This Day in History

[Amnorix]

Today...

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

March 11.

1708. Queen Anne withholds consent for the Scottish Militia Bill -- the last time a monarch of England vetoes legislation.

Has the monarch retained the technical ability to veto legislation in England since then? If so, that's a remarkably long time.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Has the monarch retained the technical ability to veto legislation in England since then? If so, that's a remarkably long time.

It appears that nothing has been done to eliminate that right from the Monarch, so as a technical matter they could in fact veto any bill passed by Parliament.

Having lain dormant for 300 years, however, I suspect that any such act at this point in time would trigger a very unpleasant result.

[Amnorix]

March 12.

1894. In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Coca-Cola is sold for the first time.

1938. German troops "peaceably" occupy Austria, completing the Anschluss for all intents and purposes. Annexation of Austria to Germany is announced the next day.

1947. The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed, aimed at thwarting the spread of Communism.

[Amnorix]

Would anyone be interested in a detailed account of the fall of Constantinople? I'm debating doing this, but I'm wondering if I want to set myself up for doing that much work. If I don't get a positive response, I have an easy out. If I do, I will at least consider it.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Would anyone be interested in a detailed account of the fall of Constantinople? I'm debating doing this, but I'm wondering if I want to set myself up for doing that much work. If I don't get a positive response, I have an easy out. If I do, I will at least consider it.

Istanbul. Istanbul. Istanbul!

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Donger

Istanbul. Istanbul. Istanbul!

Not when it fell it wasn't.

So is that a yes?

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Not when it fell it wasn't.

So is that a yes?

No, it is not a yes.

[Donger]

I was, of course, referring to this song:

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Would anyone be interested in a detailed account of the fall of Constantinople? I'm debating doing this, but I'm wondering if I want to set myself up for doing that much work. If I don't get a positive response, I have an easy out. If I do, I will at least consider it.

I'm interested, but don't go to a huge amount of trouble just on my account.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Donger

I was, of course, referring to this song:

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul

I love that song. Actually, I'm a big fan of They Might Be Giants.

[Amnorix]

March 13.

1638. The so called "New College" in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which had been formed only two years earlier, receives a bequeath of 779 pounds (half of the decedent's estate) and 400 books from the recently deceased John Harvard, who had been friends of the school's first schoolmaster, Nathaniel Eaton. As a result, the college is renamed in his honor -- Harved College. It was subsequently renamed Harvard University in 1780.

1865. The Confederate States of America, in a moment of supreme irony, agree to the use of African American troops. This notwithstanding Georgian Confederate leader Howell Cobb's previously proclamation that "if slaves make good soldiers, our entire theory of slavery is wrong."

1925. The State of Tennessee passes a new law, called the Butler Act:

"That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the Story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals."

The law paves the way for a teacher who intentionally violated the law at the behest of the ACLU which agreed to fund his defense. The teacher was John Scopes, and the trial that resulted would become famous -- the Scopes Trial.

1943. The Nazi SS begins the final elimination of the Jews in the Krakow Ghetto in Poland. Originally housing 60-80 thousand Jews, after completion of this task all Jews have either been sent to labor sites, concentration camps, or been murdered on site.

1954. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu begins in Vietnam. Lasting nearly two months, the battle ends in a decisive defeat for occupying French forces. The French defeat is primarily due to their serious underestimation of the native Vietnamese, their possession of heavy artillery, and their ability to move such artillery through very difficult terrain into the hills surrounding the French base.

1962. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Lemnitzer presents the plan for Operation Northwoods to Secretary of Defense McNamara. The plan proposes that the CIA conduct acts or fake acts of terrorism in American cities and around Guantanomo Bay to justify US military involvement in Cuba. The report is rejected and Lemnitzer is sacked. The proposal comes to light in 1997 as a result of inquiries into JFK's death.

1986. Microsoft IPO's. Regrettably, Amnorix does not participate. Reportedly, Rain Man participates early, but gets out quick after making a killing -- doubling his money!! If he'd only held on he may have been able to buy all of Madagascar and visit it as often as he likes, and have a whole fleet of bikes with a SWAT team of former FBI agents to defend them from local ne'er-do-wells.

[Amnorix]

March 14. Slow day.

1794. Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin. While a tremendous innovative development that turns cotton into a cash king, it has the unfortunate side effect of making slavery a much more profitable institution.

1942. Anne Miller becomes the first patient to be successfully treated with penicillin.

[Amnorix]

March 15.

44 BC. Beware the Ides of March. Julius Caesar is murdered by Brutus and several other Roman Senators.

1493. Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.

1545. The Council of Trent convenes for the first time. One of the most important ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church, it is the last to be held for nearly 300 years.

1783. George Washington, in Newburgh, New York, makes a plea to his army and officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy -- a proposed coup d'etat by many of the army's soldiers and officers to ensure that they are paid the many years of back pay they are owed. His plea succeeds and the plot is abandoned.

1939. After the Nazi German annexation of the Sudentenland in the fall of the previous year, Germany marches into the now essentially defenseless remainder of Czechoslovakia (Bohemia and Moravia) and incorporates the rest of the country with nary a shot fired.

1952. In Ciliaos, Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean to the East of Madagascar, 73 inches of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record (that we only hope is never broken. Yeesh)

[mlyonsd]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

1952. In Ciliaos, Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean to the East of Madagascar, 73 inches of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record (that we only hope is never broken. Yeesh)

Holy crap.

[Amnorix]

March 16.

597 BC. King Nebuchadnezzar the Great, King of Babylon, captures Jerusalem for the first time, displacing Jehoiachin as King and putting in his stead Zedekiah. The Jewish state was then a tributary to Babylon. Zedekiah foments rebellion, allying with the Pharoah of Egypt to try to throw off the Babylonian chains. The Babylonians bring their host, and reportedly besiege Jerusalem for 30 months before capturing it for a second time. As a result, Zedekiah sees his sons put to death before his eyes are put out and he is carried to Babylon in chains to remain in captivity until his death. Jerusalem itself is razed to the ground, the First Temple (a/k/a Solomon's Temple) is destroyed, The Ark of the Covenant is lost to history, and the population of Judah is dispersed amongst the Babylonian Empire.

1521. Ferdinand Magellan, having gone through the Straits now named after him, arrives in the Phillipines -- the first European to do so -- where he is soon to die, never having completed the round-the-world voyage for which he is famous.

1621. Samoset, a Native American, makes first contact with the pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1812. British and Portugese forces besieging French troops in the city of Badajoz, Spain, finally win. After a long and arduous siege, the British troops under Wellington completely lose military discipline, sacking, pillaging and raping the city for the next three days.

1861. Edward Clark becomes governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston who was ousted from office for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy.

1935. Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm, in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Conscription is reintroduced to bolster the Wehrmacht. The British and French sit on their thumbs like fools.

1968. The My Lai massacre occurs. 350-500 Vietnamese villagers -- men, women and children -- are killed by American troops. Some were sexually assaulted, and others mutilated. Of the 26 soldiers originally charged, only one is convicted, William Calley, and he serves only three years of his lifetime sentence. When the incident comes to light a year later, it has deep repercussions both in the United States, where waning support for the war takes a huge hit, and internationally.

Warrant Officer One Hugh Thompson, Jr., a helicopter pilot from an aero-scout team, witnessed a large number of dead and dying civilians as he began flying over the village — all of them infants, children, women and old men, with no signs of draft-age men or weapons anywhere. Thompson and his crew witnessed an unarmed passive woman kicked and shot at point-blank range by Captain Medina (Medina later claimed that he thought she had a grenade). The crew made several attempts to radio for help for the wounded. They landed their helicopter by a ditch, which they noted was full of bodies and in which there was movement. Thompson asked a sergeant he encountered there (David Mitchell of the 1st Platoon) if he could help get the people out of the ditch, and the sergeant replied that he would "help them out of their misery". Thompson, shocked and confused, had then a conversation with Second Lieutenant Calley, Platoon Leader of 1st Platoon, who claimed to be "just following orders". As the helicopter took off, they saw Mitchell firing into the ditch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre

The army's effort to suppress the incident goes unpunished.

1984. William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic Fundamentalists, and later dies in captivitiy.

1995. Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the last state to directly approve the abolition of slavery and thereby joining the latter half of the 19th century just before the 20th century ends.

__________________
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