With apologies, I'll go back two days in time and revisit one I missed.
January 22, 1506, the Papal Swiss Guard in the Vatican is formed. At the end of 2005, there were 134 members, a colonel, a chaplain, three officers, one sergeant major, 30 NCOs and 99 Halberdiers (i.e. privates). Any grown men willing to wear this stuff in public, and carry that effective weapon -- the halberd -- deserves mention in this history.
