1586 – Sir Walter Raleigh brings first tobacco to England from Virginia.

1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 “enemies of the Revolution.” Guess who’s got the next ride on “Mr. Guillotine”. Way to go there, Pierre!

1866 – The Atlantic Cable is successfully completed, allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time. It only lasts a couple of months before failing, but it cut communication from Europe to North America from a couple of weeks to seconds. You could ask a question and get an answer the same day! And we in the electrical biz know all about the heartbreak of a premature cable failure.

1940 – The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny. Mickey Mouse is a wimp!

1941 – Japanese troops occupy French Indo-China. What were the French gonna do? They’d ALREADY surrendered to Germany.

1944 – First British jet fighter used in combat (Gloster Meteor). It isn’t allowed over German-held territory because of secrecy. Of course, the Germans had beat the Brits into jet combat with the Me-262 already and theirs was technologically muc more advanced.

1945 – US Communist Party forms. In 2009, with the inauguration of Barack HUSSEIN Obama, they are rendered superfluous.

1949 – Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner. Some inattention to minor engineering details causes them to fall out of the sky in alarming fashion. By the time they’re fixed, Boeing’s 707 and Douglas’ DC-8 were ready to roll out and they took the market over..

1953 – Korean War ends: The United States, People’s Republic of China, and North Korea, sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, president of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice. To this day, that’s all we have with North Korea: an armistice. Like they honor any written agreement anyway… I spent a year on that DMZ and just south of it myself: 1969-70

1964 – Vietnam War: 5,000 more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000. Curse those war-mongering Republican presidents. Wait! What? That was Lyndon Baines “Lyin’ my ass off!” Johnson, a DIMMOCRAT?!?!?! Ain’t nothing like a dimmocrat getting all feisty.