Also today, in Linz Austria, a new symphony premieres. It's symphony number 36, by a chap named Mozart. Ever hear of him?
A few years later, a group of western Indians (western in the sense that Indiana used to be "west" got together and whupped the US army at the Battle of the Wabash. Apparently it was a bigger victory for the Indians than even Little Big Horn, as only 48 US troops were unscathed, out of about 1000. It took about 3 years, but eventually the US was ready to try again. As always, it didn't end well for the Indians.
In 1918, Austria-Hungary surrendered to Italy. It was the end of the beginning of the end (or something) for The Great War, aka The War to End All Wars. So we already know how well that turned out. The good news is, I predict the end of the end of the War will be coming soon. Stay tuned!
in 1921, a chap named Adolph Hitler gives a speech in his adopted city of Munich. Apparently it had some effect, as his brown-shirted followers, the Sturmabteilung (SA for short), run amok and beat his opponents up afterwards. But I'm sure it was just a one time thing.
A mere 365 days later, Howard Carter and his merry men find a tomb opening in Egypt. When they go inside, they discovered THIS GUY! And then they all died of a curse, according to some. Others doubt it, but I have personally discovered that Carter died sometime after opening it. Coincidence? You be the judge!
In 1942, Field Marshal Bub (baby) aka Erwin Rommel, gets his ass handed to him by Montgomery at the Second Battle of El Alamein. He disobeys orders, and retreats, which was hard to do, what with the lack of fuel, British air supremacy, broken down vehicles, etc. Of course, had anyone other than Monty been chasing him, the chase would probably have been pretty short, but with Monty, it took about 5 months. And then there was a whole campaign in Tunisia before the Germans were beaten. On the other hand, Hitler sent tens of thousands of troops there to reinforce Rommel, so instead of being a disaster, it was a catastrophe. Good call, eh wot? (BTW, the "Bub" comment comes from Field Marshal von Runstedt, who was not as big a fan of Rommel as the Americans and British were. Neither was anyone else in the higher echelons of the German Army, for what it's worth.)
In 1952, the US established the National Security Agency or NSA. I presume it was to duplicate the efforts of the CIA, which was established to eliminate redundancy in the US intelligence community. As always when the government gets going, it all works seamlessly.
In 1956, Hungary gets to learn first-hand about the glories of Communism, and how much the Soviets respect their allies. As the Hungarians revolt against the USSR, Soviet troops enter their country. It ends in thousands of deaths, thousands of wounded, and tens of thousands of people going into exile. The Western Powers of course do nothing, and in the end, stupid people in the West continue to think that Communism is A Good Thing. Sigh.
In 1979, a bunch of Iranians invade the US embassy, and take 90 hostages. The idiot in the White House ignores the fact that this is, according to International Law, an act of war; and does nothing. He continues to do nothing (or next to it) until he leaves office. I guess his thought was that the whole "Islamist problem" would go away if he ignored it. Which worked about as well as anyone with a brain would expect. On the other hand, given his unending stream of sucking up to US enemies like North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and anyone else who meets his standards of tyranny since he left office, maybe we need to just credit him as an idiot, and not assume he actually likes dictatorships.
And in 2008, an even bigger incompetent is elected president of the US, prompting the incredibly stupid people who elected him to suddenly develop pride in their Country, which of course has never given anything to the rest of the world, never defended the rest of the world, or in fact done anything noteworthy prior to that single moment. Sometimes I despair.
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