632 AD – Muhammad, self-proclaimed prophet, historical pedophile and mass murderer, dies in Medina and is succeeded by Abu Bakr who becomes the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. He should’ve been beaten to death by the family of his nine-year old ‘bride’.

793 – Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of Norse activity in the British Isles. Talking with a Norwegian co-worker one time I remarked as to the physical beauty of so many Scandinavian women. His reply – “Because the Vikings didn’t bother bringing home the ugly ones.”

1783 – Laki, a volcano in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine.

1789 – James Madison introduces twelve proposed amendments to the United States Constitution in the United States House of Representatives; ten of them are ratified by the state legislatures and become the Bill of Rights. An eleventh is approved as the 27th Amendment in 1992.

1794 – Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution’s new state religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being, with large ‘organized’ (As in ‘If you don’t show up, you may end up on a list your DON’T want to be on.’) festivals all across France. It conflicted with the previously established Cult of Reason. One side worshiped no god, the other a made-up god, and they BOTH hated the Catholics, but still reserved enough hate to kill each other quite frequently. Way to run a revolution there, Gaston! Get rid of the old god, and feed the new gods with blood.

1887 – Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his punch card calculator. Remember punch cards? Paper tape? Magnetic tape? 8-inch floppies? 5.25-inch floppies? 3.5-inch floppies? CD’s?

1934 – Donald Duck makes his debut in The Wise Little Hen. I prefer Daffy Duck!

1949 – George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is published. He’s off by a few years but he pretty much nails the rest.

1968 – The body of assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. The legacy of Camelot is in the caring hands of Teddy Kennedy, somewhat akin to putting Michael Jackson in charge of a Cub Scout troop.

2014 – At least 28 people are killed in an attack at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan. Just an interdenominational discussion among members of the Religion of Peace.