the United States. This cession avoided a pitched war between the two cultures, which the Chickasaw didn't have the manpower, technology, nor the military skill to win.

In the minds of the Chickasaw the whole world was their territory, and their whole world came to an end...Lucky for them, they gave up without a fight, or their belief would have become reality.

1933 - Nazi Germany announced it was withdrawing from the League of Nations and would take no further part in the Geneva Disarmament Conference.

This is one of the many promises Hitler kept.

He kept most of those he made before 1933, and broke most of the ones he made after...I hope you understand this reference. If not, you need to come by this blog much more often.

1944 - German Field Marshal Rommel, suspected of complicity in the July 20th plot against Hitler, was visited at home by two of Hitler's staff and given the choice of public trial or suicide by poison. He chose suicide and it was announced that he died of wounds:  WWII.

Rommel wasn't a major player in the plot, but he did have knowledge of it...And welcomed it.

Hitler knew it would be a propaganda nightmare to kill Rommel, so he gave him an offer:

1. Kill himself, and die with full military honors.

2. Be killed, along with his whole family, as a traitor of the German Reich.

He made the honorable choice.

1964 - Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel crowd has given many bizarre Prizes, but this one was very well earned and deserved.

1992 - Russia's worst serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, was convicted of mutilating and killing 52 women and children. He was executed in 1994.

Andrei killed 52 Russian and was rightfully executed...Stalin killed millions of Russians and had statues built and songs sung in his honor.

Such is human history.

1994 - The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

The 'Hitler in a Head-Dress' was given a Peace Prize??? (See the first part of the 1964 comment.)

By this logic, the Nobel Clowns should have given Stalin a prize for keeping peace in the Ukraine.

Or give Obama one for doing nothing...Or give John Kerry one for working out a deal to give the Iranians a nuke.

1999 - President Bill Clinton accused Senate Republicans of recklessness and irresponsibility for defeating the nuclear test ban treaty, and pledged the United States would refrain from testing despite the treaty's rejection.

Hey Bill, if we don’t stay ahead of the ‘weapon’s curve,’ we will fall behind it..And pay dearly for such stupidity.

Reason #46,209 why we can't trust Democrats to protect our country.

September 14

1829 - The Peace of Adrianople: Ended the Russo-Turkish War.

The Ottoman Empire was on its death-bed and was forced to give much to the Russians.  Including:  access to the mouth of the Danube and additional territory on the Black Sea, opened the Dardanelles to all commercial vessels, granted autonomy to Serbia, promised autonomy for Greece, and allowed Russia to occupy Moldavia and Walachia until Turkey paid a large indemnity.

Needless to say, the Ottomans were falling apart, and the Russian Empire was growing in every direction...And the rest of Europe was getting very nervous about both facts.

1812 - Napoleon’s invasion of Russia reached its climax when the Grande Armee entered Moscow.

Napoleon thought he had a great victory, but entered the city only to find the enemy capital deserted and burning - set afire by the few Russians who remained...It burned until September 19 and much of it was destroyed.

The Russians went into a slash and burn defensive mode, and planned on forcing Napoleon to spend the winter in Russia, without food, winter clothing or shelter - and to the ravages of disease...Which were the eventual reasons for the Grande Armee’s downfall.

Napoleon's invasion was just one of many instances of Russian 'strategic depth' and willingness to suffer...Two of the many reasons such a backward nation has been able to keep its independence from its much more prosperous and advanced Western peer-powers.

1901 - President McKinley died in Buffalo, New York, of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him as President.

It's a terrible event anytime a president is assassinated...Luckily, the U.S. had the right man, in the right place, at the right time in Teddy Roosevelt.

1930 - The National Socialist (Nazi) Party won a stunning election triumph, becoming the second largest party in the Reichstag (parliament).

Again, it’s important to note the Nazi’s were elected to power...Sure they used force during these elections (as did every party involved), but for the most part they were put in power by the German people.

1940 - Congress passed the Selective Service Act, providing for the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.

Yet FDR had no intent of the U.S. entering WWII, or knowledge of a pending attack...Uh, huh!

1950 - On the heels of the landing at Inchon, the U.S. Eight Army and South Korean allies broke out of the Pusan Perimeter:  Korean War.

Inchon was General MacArthur’s masterpiece - his most brilliant tactical battle...There were few in the military who thought he could pull off the landing, and President Truman only gave him the go because he was afraid of the public relations nightmare of taking the general on.

MacArthur was one of the most brilliant military minds in American history, and is one of my five favorite American characters to read about, but it’s too bad he made the mistake of challenging Truman at every step in the Korean War...It was a mistake which cost him his job - deservedly.

1959 - The Soviet space probe 'Luna Two' became the first man-made object to reach the moon as it crashed onto the lunar surface.

The Soviets were the first to successfully launch a rocket at the Moon, but never put a human there.

1960 - Representatives of oil-producing countries finished a meeting in Baghdad which led to the formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Congratulations to them...They will only dominate the market as long as U.S. politicians (pushed by insane EnvironMentalists) and Russian incompetence allow them to.

1983 - The U.S. House of Representatives voted, 416-0, in favor of a resolution condemning the Soviet Union for shooting down a Korean jetliner on Sept. 1, calling it a "cold-blooded, barbarous attack."

Whoa, whoa, whoa!! I can’t believe there wasn’t at least one Democrat to vote against this resolution...There were no Rep. Barbara Lee’s around???

1986 - President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, appeared together on radio and television to appeal for a ''national crusade'' against drug abuse.

If we really wanted to stop 'drug abuse' we’d shut the damn southern border.

But then again that would be an answer to other 'if we really wanted to stop it' issues...You know, things like Illegal Immigration, terrorism, destruction of our health care and education systems, etc.

Unfortunately, we’ve never gotten completely serious about any of these problems.

1998 - President Bill Clinton, struggling to regain his footing from the Monica Lewinsky scandal, pledged during a speech in New York to work with America's allies to deal with the "biggest financial challenge facing the world in a half-century."

Re-read that, and skip the BlewClinsky BS.

Bill was talking about the upcoming financial problem...The one which lead to the 2000 and 2008 recessions. The same ones he and his cronies blame on Bush, even though they knew it was coming long before Bush was elected.

Bunch of duplicitous SOB's.

2005 - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to world leaders marking the 60th anniversary of the United Nations to help restore confidence in the world body. He also said that U.N. members had failed to achieve the profound reform the global organization needed on its 60th anniversary.

Hard to restore confidence in what has always been a failed group...The sooner this entity joins the League of Nations in the dustbin of history the better.

September 7

1901 - The Boxer Rebellion, an attempt in China to drive out all foreigners, ended with the signing of the Peking Protocol.

China agreed to pay an indemnity to the European powers, lower tariffs on imports, and accept a strengthening of European protection of its representatives and interests...In other words, the Chinese agreed to continue taking it in the shorts from the European powers and Japan.
 
I have no doubt there will be a period of payback in the future.

1502 - Amerigo Vespucci returned from the New World to Lisbon, Portugal.

I love the name America, but it’s a shame Columbus wasn’t properly recognized.

By the way, the New World was originally named ‘Americus' until the map-makers decided to follow Europe’s lead and gave the new land a female name.

1714 - The Treaty of Baden was signed between the Holy Roman Empire and France, ending the War of Spanish Succession.

Like many European treaties, this one did little more than set the board for the next war...It did a little more than others, though, because it gave Alsace to France. A territory which the French and Germans fought over till the end of World War II.

As usual, the only real winner in this scrap was Great Britain.

1812 - The Battle at Borodino.

Napoleon showed his brilliance, but Borodino was a battle he couldn’t afford to fight, even though he won...It was a Phyrric victory which cost him in the end, and hastened his retreat from Russian.

1813 - The earliest known printed reference to the United States by the nickname 'Uncle Sam' occurred in the Troy Post.

Unfortunately, too many Americans actually think of the U.S. as their family...But not as an uncle - as their mommy and daddy.

1888 - An incubator was used for the first time on a premature infant when Edith Eleanor McLean became the first baby to be placed in an incubator. She weighed 2 pounds, 7 ounces.

This is a fantastic use of medical technology, and it’s impossible to count how many lives have been saved by such devices.

1940 - Nazi Germany began its initial 'blitz' on London:  WWII.

The Blitz was a strategic bombing campaign against London, as part of the overall Battle of Britain...It lasted in earnest for 57 continuous nights, but continued in part through 1945.

1977 - The Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Act, calling for the U.S. to eventually turn over control of the waterway to Panama, was signed.

Thanks a lot President Carter...The world was much safer with the U.S. controlling the Canal, rather than China. Which is where it is headed.

1979 - The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) made its cable TV debut.

At the time, this was Heaven on Earth for sports-freaks like myself...Unfortunately, it's become much less entertaining as time goes on.

1993 - Dr. Joycelyn Elders was confirmed by the Senate as U.S. Surgeon General.

HOW IN THE HELL DID WE HAVE A U.S. SURGEON GENERAL WHO WAS FRIENDLY TOWARD PEDOPHILIA? This is repulsive, but perfectly in line with the degeneracy of the Clinton Administration.

Don’t believe me? Go see for yourself: Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex. (Foreword by Dr. Joycelyn Elders).