In Scotland, Charles Edward Stuart (aka The Young Pretender) makes his move to regain his throne, by invading England. It's a journey that will end at Culloden, and not in a good way.
Another journey sorta ended on this date, and not in a good way either. The USS San Jacinto stops the Trent, a British ship, and removes a couple people- Confederate diplomats headed to London. In the end, they are released, and the US apologizes rather than go to war with Britain, while already fighting a civil war. Within a couple years, the Brits are no longer interested in helping the South in any way. Guess that idea of holding onto slavery above all else wasn't their best move, but on the other hand, it's the underlying reason behind the whole shebang. (At least that's the easy way- since I'm kind of a student of the War, I could also point out that the South, despite it's relatively small population, used the 3/5 Clause to get far more influence in the Federal Government than was warranted, but that would be too complex for this post).
Happy Statehood Day to Montana. Been there once, to the beautiful city of Butte. Fun fact: I was there on business, and a few days later I was in Boise Idaho. I was talking to a guy about the places I had visited in the previous week or so, and mentioned Butte. He asked if I thought it was an ugly place. I replied that I hadn't seen much of it, and what I saw wasn't bad, so I wondered if perhaps the whole "let's pick on Butte" theme I had seen in Idaho wasn't similar to how Michiganders pick on Ohio, Florida picks on Georgia, and how Texas picks on... everyone. He assured me it wasn't, as Montanans did the same. I shrugged it off. A moment later, he comes back with "Seriously: You went to Butte and didn't think it was an ugly, horrible place?" My reply: "No, I really didn't... but then, I'm from Detroit." (He had nothing left to say)
In Greece, there was some rioting over the translation of the Gospels into demotic (Modern) Greek. I suspect that perhaps rioting is just a favored hobby in Greece. Maybe they had it right when they just kept to their separate City-States.
In 1917, in Russia, the People's Commissars recognized three people as being in charge. Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky. It's almost impossible to have that kind of arrangement and make it work. And this one didn't. Partly because Stalin was completely psycho. But that's the way life goes.
A few years later, in 1923, a chap named Adolph Hitler leads an attempt to overthrow the German government, by leading a revolt in Munich. Probably not a good idea, but since it's known today as "The Beer Hall Putsch", I think we have an explanation. In the end, Hitler goes to jail for a while, dictates a best-selling book from his cell, and comes out stronger than ever. A mere 10 years later, he's the Big Kahuna, and he did it lawfully. He learned that lesson well, I guess.
Things for Hitler took a negative turn on this date in 1942, as US and British troops landed in North Africa in Operation Torch. It was badly managed and led, but turned out alright since, for the most part, they were fighting the French Vichy government. For a while, at least. Ultimately, the US troops learned the necessary lessons needed to fight an actual army of Germans, and that started the road that led to Normandy. For more info, I'd recommend reading "An Army At Dawn" by Rick Atkinson. Awesome book, the first of three- the last one is due out next year, I believe; but North Africa is covered here.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy
A major event in rock history took place today. In 1971, Led Zeppelin released an album called "Led Zeppelin IV", which featured a little ditty called "Stairway to Heaven". The album and song went over like a you-know-what! Just kidding. "Stairway" has since been considered perhaps the greatest rock song ever. BTW, according to some weirdo I saw give a talk in the 80s, that song title directly caused the untimely death of Robert Plant's son Karac. The fact that the boy was born *after* the album was released, and died in 1977 apparently in unimportant. As God frequently said in the Bible, "revenge is a dish best served cold". Or that could be the Mafia. One or the other.
John Paul Getty III has a bad day today, though not as bad as a few days earlier. His right ear is delivered to his father by the folks who kidnapped III. Dad decides that $2.9 Million isn't that much money after all, and pays the ransom. End of crisis, which is kind of surprising, really.
And on that note, we finish.
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