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 11

2001 - The worst terrorist attack in American history occurred. Two planes crashed into New York City's World Trade Center, collapsing the Twin Towers. One plane crashed into the Pentagon. A fourth airliner crashed in a field in southwest Pennsylvania.

This was by far the worst day of my adult life. It haunts me to this day.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. assumed it was safe, but it's foolish to ever assume such a thing...There is always another enemy, and as long as the U.S. is the world's hegemon there will always be others looking to knock us off our platform.

WE MUST ALWAYS BE AWARE OF OUR POSITION IN THE WORLD, AND MAKE SURE OUR ENEMIES ARE EQUALLY AWARE OF THIS POSITION - ALONG WITH OUR ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS TO DESTROY THEM!!

1297 – The Battle of Stirling Bridge.

The Scots, under William Wallace, amazingly, defeated the English invaders, who had a 5,000 to 15,000 man advantage...The Scots fought well, and kept their independence for a long time, but there was no way they could hold back the oncoming power of the English forever.

1709 – The Battle of Malplaquet: War of Spanish Succession.

Just another in the never-ending dynastic battles on the Continent, but it's worth mentioning because it was the bloodiest battle of the 18th Century - in Europe...A pretty big feat.

1777 - The Battle of Brandywine.  Troops commanded by General George Washington were crushed by the British under General Sir William Howe:  American Revolutionary War.

Brandywine was a terrible loss for the Revolutionaries, and allowed the Brits to capture Philadelphia...This caused the Continental Congress to flee Philly, and was the best opportunity the Brits had to end the revolution, but the American ring-leaders escaped and the war went on.

1814 - The Battle of Lake Champlain. The American Navy defeated the British:  War of 1812.

This battle is also known as the Battle of Plattsburgh, and was an extremely important battle in the history of the young nation.

At the time of the battle, the war was all but over and the Treaty of Ghent was being prepared to end the war...The importance of the battle is it ended any hopes the Brits had of gaining concessions from the U.S., and put the Americans in a even stronger position to negotiate from.

1857 - The Mountain Meadows Massacre: John D. Lee, angered over President Buchanan's order to remove Brigham Young from governorship of the Utah Territory, incited a band of Mormons and Indians to massacre a California-bound wagon train of 135.

At this time Utah wasn’t formally part of the U.S., and didn’t really want anything to do with the U.S...There are many possible reasons why Lee led this massacre, but the event did more to end Utah’s independence than any other.

It wasn't long before the U.S. government looked at Utah as a threat, instead of bizarre neighbors, and increased it’s military presence in the surrounding regions...The last thing Utah wanted.

1940 - Hitler ordered Operation Sealion - the invasion of Britain:  WWII.

Lucky for the world, Sealion never materialized - because the Battle of Britain failed so miserably for the Germans.

England has successfully resisted invasion of it’s homeland since 1066, but if any nation ever had the power to successfully invade it would have been this group of Germans.

It's impossible to imagine what would have happened if the Krauts successfully invaded England, because at this time there was no other nation standing up to the Nazi madmen...Needless to say, the failure of Operation Sealion to materialize is one of the turning-points of the war - and Western Civilization.

1941 - After German U-boats attacked three U.S. ships, President Franklin Roosevelt warned German and Italian warships away from American waters and ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot on sight:  WWII.

FDR should have entered the war in 1939...But it was only three months till his hand was forced.

Thankfully, the Brits were able to continue holding out in Europe.

1985 - Pete Rose cracked career hit number 4,192, eclipsing the record held by Ty Cobb.

I’m not a Pete Rose apologist and ’Charlie Hustle’ may be a degenerate gambler, but he sure could play ball...If the 'Roid Monsters' of the 1990’s make it in the Hall of Fame, Pete sure as Hell should, too.

So should Joe Jackson, by the way.

August 23 (Another Huge Day)

476 - Odoacer was elected 'King of Italy' by Germanic barbarians.

Odoacer, chief of the Heruli tribe, finally put an end to the Roman Empire by forcing the abdication of Emperor Romulus Augustus...He could have claimed the title himself, but knew it was a useless honor - and more of a death-sentence than anything else.

It’s important to note Odaocer was of Germanic origin (really he was half Hun, half Scirian), and not only ended the Roman Era in Western Europe, but also began the Germanic Era in Europe - which still exists.

1833 - Britain abolished slavery in its colonies, freeing 700,000 slaves.

It’s impossible to minimize the importance of Britain banning slavery, and the role it played in ending the African Slave Trade...As the world’s greatest sea-power, the Brits did much to keep the slave trade from prospering by policing the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean.

1939 - Joseph Stalin and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany, freeing Hitler to invade Poland and Stalin to invade Finland:  WWII.

Stalin sold what little soul he had to the Devil.

That said, there's no denying the importance of the Soviets extending their strategic depth west when the Germans came calling two years later...This depth forced the Germans to make mistakes and expend manpower, and more importantly slowed down their invasion long enough for Winter to set in - the only thing that may have stalled them at this point in time.

1942 - The Battle of Stalingrad began:  WWII.

Note: Other dates are often listed as the start of the battle (as early as August 19), because battle lines and skirmishes happened before the 23rd, but this is the day the battle got hot.

The Germans were beginning the greatest, most brutal battle in world history, and it didn’t turn out well for the 12-Year Reich...In fact it became the great reversal of the Eastern Theatre, and one of the main turning points of the war.

Stalingrad wasn’t strategically necessary for the Germans, but Hitler insisted on destroying the city of Stalin’s name.

The Wehrmacht knew it would be a horrible battle, because its logistics would be a complete mess, but Luftwaffe chief (Goering) insisted he’d be able to supply the army from the sky...The Fat Field Marshal failed Hitler at Dunkirk, in the Battle of Britain, and again at Stalingrad as well.

The battle ended on February 2, 1943, and the statistics are amazing:  The Germans lost over 850,000 troops. The Soviets lost between 750,000-1,500,000 troops and 40,000-150,000 civilians (the numbers vary, because the Soviets were notorious liars).

I can’t tell you how much I recommend you read about the Battle of Stalingrad...Click here to read more about this battle.

1991 - In the wake of a failed coup by hard-liners in the Soviet Union, President Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian President Boris Yeltsin acted to strip the Communist Party of its power and take control of the army and the KGB.

How do you spell the end of any dictatorship? When its marriage with the military and intelligence agencies are split...This was a very foresighted event.

Unfortunately, the KGB more or less reclaimed Russia when Vladimir Putin took charge.

1305 - William Wallace, Scottish patriot and a leader of the struggle against the English, was hanged, disemboweled, beheaded and quartered in London.

Such was justice in the Middle Ages...Or the modern-day Muslim world.

1927 - Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery. Both were vindicated in 1977 by Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis.

These two have become a favorite cause celeb for Liberal jackals, who claim the two were scapegoated as Communists, and wrongly executed...They may or may not have been Commies, but they were anarchist scum.

Sacco even admitted it at his trial: "I would not wish to a dog or a snake, to the most low and misfortunate creature of the earth - I would not wish to any of them what I have had to suffer for things that I am not guilty of. But my conviction is that I have suffered for things that I am guilty of. I am suffering because I am a radical, and indeed I am a radical."

That's good enough for me. And I love the judges remarks describing the two as "anarchist bastards" - Judge Webster Thayer.

1944 - Romania was liberated from Nazi occupation:  WWII.

I must state the obvious, again: Beware when you read of any kind of 'liberation' by the Soviets...The Romanians may or may not have been better off under Soviet domination, but they surely weren’t 'liberated.'

June 24 (A Triple)

217 B.C. – The Battle of Lake Trasimeno: Hannibal defeated the Romans at Lake Trasimeno in the Second Punic War.

Another victory for Hannibal on his way to Rome.

The battle was a slaughter, with the Romans suffering about 15,000 losses, compared to barely any for Hannibal...As a result of this loss, Rome was left virtually defenseless, except for its powerful city walls - but Hannibal had no means of successfully overcoming these walls.

So, Hannibal ravaged Italy, continued to crush any Roman army he met in the field, and destroyed Rome's Italian allies...His inability to seize Rome, however, eventually proved fatal for the Carthaginians. Which also proved pivotal for Western Civilization.

1917 - The Russian Black Sea fleet mutinied at Sevastopol:  WWI.

The Revolution was up and down at the time, but this mutiny gave the communists a fighting force behind its political and anarchist goals...The Black Sea Fleet was of huge importance in the next year.

For the same reasons it was so important to the Revolution, it also had to be eliminated once Lenin assumed control.

1966 - The 'Period of the Great-Power Peace in Europe' exceeded that following WWI.

Many will say 'whoopty-doo,' but this would be those who don't understand history.

For the better part of the past 2000-years Europe rarely went through any extended period of peace, and this 20-year period is truly exceptional...Of course those other years didn’t have the American super-power around to broker the peace, which has been the overriding factor in the world being in a relative truce due to the ‘Pax Americana': The 'American Peace.'

It should be noted this period of relative peace is now in its 53rd year.

1314 - The Battle of Bannockburn: The forces of Scotland's King Robert the Bruce defeated the English.

The English had a 3-1 advantage in manpower, and the dominant weapon of the period (longbow), but couldn’t overwhelm the defending forces of Robert the Bruce...As a result, the Scots were able to reestablish their independence, and the English lost their best chance to militarily force a union of the two nations into a united Britain.

FYI: I’m proud to say my family surname is descended from the 'Clan Bruce.'

1497 - The first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place when explorer John Cabot, on a voyage for England, spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.

At the time this land was considered much less valuable than that found by the Spanish and Portuguese, an opinion which proved to be infinitely shortsighted.

1509 - Henry VIII was crowned King of England.

England was in for a wild ride, and its social, religious and military history was soon turned upside down...Henry took six wives, separated England from the Roman Church, challenged the Holy Roman Emperor, united England and Wales, dissolved the monasteries, and since he didn't produce a male heir he left the kingdom in an extended period of chaos over his succession.

1793 - The first republican constitution in France was adopted.

From 1793-present the French have had five different systems of government (none of which has been worth a damn)...In this same period of time the U.S. has had one!!!

The French have been anything but stable, and have taken a thorough military ass kicking on at least three occasions during this time...So, the next time you hear people talk of French brilliance make sure to remind them of the joke they have been for the past 200+ years.

1948 - The Soviets began a blockade of Berlin, stopping all land traffic and food from entering the city from West Germany.

The Soviets were playing games and Truman reacted beautifully with the Berlin Airlift, flying in more than two million tons of supplies over the next year...This was round one of the Cold War, which was relatively COLD. And the 'Good Guys' won.

March 25

1982 - Wayne Gretzky became the first NHL player to score 200 points in a season.

Wayne Gretzky is the most dominant individual athlete in the history of North American sports, and I'm not sure anyone other than Babe Ruth or Wilt Chamberlain (and maybe Jerry Rice) comes close to the records he amassed...What makes Gretz so amazing is physically he was nothing special - it was his work ethic, skill set, reflexes and brain which made him great.

Gretzky scored 200 or more points in a season four times.  No other NHL player has ever done it once.  Mario Lemieux came close, with 199...No one else has cracked 160.

Gretzky scored 2,857 total points.  The next closest point producer is Mark Messier with 1,877...Gretzky still holds 61 NHL records.

And I don't see anyone in the near future getting even close, because hardly anyone scores over 100 points a season in the modern game - 120 being the highest in the last ten years....A change in the game which has not been for the better.

31 - The first Easter was celebrated, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus.

FYI.

1306 - Robert I, 'the Bruce,' was crowned King of Scotland.

Not that it means anything to most of you, but I’m proud to be able to claim my family and surname descend from the 'Bruce' clan.

1655 - Fighting between Royalists and Puritans in Maryland, prompted by harsh measures ordered by the parliamentarian assembly, ended with a Puritan victory.

It may be a stretch, but I think it's fair to consider this the first battle in the American Revolution...Taking on the crown was no small matter, and eventually winning the political battle was an almost impossible dream.

1911 - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

146 garment workers died in this fire, which led to many workplace regulations and changes in factory industries...Changes that were long overdue.

That said, I find it incredible that modern Liberals reach back 100 years to this event as a benchmark for just about any workplace regulation they want to enact.

1945 - Winston Churchill became the first British leader to enter Germany since Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact:  WWII.

What a pair of polar opposites...Churchill entered as a future conqueror of the Reich, and Chamberlain as little more than a whore who rolled over and took it from Der Fuhrer...Churchill was the greatest leader in the free-world during the 20th Century, and Chamberlain one of the century's biggest losers.

Such is the cruel reality for those who choose to play patty-cake with tyrants.

1987 - Johnson v. Transportation Agency:  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled employers may sometimes favor women and members of minority groups over better-qualified men and whites in hiring and promoting in order to achieve better balance in the work force.

So much for the American concept of 'equality'...This nation wasn’t created on the concept of equality of condition, but on equality of opportunity. There is a huge difference, and this is one of the primary reasons why America became great.

Unfortunately, the American Left is determined to take America closer to Europe than towards the ideal of 'The Founders.'

Sadly, it's one of the reasons we are falling.

1997 - Georgia Governor Zell Miller signed into law a ban on a controversial form of late-term abortion.

Lets just revisit the procedure, performed on LATE TERM BABIES:

1. Guided by ultrasound the doctor grabs the baby’s legs with a forceps.

2. The baby’s legs are pulled out into the birth canal.

3. The doctor delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the head.

4. The doctor punctures the baby’s skull with a pair of scissors, and the scissors are opened to enlarge the hole.

5. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brain is sucked out, causing the skull to collapse.

6. The dead baby is then removed.

Nice 'choice.'

Not surprisingly, Liberals in the federal courts crushed this ruling..."The stench from the bench is making me clench." - Michael Savage

1998 - Shaken by horror stories from the worst genocide since World War II, President Bill Clinton grimly acknowledged during his Africa tour that "we did not act quickly enough" to stop the slaughter of up to a million Rwandans four years earlier.

What a magnanimous declaration for Clinton to ‘acknowledge' he allowed these poor people to perish at the hands of evil.

After WWII the mantra was “never again,” but we know this was just lip service...And when a leader like George W. Bush arrived on the scene and gave action to lip service, the world went nuts. Proving the world couldn't care less about humanity, right and wrong, or good and evil!!

1998 - The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a two-year extension of a visa waiver program, allowing some 12-million tourists and business people entry to the U.S. without need of a visa.

Looking back at this decision, this program allowed all of the 9/11 terrorists to enter the county with impunity...Nice.