This date in history

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1789: BASTILLE DAY! Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and completely dismantle the 10-story Bastille, a royal fortress and grim symbol of the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. This action signaled the beginning of the French Revolution. After protracted negotiations and bloody fighting, the Swiss Guards and the bastille's governor are killed by the revolutionaries in a frenzy of... justifiable homicide. 1099: During the First Crusade, Christian knights from Europe, led by Led by Raymond of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders, and Bohemond of Otranto, take the city of Jerusalem after a 7 week siege and begin massacring the city's Muslim and Jewish population. "GOD WILLS IT"!-justifiable homicide. Having achieved their goal, the leaders established five small Christian states in the region under the rule of the leaders of the crusade. 1881: Sheriff Pat Garrett shoots Wm. Henry McCarty, popularly known as Billy the Kid, to death at the Maxwell Ranch in New Mexico. Ambushed in the dark, the Kid passes into Western Lore. Pat Garret is exonerated in a subsequent inquest: justifiable homicide. 1918: 2nd Lt Quentin Roosevelt, 95th Aero Squadron with one victory to his credit, is shot down in combat in his Nieuport 28 over the Marne by Sgt. Karle Emil Gräper of Jasta 50. It is Gräper's only victory of the war over the youngest son of the famous president, naturalist-author, and Rough Rider. Young Roosevelt is buried with full military honors by the Germans out of respect for the greatly admired ex-president. Death in aerial combat- justifiable homicide. Quentin's remains have since been moved to the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach-next to his brother, General Theodore Roosevelt, the oldest soldier(56) and only general in the first wave to land on D-Day-with a cane!-and recipient of the Medal of Honor-posthumously, after a heart attack-for his actions at Utah Beach-he was buried on Bastille Day 1944. His own son, Captain Quentin Roosevelt, landed at Omaha- the only father-son team on the beaches on 6/6/44.

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1799: The French soldiers under Napoleon in Egypt discover the Rosetta Stone, which proves instrumental in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. The study, collection, and fascination with Egyptology becomes the rage and still is to this day. The enigma machine of archeology if ever! Written in three languages including ancient Greek, the clues to all Egyptian hieroglyph inscriptions were made possible. 1941: master spy Juan Pujol Garcia, nicknamed "Garbo," sends his first communique to Germany from Britain. The Germans knew him as "Arabel," whereas the English knew him as Garbo. Garcia was a British double agent. His penchant for creating false agents and convincing Hitler that the D-Day landing were a diversionary attack-the real landing would be the Pas de Calais- made him the master disinformation ace of WWII...so much so that Hitler, while visiting occupied France, awarded Garcia the Iron Cross-2nd class for his service to the fatherland. That same year, 1944, Garcia received his true reward, the title of MBE—Member of the British Empire—for his service to the England and the Allied cause. This ingenious Spaniard had proved to be one of the Allies' most successful counterintelligence tools. Mr Garcia-perhaps the only person decorated by both sides in WWII! 1862: The CSS Arkansas, the most effective ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with Union ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut, severely damaging three ships and sustaining heavy damage herself. "Similar in design and appearance to the more famous CSS Virginia (Merrimack), the vessel was completed by early July. Setting sail with a crew of 100 sailors and 60 soldiers(to help man the guns) the Arkansas steamed to Vicksburg, where ADM Farragut's gunboats were rapidly dominating the river from New Orleans northward. At the mouth of the Yazoo River on July 15, 1862, the Arkansas engaged with the three Union ships sent to intercept the ironclad. After fighting through these ships, the Arkansas headed for the bulk of Farragut's fleet. It then sailed through the flotilla, damaging 16 ships. The engagement temporarily shifted Confederate fortunes on the Mississippi..." When yer only up against one fleet ya only need one iron-clad!

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463 - Start of Lunar Cycle of Hilarius

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1808: Lewis and Clark, the dynamic duo of the Journey of Exploration and Discovery of the Louisiana Purchase, help form the, Missouri Fur Company-Life become miserable for Indians and beaver generally. 1769: Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan missionary, founds the first Catholic mission in California on the site of present-day San Diego. For the native Americans life becomes exceeding miserable... 1945: the Manhattan Project comes to an explosive end as the first atom bomb is successfully tested in Alamogordo, NM. "we are become death the destroyer of worlds"-Oppenheimer. I sit in school hallways thru the 50's and 60's practicing kissing my gandu farewell...life is miserable. 1940: Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain, WWI hero, becomes prime minister of the Vichy government of France. "Ils ne passeront pas!" becomes Oops! Life becomes "Le miserable' 1935: The world's first parking meter, known as Park-O-Meter No. 1, is installed Oklahoma City, OK.; whether in big rigs or autos, in New York or San Francisco, with one of the world's largest quarter collections just for the lebenstraum meter-wise... life is mi$erable (Been towed twice and the fine is over $200+) Park-o-meter #1 only took nickles

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855 - St Leo IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope

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1918 - Alexandra Fjodorova, wife of Tsar Nicholas II, shot to death at 46
1918 - Anastasia N Romanova, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, executed at 17
1918 - Botkin, personal physician of Tsar Nicholas II, shot to death
1918 - Charitonov, cook of Tsar Nicholas II, shot to death
1918 - Demidova, lady in waiting of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, shot to death
1918 - Maria Romanova, daughter of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, shot to death
1918 - Nicholas II Alexandrovich, last Tsar of Russia, executed at 50
1918 - Olga Romanova, daughter of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, shot to death
1918 - Tatyana Romanova, daughter of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, shot to death
1918 - Trupp, lackey of Tsar Nicholas II, shot to death
All in all: a clean sweep and the family, as was the custom with communist executions, was not charged for the bullets! Bullet fees are still assessed (allegedly) in Iran and China

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King George V reviews the Royal Navy at Spithead in 1914, the last review before the outbreak of the First World War.

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1330 - Battle of Velbuzd

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532 - Start of Dionysian Pascal Cycle

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1941: Joltin' Joe's 56 game hitting streak ends!
"In baseball, a hitting streak refers to the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is ended when a player has at least 1 plate appearance and no hits. A streak shall not be terminated if all official plate appearances result in a base on balls, hit by pitch, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt. The streak shall terminate if the player has a sacrifice fly and no hit."
Joe DiMaggio holds the Major League Baseball record with a streak of 56 consecutive games in 1941 which began on May 15 and ended July 17. DiMaggio hit .408 during his streak (91 for 223), with 15 homeruns and 55 RBI's. Pete Rose 1978 and Willie Keeler 1898 are a distant tie at 44 apiece. DiMaggio excelled at other diamond sports as well. After Marilyn Monroe's death in 1962, DiMaggio never remarried, and when he passed away in 1999, his last words were said to be, "I'll finally get to see Marilyn." Now that is really 'Keepin' yer eye on the ball' IMHO

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1553: Lady Jane Grey age 15 is deposed as queen after a nine day reign. Initially spared by Queen 'Bloody' Mary, her cousin, because of her age, she is beheaded for treason at the Tower early in 1554...And is buried in the same chapel as Anne Boleyn at the Tower; Along with her husband and her dad, also executed.(1554)..Family squabbles can sure get grim at times.

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1861: The nation divided, the Congress of the Confederate states convened in Richmond. The government would have done better to stay at Montgomery, Alabama; Even today, any distance between D.C. and whatever is GOOD! "More significantly, by locating the Southern capital so close to Washington and the North, the Confederacy essentially doomed Virginia to constant warfare. Indeed, for all of Gen. George McClellan’s famous dithering, Richmond’s proximity baited Northern forces into repeated devastating campaigns in an attempt to reach it. The New York Times wasn’t alone in editorializing that the new location would shorten the war." AND...they spent $40,000 on the move-money better spent elsewhere IMHO 1954: The Geneva Accords divide Viet Nam into North and South Viet Nam 50,000+ Americans would eventually not agree with this 'Judgement of Solomon' 1944: Claus Graf von Stauffenburg's plan to assassinate der Fuhrer (VALKYRIE) fails along tiny lines of splitting: 1) Due to an interruption by a guard and his mangled hand, he only uses only one of two bombs with British time fuses. 2) In the plywood annex building, an officer inadvertently moves the briefcased infernal device to the other side of a heavy oak table leg which effectively 'partitons' the room and the blast away from der Fuhrer. 20,000 people suffer directly as a result-either killed or sent to the camps as NAZI vengeance. von Stauffenburg(left), Keitel and der Fuhrer-5 days previously...

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356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

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1376 - The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin leading rats out of town is said to have occurred on this date.

1943 - American forces led by General George S. Patton captured Palermo, Sicily.

1965 - "Till Death Us Do Part" debuted on England’s BBC-TV.

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^356 BC: for his arson attempt to gain notoriety: "Far from attempting to evade responsibility for his arson, Herostratus proudly claimed credit in an attempt to immortalize his name. To dissuade those of a similar mind, the authorities not only executed him, but attempted to condemn him to a legacy of obscurity by forbidding all mention of his name under penalty of death." Attempted censorship notwithstanding: One could say " Herostratus achieved anti-Herostatus. Hey didn't this (censorship) come up in Neil's Killer-of-the-day thread? 2011:Anders Breivik massacres 69 Norwegan youths at a retreat and detonates a bomb at Oslo killing eight others! 1934: Outside Chicago 's Biograph Theatre, notorious criminal John Dillinger--America's "Public Enemy No. 1"--is killed in a hail of bullets fired by G-men. He obviously played 'footsy' wid da lady in red...once too often 2003: Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s cruel and brutal sons, Qusay and Uday Hussein, are 'hasta la vista'd' after a three-hour firefight at the northern Iraqi city of Mosul; their death was celebrated among many Iraqis. 1991: Cannibal serial killer Jeffery Dahmer is captured. "When Dahmer's apartment was fully searched, a house of horrors was revealed. In addition to photo albums full of pictures of body parts, the apartment was littered with human remains: Several heads were in the refrigerator and freezer; two skulls were on top of the computer; and a 57-gallon drum containing several bodies decomposing in chemicals was found in a corner of the bedroom. There was evidence that Dahmer had been eating some of his victims." 1598: William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice is entered on the Stationers' Register. "By decree of Queen Elizabeth I, the Stationers' Register licensed printed works, giving the Crown tight control over all published(political censorship?) material." One way or another, the Virgin Queen got her own 'pound of flesh' too! For those requiring some explanation: "In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a Jewish moneylender who lends money to his Christian rival, Antonio, setting the security at a pound of Antonio's flesh. When a bankrupt Antonio defaults on the loan, Shylock demands the pound of flesh, as revenge" Not to be outdone by the anti-semetic nature of the play, "The Nazis used Shylock for their own anti-semetic agenda. Shortly after Kristallnacht in 1938, The Merchant of Venice was broadcast for propaganda ends over the German airwaves. Who better than the Bard to promote a Nazi point of view...