August 2 is a busy, busy day in history. There is something here for EVERYONE!!! Who else is going to prove to you that Napoleon is the root of all of our modern problems??? I know you’re curious…read on:
Sleeping Giant, eh? - In 216 BC, Hannibal won his greatest victory over the Romans at Cannae. Unfortunately for the Carthaginians, this only moved Scipio Africanus to fully explore Marcus Cato's screed: "Carthgo delenda est." When's the last time you met a Carthaginian? Yeah...that's what I thought.
"Veni, Vidi, Vici, Baby!!!" - Caesar routs Pharnaces in Syria in 47 BC.
Pesky Lutherans - The treaty of Passau in 1552 gives religious freedom to Protestants living in Germany.
What part of "Thou shalt not kill" don't you understand? - During France's religious war in 1589, a fanatical monk stabs King Henry II to death.
You think we offended them? - In 1776, the Continental Congress, having decided unanimously to make the Declaration of Independence, affixes the signatures of the other delegates to the document. In response, the Royal Navy lands 32,000 troops on Staten Island.
Black Hawk Down - Troops under General Henry Atkinson massacre Sauk Indian men, women and children who are followers of Black Hawk at the Bad Axe River in Wisconsin in 1832. Black Hawk himself finally surrenders three weeks later, bringing the Black Hawk War to an end.
Nifty! - In 1847, William A. Leidesdorff launches the first steam boat in San Francisco Bay.
The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down - In 1862, Union General John Pope captures Orange Court House, Virginia.
Now if we can figure out that gangrene problem… - 1862 The Army Ambulance Corps is established by Maj. Gen. George McClellan.
Cause and Effect - In 1914, Germany invades Luxembourg and Russia invades Prussia - the final act of the Napoleonic Wars. You know, considering that the interwoven European treaties to contain Napolean led to WWI, which led to WWII, which led to the Cold War, which led to Korea, Vietnam, and the parceling of the Middle East under European imperial control, which provided a breeding ground for anti-Western sentiment which the terrorists now play off of, we can really blame all of our current troubles on Napolean...the short bastard.
Godless Commies!!! In 1918, a British force lands in Arkangel, Russia, to support White Russian opposition to the Bolsheviks. See
Cause and Effect above.
Most.Inept.President.Ever…. Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president in 1923 upon the death of Warren G. Harding.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.... In 1934, German President Paul von Hindenburg dies and Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor. Eleven years later, six million Jews and at least three million gypsies, homosexuals, mental patients and "political enemies" have been slaughtered. See
Cause and Effect above.
Strangelove? - In 1939, Albert Einstein writes Roosevelt about the potential for an atomic bomb. The seed of the Manhattan Project is planted. See
Cause and Effect above. "You can't fight in here....this is the WAR ROOM!!!"
Damn Napoleon… – In 1950, the U.S. First Provisional Marine Brigade arrives in Korea from the United States. See
Cause and Effect above.
Short little Frenchman…ruining the entire world… – In 1964, U.S. destroyer
Maddox is reportedly attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin (it was later discovered that the incident just might have been fabricated) resulting in Congress passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which facilitated increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. See
Cause and Effect above.
Cheese-eating surrender monkeys… – In 1990, Iraqi forces invade and occupy neighboring Kuwait. See
Cause and Effect above. Shout-out to Bamalaw for my title….
Linear Mode
