1789 – French Revolution: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille and free seven prisoners. France descends into a bloodbath over the next few years as “Reason” supplants the old monarchy. Some people of Cajun ancestry mistakenly celebrate Bastille Day. We were gone from France a hundred and fifty years before and we’re less “French” than George Washington was “English”. Furthermore, it was money and goods bought by the old French government that kept New Orleans afloat. After the French Revolution, they sold Louisiana off to Spain.

1790 – Inaugural Fête de la Fédération is held to celebrate the unity of the French people and the national reconciliation which is reconciling folks with the guillotine by the dozens.

1798 – The Sedition Act becomes law in the United States making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government. Modern changes change ‘government’ to ‘Democrat Party’.

1874 – The Chicago Fire of 1874 burns down 47 acres of the city, destroying 812 buildings, killing 20, and resulting in the fire insurance industry demanding municipal reforms from Chicago’s city council.

1914 – First patent for a liquid-fueled rocket design granted to Robert Goddard. Fifty-five years later there are American footprints on the moon.

1933 – Gleichschaltung: In Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party. There’s ANOTHER law the Left would like to have.

1933 – The Nazi eugenics begins with the proclamation of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring that calls for the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffers from alleged genetic disorders. Why sterilize them when they can produce generations of dimmocrat voters.

1948 – Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, is shot near to the Italian Parliament, ALMOST elevating him to the status of “good communist”.

1960 – Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her famous study of chimpanzees in the wild.

1969 – Football War: After Honduras loses a soccer match against El Salvador, riots break out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers. It’s less of a big deal than the ‘festivities’ in any American city in celebration of an NFL or NBA championship.

2016 – A terrorist vehicular attack by a member of a splinter Episcopalian sect Muslim in Nice, France kills 86 civilians and injures over 400 others.  Ain’t diversity wonderful?

1793 – Journalist AND French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction. This is a suitable demise for activist “journalists”.

1854 – In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General Jose Maria Yanez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset Boulbon. Getting beat by Mexico…

1863 – Battle of Bayou La Fourche, Louisiana. Memorable because Bayou Lafourche (pronounced La-foosh) is an area I visit upon the odd occasion.

1863 – New York City draft riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history. It’s about race and privilege. During the riot, those oh so tolerant Northerners lynched eleven black men.

1868 – Oscar J. Dunn, former slave, installed as lieutenant governor of Louisiana back when the federal government could decide who should fill state offices…

1919 – The British airship R-34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.

1936 – 112 degrees F recorded in Mio, Michigan and 114 F in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, state records, as global warming seizes the state due to the proliferation of gas-guzzling SUV’s.

1943 – Greatest tank battle in history ends with Russia’s defeat of Germany at Kursk, over 6,000 tanks take part, 900 were lost by Germany, 1600 by the USSR. This is Germany’s last strategic offensive on the Eastern Front. The Soviets can afford to throw armies into battle without regard to losses. The Germans can’t.

1973 – Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the “Nixon tapes” to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break-in. I’ve read the transcripts. they didn’t have nearly the indication of wrongdoing that Hunter Biden’s emails did, but then, Nixon was a Republican…

1977 – New York City: Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil the city experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting. This is a harbinger – every large city is only one disaster away from anarchy.

1985 – The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Sydney and Moscow as a lot of self-important assholes cavort on stage like they really make a difference. Is this the beginning of the “slacktivist” movement?

2011 – Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130. Just the Religion of Peace™ doing a bit of proselytizing.

2024 – President of the United States Donald Trump is injured in an assassination attempt while speaking at an election campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.

70 AD– The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.

1543 – King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr at Hampton Court Palace.

1789 – In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later. Our journalists are equally active impartial.

1790 – The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly. Religious persons were required to swear that French government was superior to religion.

1812 – War of 1812: the United States invade Canada at Windsor, Ontario. Since Canada is still, well, Canadian, you can guess how this turns out…

1862 – The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.   2015 – Hillary gets one for dodging sniper fire in Bosnia and Obama gets one for a particularly risky golf shot. Biden gets one for successfully climbing a set of stairs and Kamala gets one for knee calluses.

1878 – Yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans begins, it will kill 4,500 before it’s over. New Orleans was a fetid, fever-infested swamp then. So what’s changed?

1943 – World War II: Battle of Prokhorovka – part of the greater Battle of Kursk – German and Soviet forces engage in largest tank engagement of all time. The Soviet losses were in the order of six to one (or more). There was no clear victor, but the Russians were drawing from an essentially bottomless reserve of men and equipment and Germany, having just committed its last reserves, had everything at their disposal already on the field.

1948 – First jets to fly across Atlantic (6 RAF de Havilland Vampires)

1960 – USSR’s Sputnik 5 launched with 2 dogs. There was no provision for their live return.

1967 – The Newark riots began in Newark, New Jersey. In five days, twenty-six die, or as they say in Chicago, a typical long weekend.

1971 – In yet another instance of cultural appropriation, the Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time by a people who had neither synthetic dyes or woven fabrics, or for that matter, flags.

2012 – A tank truck explosion kills more than 100 people in Okobie, Nigeria, most of whom were there trying to get some free gasoline that had spilled.

1789 – Jacques Necker is dismissed as France’s Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille when the enlightened French show us the proper management of a revolution.

1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty. Hey! Ya’ll want it back? Actually, after decades of dimmocrat governance it’d probably fit in better with Zimbabwe.

1798 – The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.

1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, is founded. New employment opportunities are made available for donkeys.

1944 – Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that he will run for a fourth term as President of the United States.

1947 – The Exodus 1947 heads to the Promised Land from France with 4500 Jewish survivors of Hitler’s death camps. Without the proper paperwork, the British administrators of Palestine turn them back.

1955 – The phrase In God We Trust is added to all U.S. currency. To liberals this is the equivalent of printing Arab money with a picture of a pig.

1960 – Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Crap like this happens so often now that it doesn’t make the front page. Africa wins again. ME? I’m still waiting for that ‘Wakanda’ thing to happen somewhere over there.

1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission, done via the just-launched Telstar I satellite. This was a Big Deal back then. Today, it’s a yawner. Back then AT&T was so proud of the achievement that they sent representatives around giving lectures about the Telstar satellite. I saw one when I was in the seventh grade.

1962 – Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces Lunar Orbit Rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth. Now we have private companies doing what NASA can’t won’t do anymore.

1991 – Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia killing all 261 passengers and crew on board. It’s hauling people for the annual Worship a Rock celebration.

1040 – Lady Godiva rides naked on horseback to force her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes. Now THAT’S a tax protest I can appreciate.

1086 – King Canute IV of Denmark is killed by rebellious peasants. There’s a lesson here, peasants.

1778 – American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” In a few years, Louis is dead and we’re at war with the people who killed him.

1821 – The United States takes possession of its newly bought territory of Florida from Spain. Part of the acquisition was land in Louisiana east of the Mississippi River and north of Lake Pontchartrain. Today these are known as “The Florida Parishes”.

1892 – First concrete-paved street built in Bellefountaine, Ohio. The next day two guys are jack-hammering holes in it while nine others stand around watching. All are on the city payroll.

1913 – Death Valley, California hits 134 °F (~56.7 °C), which is the highest temperature recorded in the United States. Suck it up, people!

1936 – A heat wave sets temperature records in West Virginia, 112, Pennsylvania, 111, New Jersey, 110 and Maryland, 109. Damn those SUV’s!

1938 – Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world. He could’ve cut four hours off the time except for the TSA check-in.

1940 – World War II: The Vichy government is established in France as French alert status changes from ‘surrender’ to ‘collaborate’.

1943 – World War II: The launching of Operation Husky begins the Italian Campaign. Three months later Italy surrenders but the German forces in the country fight fiercely on until the late spring of 1945. Italy lasted longer after the Allied invasion than France did after the Germans invaded.

1951 – Korean War: At Kaesong, armistice negotiations begin. They’re still going on today at Panmunjom.

1962 – Telstar, the world’s first active communications satellite, is launched into orbit. It was a big deal then. Now, it’s a yawner, with homes all over the place having satellite receiving dishes. AT&T sent people aroudn to schools with presentation material, including full-sized models of the satellite.

1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago at which as many as 60,000 people attend. Only twelve missed work.

1985 – Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland, New Zealand Harbor by French DGSE agents, proving the supremacy of the French special forces over a bunch of smelly hippies. It is also France’s biggest naval victory in the twentieth century.

1985 – Coca-Cola Co announces it will resume selling “old formula” Coke. They don’t. What they sell is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup instead of the cane sugar of the “Old Coke”, unless you buy kosher or Mexican imports.

1998 – Roman Catholic sex abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos. Michael Jackson paid more than that for ONE…

2005 – Hurricane Dennis slams into the Florida Panhandle causing billions of dollars in damage. Everybody’s like “Awwww, poor Florida…” Until a month later when Katrina hits the Gulf Coast, then Rita hits… Bad year for hurricanes, was 2005.

2019 – The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico. The last of 5,961 “Special Edition” cars will be exhibited in a museum. I’ve owned two, a 1965, and a 1970. The latter was purchased brand new off the showroom floor for $1985.00. That’s $17,598.39 in today’s dollarettes. I don’t think you can buy a new car in America with a sticker price that low.

1540 – Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.

1776 – George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence to be read out loud to members of the Continental Army in New York, New York for the first time. Doing so today would cause screams of rage from the Left because it would  be racist indoctrination.

1789 – In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution ushering in the French “Age of Reason”, as in “I WANT to chop your head off, and that’s my ‘reason’.”

1860 – Temperature hits 115 degrees F in Fort Scott & 112 degrees F in Topeka, Kansas. Curse those SUV’s!

1863 – American Civil War: the Siege of Port Hudson ends, giving the Yankees control of the Mississippi River.

1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law. Soon it will be interpreted as protecting a pedophile’s right to diddle young kids.

1916 – First cargo submarine to cross Atlantic arrives in US from Germany carrying synthetic dyes, drugs and mail. Bet you didn’t know there was such a thing as a ‘cargo submarine’ or that the US bought goods smuggled out of Germany in WW I past the French and British blockades.

1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily soon causes the downfall of Mussolini and forces Hitler to break off the Battle of Kursk.

1944 – World War II: Battle of Saipan – Americans take Saipan after invading on June 15.

1944 – World War II: Battle of Tali-Ihantala – Finland wins the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in northern Europe. The Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into defensive position, thus ending the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. Here’s a review of a related movie.

1958 – Lituya Bay, Alaska is hit by a mega-tsunami caused by an earthquake-induced landslide. The wave is recorded at 524 meters high, making it the largest wave in history.

1962 – The Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test is conducted by the United States of America. The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from this shot took out equipment in Hawaii 900 miles away. In 1962, much electronic equipment was less susceptible to EMP. Today, almost everything is susceptible to EMP.

1976 – Ugandan ambassador asks UN to condemn the Israeli hostage rescue raid on Entebbe. The fact that this buffoon wasn’t booed off the podium tells you what the UN is worth.

2002 – The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization’s first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa. It is decidedly African. Unity? Not so much. organized? You’re kidding, right?!?

2011 – South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan. Yeah, it’s independent as long as money keeps coming in from the outside. Keeping your ‘leadership’ in Mercedes limos and Savile Row suits is expensive.

1680 – The first confirmed tornado in America kills a servant at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Because there were no trailer parks for it to hit.

1775 – The Olive Branch Petition is adopted by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies. “Can’t we all get along?” Apparently the answer was “No” because year later we did that “Declaration of Independence” thing.

1776 – The Declaration of Independence is read aloud in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Liberty Bell is famously rung, but we tried being “nice” first. See ‘1775’ above.

1853 – Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay, finds the Japanese a lot more receptive to negotiations while staring down the barrels of the US Navy. Ninety-two years later, the whole freakin’ US Navy shows up… Same result… Dad was there.

1870 – Congress authorizes registration of trademarks. 2014 – Unless they’re the wrong trademarks, like “Redskins”…

1876 – White supremacists kill five Black Republicans in Hamburg, SC. Black Republicans are held in the same high esteem by the Congressional Black Caucus and the dimmocrat party today.

1889 – The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published.

1969 – Thor Heyerdahl & reed raft Ra II land in Barbados 57 days from Morocco.

1972 – US sells grain to USSR for $750 million. Under the sterling management of centralized government control, they couldn’t produce enough grain to feed themselves. I’m watching the Left marching in that direction today.

1979 – Congo adopts constitution. For all the good it did, it should have come perforated and on rolls. Obama tried doing the same for ours. *Biden may have been succeeding until he was distracted by the presence of twelve-year-old girls.

1994 – Kim Jong-il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung. This is known as ‘next of Kim’. We’re on Kim #3 now.

2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program. We can feed half the kids from Central America but we have to pay the Russians to take us into space until American business steps in to do what the government won’t.

2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers. This has been Palestinian policy since its inception.