1330: THE BATTLE OF POSADA - WALLACHIAN VOIEVODE BASARAB I DEFEATS THE HUNGARIAN ARMY.
Insert your favorite Yankee catcher joke here.....
1439: PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND BECOMES THE FIRST TOWN INCORPORATED BY THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT.
When does Plymouth come out with the Duster?
1555: THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT RE-ESTABLISHES CATHOLICISM.
So that should make Catholics in Plymouth happy.
1602: SEBASTIAN VISCAINO LANDS AT AND NAMES SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.
Except nobody remembers him. But everybody knows Tony Gwynn.
1793: JEAN SYLVAIN BAILLY, THE FIRST MAYOR OF PARIS, IS GUILLOTINED.
Can we bring back this practice please?
1897: KARL MARX IS BORN.
The sixth Marx Brother.
1912: THE FROZEN BODIES OF ROBERT SCOTT AND HIS MEN ARE FOUND ON THE ROSS ICE SHELF IN ANTARCTICA.
Talk about your freezer burn.
1918: AUSTRIA BECOMES A REPUBLIC.
Love your pastries.
1920: ITALY AND THE KINGDOM OF SERBS, CROATS, AND SLOVENES SIGN THE TREATY OF RAPALLO.
Anybody but the Slovenes.
1927: LEON TROTSKY IS EXPELLED FROM THE SOVIET COMMUNIST PARTY, LEAVING JOSEPH STALIN IN UNDISPUTED CONTROL.
Da.
1929: ACTRESS GRACE KELLY IS BORN.
Never forget her as Lisa Carol Fremont in Rear Window.
1933: HUGH GRAY TAKES THE FIRST KNOWN PHOTOS ALLEGED TO BE THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
Earliest use of Photoshop.
1936: IN CALIFORNIA, THE SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE OPENS.
As if anybody wants to actually go to Oakland.
1941: WORLD WAR II - TEMPERATURES AROUND MOSCOW DROP TO -12 DEGREES CENTIGRADE AS THE SOVIET UNION LAUNCHES SKI TROOPS FOR THE FIRST TIME AGAINST FREEZING GERMAN FORCES.
Ach du lieber, it's cold.
1942: WORLD WAR II - THE BATTLE OF GUADACANAL BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE US BEGINS. THE BATTLE LASTS FOR THREE DAYS AND ENDS WITH AN AMERICAN VICTORY.
And a bunch of John Wayne movies.
1943: ACTOR WALLACE SHAWN IS BORN.
Met him once on the Murphy Brown set.
1944: SPORTSCASTER AL MICHAELS IS BORN.
Do you believe in the miracle of birth? Yes!!!
1945: MUSICIAN NEIL YOUNG IS BORN.
Just wait till he teams up with Bing Crosby.
1956: MOROCCO, SUDAN, AND TUNISIA JOIN THE UNITED NATIONS.
Two countries and a third that was featured in a Hope-Crosby Road picture.
1958: A TEAM OF ROCK CLIMBERS LEAD BY WARREN HARDING COMPLETES THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE NOSE IN YOSEMITE VALLEY.
Obviously not President Warren Harding because he's dead.
1958: ACTRESS MEGAN MULLALLY IS BORN.
Everybody remembers from Will and Grace, but I first saw her on Broadway in How to Succeed with Matthew Broderick.
1968: EQUATORIAL GUINEA JOINS THE UNITED NATIONS.
Any place with the word "equatorial" in it must be freakin' hot.
1969: VIETNAM WAR - INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST SEYMOUR HERSH BREAKS THE MY LAI STORY.
Complete with pictures. Ugh.
1971: VIETNAM WAR - PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON SETS FEBRUARY 1, 1972 AS THE DEADLINE FOR THE REMOVAL OF ANOTHER 45,000 AMERICAN TROOPS FROM VIETNAM.
Too late for those folks at My Lai.
1975: THE COMOROS JOINS THE UNITED NATIONS.
Who are they? Anybody?
1979: IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS - IN RESPONSE TO THE HOSTAGE DRAMA, US PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER ORDERS A HALT TO ALL PETROLEUM IMPORTS INTO THE US FROM IRAN.
Jimmy Carter? Yeah, this probably didn't work.
1981: ACTOR WILLIAM HOLDEN DIES.
Edge of coffee table, 1. Holden, 0.
1982: IN THE SOVIET UNION, YURI ANDROPOV BECOMES THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY, SUCCEEDING LEONID BREZHNEV.
Ever notice just how ugly these Russian leaders were?
1990: ACTRESS EVE ARDEN DIES.
English class cancelled for today.
1993: POLITICIAN HR HALDEMAN DIES.
Years after his political career did the same.
1994: SPRINTER WILMA RUDOLPH DIES.
Not so fast now.
1997: RAMZI YOUSEF IS FOUND GUILTY OF MASTERMINDING THE 1993 WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING.
And is hanged, I hope?
2001: IN NYC, AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 587 CRASHES MINUTES AFTER TAKE-OFF FROM JFK AIRPORT, KILLING ALL 260 ON BOARD.
Coming right after 9/11, this was pretty scary.
2003: ACTRESS PENNY SINGLETON DIES.
Blondie!
2007: PLAYWRIGHT IRA LEVIN DIES.
Talk about your Deathtrap.
Dinner last night: Leftover bratwurst and vegetables.
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