Wednesday, October 19, 2022

This Date in History - October 19

 

Hey, look, it's Divine.  And it's his/her birthday.

202 BC:  AT THE BATTLE OF ZAMA, ROMAN LEGIONS UNDER SCIPIO AFRICANUS DEFEAT HANNIBAL BARCA, LEADER OF THE INVADING CARTHAGINIAN ARMY.

Looking at this, maybe the reason I wasn't so hot with World History is because I couldn't remember how to spell the names.

439:  THE VANDALS, LED BY KING GAISERIC, TAKE CARTHAGE IN NORTH AFRICA.

Long before the Vandals moved on to the NYC subway system.

1216:  KING JOHN OF ENGLAND DIES AT NEWARK-ON-TRENT.

Regardless of where it is, there's no dignity if you die in Newark.

1453:  THE FRENCH RECAPTURE OF BORDEAUX BRINGS THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR TO A CLOSE.

And, at last, they can start making bordelaise sauce again.

1466:  THE THIRTEEN YEARS WAR ENDS WITH THE SECOND TREATY OF THORN.

I suppose the first treaty of Thorn wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

1469:  FERDINAND II OF ARAGON MARRIES ISABELLA I OF CASTILE, A MARRIAGE THAT PAVES THE WAY FOR THE CREATION OF SPAIN.

Which would have been fine if they had all stayed there.

1512:  MARTIN LUTHER BECOMES A DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY.

And, years later, he would provide me with a place to go on Sunday mornings.

1789:  CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN JAY IS SWORN IN AS THE FIRST CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES.

Oh.  So there was one born before Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

1810:  ABOLITIONIST CASSIUS CLAY IS BORN.

So you thought that dopey boxer had a trademark on the name?

1812:  NAPOLEON I OF FRANCE RETREATS FROM MOSCOW.

Have you ever eaten borscht?  Can you blame him?

1813:  THE BATTLE OF LEIPZIG CONCLUDES, GIVING NAPOLEON ONE OF HIS WORST DEFEATS.

On second thought, maybe Russia wasn't so bad.

1873:  YALE, PRINCETON, COLUMBIA, AND RUTGERS DRAFT THE FIRST CODE OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL RULES.

I'll bet there was even a tailgate for this.

1914:  THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES BEGINS.

If you know how to pronounce that, please contact me.

1917:  LOVE FIELD IN DALLAS, TEXAS IS OPENED.

The last airport JFK would ever see.

1932:  ACTOR ROBERT REED IS BORN.

Papa Brady!  Does Barry Williams also claim he slept with him, too?

1933:  GERMANY WITHDRAWS FROM THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

What I like about the League of Nations?  No designated hitter.

1936:  ACTOR TONY LO BIANCO IS BORN.

I spoke to him on the phone once.  That's all I got.

1943:  STREPTOMYCIN, THE FIRST ANTIBIOTIC FOR TUBERCULOSIS, IS ISOLATED BY RESEARCHERS AT RUTGERS.

So not everybody there was tailgating.

1945:  ACTOR DIVINE IS BORN.

It must be tough to maintain two completely different sets of wardrobe.

1956:  THE SOVIET UNION AND JAPAN SIGN A JOINT DECLARATION, OFFICIALLY ENDING THE STATE OF WAR THAT HAD EXISTED SINCE AUGUST 1945.

Japan really knows how to pick the wrong fights, don't they?

1959:  THE FIRST DISCOTHEQUE OPENS.

So was this Studio 1?

1973:  PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON REJECTS AN APPEALS COURT DECISION THAT HE TURN OVER THE WATERGATE TAPES.

Yeah, that worked out well.

1978:  ACTOR GIG YOUNG DIES.

He shot himself.  They shoot horses and apparently actors, don't they?

1987:  ON BLACK MONDAY, THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE FALLS BY 22%, 508 POINTS.

This one, I'm told, was Barbara Bush's fault.

1994:  ACTRESS/COMIC MARTHA RAYE DIES.

Buried with or without the dentures?

2003:  MOTHER TERESA IS BEATIFIED BY POPE JOHN PAUL II.

I read that really fast and you don't want to know what I thought it said.

2005:  SADDAM HUSSEIN GOES ON TRIAL IN BAGHDAD FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

If he had gone on trial in Los Angeles, he might have been acquitted.

2008:  FASHION CRITIC MR. BLACKWELL DIES.

Not the list he wanted to make.

2010:  ACTOR TOM BOSLEY DIES.

And not his happiest day.

2013:  ACTOR NOEL HARRISON DIES.

Son of Rex.

Dinner last night:   Leftover SPO.

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