January 25

1787 - Shays' Rebellion suffered a setback when debt-ridden farmers, led by Captain Daniel Shays, failed to capture an arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts.

The after affect of the American Revolution was a recession, and many farmers fell on hard times. Unfortunately, most of the states were unable to handle these kinds of problems, and the federal government had little-to-no power to handle anything...I hope you know there was a period between the end of the Revolution and the Constitution, and this was a time where the federal government was virtually powerless.

As a result, Shay’s Rebellion was a major catalyst to the creation of the U.S. Constitution, because the wise-men of the time recognized the problems associated with the Articles of Confederation and the uselessness of its structure.

1863 - Union General Joseph Hooker replaced General Burnside as commander of the Army of Potomac:  U.S. Civil War.

Just another general on the books, as Lincoln continued his search for a 'winning general'...Luckily, he was getting close, but Hooker was not the one.

1902 - Russia abolished the death penalty.

That’s a good one.

1932 - The U.S.S.R. signed a non-aggression pact with Poland.

Another good one.

1971 - General Idi Amin Dada overthrew the Ugandan government.

Amin was a brutal guy, but I do love his official title:  'His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Alhaji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE.'

He may have had great titles (Heaven knows what those initials stand for?), but he's nothing compared to some of the 20th Century's mega-murderers.

1993 - President Bill Clinton appointed his wife, Hillary, to head a committee on health-care reform.

Nice way to start your term Bill...This move was wildly unpopular, not just because Hillary led it, but because most American’s didn’t want anything to do with a Canadian or Euro-style health care system.

And most Americans still don't...One of the many reasons President Trump is now in office.

1999 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the 2000 Census could not use statistical sampling to enhance its accuracy.

That's another way of saying the census takers have to actually count everyone, and can't just assume they are there.

Some may say 'Who cares, it's just a census?' We should all care about the reliability of census information, because this is how representation in the House of Representatives and Electoral Votes are divided up...It also determines how the federal government distributes funds.

As you can imagine, both parties would be willing to 'fudge' a little here and there in their strongholds - or more importantly in areas held by a small majority.

1999 - In Zimbabwe, three Supreme Court justices wrote President Mugabe a letter asking that he confirm the army has no power to arrest civilians and the government will not tolerate torture.

You know its bad when the judicial branch is 'asking' the executive branch to 'confirm' they haven’t gone, or plan on going, nuts...The Beast (Mugabe) is a real treat.

2011 - The Egyptian version of the Arab Spring began.

How exciting!  And how deflating that it ended in a Muslim Brotherhood takeover...Not that it wasn't predictable.

What was unexpected was the military having the guts to toss the Brotherhood out - not that they are doing much to help the Egyptian people...Instead, the reality is Egypt is in the process of returning to the system it had before the Arab Spring began.  A reality which means Egypt is at least a reliable American proxy again.

Such is the reality of the Middle East.

August 16

2003 - Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin died.

Good riddance to dead tyrants!!!

During his seven year reign of terror, Idi Amin Dada Oumee managed to earn a place among the mega-murderers of the 20th Century...He was nowhere near the Kings of Democide (Stalin, Hitler, Mao), but should be listed shortly below them, alongside such notables as Pol Pot and Nicolae Ceausescu.

1513 - The Battle of the Spurs: Henry VIII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian defeated the French at Guinegatte, France.

Just another in the seemingly never-ending list of European battles, but I’ve chosen to make note of it for one reason: The battle is called the 'Battle of the Spurs' because of the way the French fled the battlefield.

1777 - The Battle of Bennington:  American Revolutionary War.

Every battle in the war was important, but defeating British forces early in the war was a necessity in order to maintain American resolve to the cause.  This battle was extremely important for this reason, and was also a turning point in the French decision to support the Colonists.

Quote from the battle: "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow." – American General John Stark.

1780 - The Battle of Camden: American troops were badly defeated by the British in South Carolina:  American Revolutionary War.

The British 'Southern Strategy' was proving quite effective, and in this battle the Americans were crushed by Cornwallis.

There were more losses to come, but each British victory carried a cost in troops and supplies - and angered Americans who hadn't taken sides in the war.

1861 - President Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the Southern states to be in a "state of insurrection against the United States":  U.S. Civil War.

This declaration was a little tardy. Lincoln should have made it after Fort Sumter, in April...Either way, the American Civil War was in full swing, and four horrific years followed.

1995 - The U.S. government more than doubled its estimate of rapes or attempted rapes in the United States each year, to 310,000, a finding praised by leaders of women's groups.

That’s a lot of rapes. Who knows the methodology they used, or what they consider rape...Here's hoping the study didn’t use the National Organization of Women definition that: “All sex is rape.”

April 11 (A Double)

1689 - The 'Glorious Revolution': William and Mary were crowned joint sovereigns of Great Britain.

The real importance of this 'revolution' was the political arrangement consolidating power in Parliament, which from here began taking power from the monarchy.

It was also nice this 'revolution' was relatively bloodless.

1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first human in space, and also the first to orbit the earth in a spacecraft.

An amazing accomplishment for man, and an embarrassing one for America...That said, if the U.S. had been willing to simply launch astronauts up in the air (as the Soviets were) we would have beaten the Ruskies at every step in the 'Space Race.'

1713 - The Treaty of Utrecht: Ended the War of Spanish Succession.

Another in a seemingly never ending series of European wars...The French and Spanish kings agreed to renounce their claims on each other’s thrones, but the overall winner was Britain - the norm for all of these wars.

1783 - After receiving a copy of the provisional treaty on March 13, the U.S. Congress proclaimed a formal end to hostilities with Great Britain.

The American Revolution was officially over.

Unfortunately, the Brits didn’t accept the situation, and started planning the reconquest of its former colonies before the ink dried on this document...It took the War of 1812 for the Americans to prove they could defend their new nation, and put an end to any British hopes of reclaiming its former colonies.

1814 - Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as Emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba.

This sentence alone shows what a bunch of morons Euros are. There is no way Napoleon should have been sentenced to anything other than death...Even worse, he was put in a place he was able to escape from and returned to wreak havoc on those who gave him such a ‘polite’ sentence.

1933 - Hermann Goering became Premier of Prussia.

The ‘Fat Field-Marshal’ is by far my favorite Nazi (you know what I mean), and had a bizarre need to collect titles...For most, being Premier of Prussia would be enough, but Goering eventually collected over 50 titles.

1945 - American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi Buchenwald Concentration Camp:  WWII.

It’s a good thing Ike insisted on getting these camps on film and documented in any way possible, because it is almost unbelievable any people could be so bestial towards another.

Amazingly, there are plenty of people who don’t believe it happened (regardless of the evidence), or simply choose to minimize the significance of what happened...Which makes them every bit as pathetic as those who ordered, allowed, and committed the crimes of the Holocaust.

1951 - President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his command in the Far East:  Korean War.

What a terrible moment for a great man...Not a perfect man, nor a perfect general.  But even his detractors have to admit he was the 'right man at the right time' in WWII and rebuilding Japan.

But he overstepped his authority in Korea.

'The General' was right in his assessment of the situation and what could have been done, but those who believe in the American System must always bow to the reality of civilian control of the military...It was set up this way for a reason, and must not only be accepted, it must be honored.

1979 - Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was overthrown.

Amin was a brutal dictator who tortured and killed 300,000-500,000 people...Incredibly, he was small potatoes compared to some of the 20th Century's other democidal dictators.

1996 - Forty-three African nations signed the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty.

Which likely means all 43 of them would give anything to produce one, and are surely trying to do so.

2007 - Iran announced it successfully enriched uranium.

Great...At this point, it's a small event.  Over time it may jump up the ladder.