1536 – King Henry VIII orders English language Bibles be placed in every church. Previously, the bible was only commonly available in Latin, making its readability rather lower, although Latin remained a language in common use in academia and the Catholic Church.

1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by Confederate troops. A battle won in a war lost. General Lee loses General Stonewall Jackson to friendly fire. Lee likens this to losing his right arm.

1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska. He’s a veteran of Little Big Horn and many other battles in another war lost.

1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris. Like much that is French, it is stunningly graceful, a technological tour de force, and as useless as nipples on a lizard. But it gives a photogenic background for the German Army on occasion.

1935 – New Deal: Executive Order 7034 creates the Works Progress Administration. Another dimmocrat president ruling by executive order. The difference between this give-away and Obama’s, though, is that beneficiaries of THIS program were expected to, you know, WORK! Now all they have to do is procreate and vote.

1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed. Airships end their brief foray into public transport.

1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show. How absolutely quaint! Hollywood actually being patriotic!

1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.

1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey. This becomes THE standard format for every spoiled American princess. All too often Daddy is still paying off the spectacular wedding when his little princess is divorced and three drug-addled bikers down the road in her love life.

1994 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel. I would say something snarky about this facilitating Britain rushing to rescue France the next time the Germans have a desire for postcards of their army marching under the Eiffel Tower, but it looks like a footrace to see which country goes Muslim first, and they’re neck and neck.