[Amnorix]

July 22

1456. The Ottoman Empire's siege of Belgrade is lifted. Three short years earlier, the Ottoman Empire had captured Constaninople, which was defended by one of -- if not THE -- best fortifications on earth, though those defenses were undermanned. At the time, the young Sultan, Mehmet II, had already established his reputation, and that of his army, as among the best in the world. During this time, the Christian state of Hungary, which bordered the Empire, decided not to intervene for a number of reasons, including the fact that it was not yet prepared to fight. This, despite the fact that its leader, John Hunyadi, was perfectly aware that he would be the next target of the frightening Ottoman war machine.

Hunyadi instead spent his time preparing his defenses and his men. As expected, the Ottoman Empire next sought to conquer Hungary and continue its relentless expansion into Europe. Belgrade, then a border fortress, was besieged on July 4th. Hunyadi led a valiant defense, including a surprise counterattack that overran the Turkish camp. Mehmet withdrew his forces, realizing that he was unable to effectuate a successful siege at this time.

Although Hunyadi and many of his men would be dead within the month due to an outbreak of plague among his troops, the implications of this Ottoman defeat would be far-reaching. The Ottoman Empire's advance was checked until 1521 -- 70 years later -- when the Ottomans would finally capture Belgrade. In the meantime, the empire would begin the slow and painful process of absorbing Bosnia and Serbia into the Empire in order ot ensure that those areas served as a stable source of support for future operations -- an effort that has implications to this day. Hungarian resistance to Ottoman incursions would also become a thing of legend, and Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (the Impaler, i.e. Dracula) and Stephen III would come to power under Hunyadi, and continue heroic Hungarian resistance.

Ultimately, in 1526 the Ottomans would conquer most of Hungary, then be checked at the siege of Vienna in 1529 which led to 150 years of on-again, off-again wars and heightened tensions between various European powers and the Ottomans until the Battle of Vienna in 1683 began to roll back the Ottoman tide.

1796. General Moses Cleaveland, supervisor of a surveyor party for the Connecticut Land Company, names an area of the Ohio Valley after himself following his discovery.

1864. Outside Atlanta, Georgia, Hood attacks Sherman's troops at Bald Hill. The attack (again) fails.

1894. The first motorized racing event ever is held, in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. History is silent as to whether any of the observers consume Budweiser.

1934. John Dillinger, an extremely dangerous criminal who had robbed over two dozen banks, shot and killed several police officers, and escaped prison twice, is shot and killed outside Chicago's Biograph Theater. He had gone there to see, fittingly, a gangster movie starring Clark Gable. He was accompanied by two ladies including one who, supposedly, wore a red dress to help the FBI identify Dillinger.

Unsurprisingly, J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the FBI and a man who did not believe in having rivals for publicity, squeezed the man who led the team that killed Dillinger (the unfortunately named Melvin Purvis) out of the FBI. Purvis would go on to become a Colonel in the US Army during World War II.

2003. Members of the US 101st Airborne, aided by special forces, attack a compound near Mosul, Iraq killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Qusay's 14 year old son Mustapha. The sons were heavily involved in operating Saddam Hussein's rulership over Iraq.