December 2

1805. The Battle of Austerlitz, between the French troops under Napoleon and a combined Russo-Austrian army, is fought. It is Napoleon's greatest victory, and effectively destroys the Third Coalition. As a result of the peace agreement, the Holy Roman Empire -- which as every history teacher likes to say was neither Holy nor Roman -- is dissolved.

1823. President Monroe gives a speech regarding foreign affairs which will become known as the Monroe Doctrine.

1908. Emperor Pu Yi ascends to the throne of China. He is two years old. His life will be memorialized in the movie "The Last Emperor".

1939. LaGuardia Airport opens.

1954. The Senate rebukes member Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."

2001. Enron files bankruptcy.

Historians have roundly criticized him for his policies, most strongly for his decree that "everyone eats cookies all the time", which resulted in over 1 million malnutrition deaths in the Yangtze river valley alone. Fortunately, at the age of seven he was talked out of his "everyone jump up at the same time" policy, which would have had dramatic domestic, international, and astronomical ramifications.

LMAO I keep coming back to this thread because of historical insights like these that for some reason didn't make it into my high school text books.

December 3

1901. President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000 word speech to the Congress, asking it to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits". This will lead to the passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the subsequent breakup of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil.

1929. President Hoover announces to Congress that the worst effects of the stock market crash over a month earlier are past the country, and that its population is regaining faith in the economy.

1944. Even before WWII is over, a clash in Athens between Greek government forces supported by the British Army and ELAS, a left wing military organization that controlled huge swaths of the Greek countryside heralds the coming Greek Civil War.

1971. The Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 begins.

1992. The UN passes a resolution to establish a peacekeeping force in Somalia. This will lead to the events memorialized in the movie and book, Blackhawk Down.

http://www.danablankenhorn.com/image...rustbuster.jpg

Recovery winter!

December 4

771. King Carloman dies, leaving his brother, Charlesmagne, king of the unified Frankish kingdom.

1674. Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek tribe. The mission will grow into Chicago.

1875. Political boss "Boss Tweed", technically incarcerated at the Ludlow Street Jail but allowed home visits, flees. He first goes to Cuba, then Spain. He is caught, returned to the US and will eventually die at the prison in 1878.

1909. The Montreal Canadians are founded.

1918. President Wilson goes to Europe to attend hte Versailles peace conference. He is the first sitting President to visit Europe.

1945. The US Senate approves US participation in the UN.

1954. The first Burger King opens, in Miami, Florida.

1980. Following the death of its drummer, Led Zeppelin officially disbands.

December 5.

1775. At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his famous transportation of artillery to Boston to lift the British occupation.

1848. President Polk confirms in a message to Congress that large amounts of gold have been found in California. Remember that during this era, gold was not merely a valuable item, it for all intents and purposes was money. So while money may not grow on trees, it could be dug up from the ground.

1932. Albert Einstein is granted a visa by the US, possibly the best move ever made by the US INS.

1941. Soviet troops under Georgi Zhukov launch a massive counterattack against German troops outside Moscow.

December 6

1240. Kiev falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan. Having conquered most of what is now southern Russian, he will soon turn his eye to Europe.

1768. The first edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica is published.

1790. Congress moves from NYC to Philadelphia.

1849. Harriet Tubman escapes slavery. She will become a very influential voice in the abolitionist movement.

1865. The Thirteenth Amendment, banning slavery, is ratified.

At some point, these will begin to repeat, right?

Boy, this guy ran out of room on his chest for medals.

http://photo.net/shared/portrait-bit...ser_id=1001379

The first edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica was published in 1768 and included some odd entries, even describing monsters as a human species. The editors of British newspaper The Daily Telegraph share some of the weirdness.

Humans and monsters

Homo sapiens were sub divided into five varieties: the American, the European, the Asiatic, the African and the monstrous.

Medicine

Cures for flatulence included drinking chamomile tea and blowing smoke from a pipe ‘through the anus.’

Chocolate

Chocolate was prohibited to be imported but may be made at home for private use ‘upon three days notice given to the officer of excise, and provided no less than half an hundred weight be made at one time.’

Petrol

Petroleum was used as an ointment to treat pains of the limbs, and to try and cure paralysis. (No cars in those days yet.)

Solar system

The solar system was described as having six planets. (Uranus was discovered in 1781 and Neptune in 1846.)

California

The US state of Callifornia was spelt with two ‘L’s’ and is described as ‘a large country of the West Indies. Unknown whether it is an island or a peninsula.’

December 7

1941. In memoriam.

http://www.pastfoundation.org/Arizon...Riverc1916.jpg

http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/wp...ss_arizona.jpg

http://www.ballslist.com/travel/hawaii/uss_arizona.jpg

I've never seen this one. Rep.