1146 – European leaders outlaw crossbows, intending to ending war for all time. Except for longbows, lances, pikes, battle flails, etc., etc., ad infinitum.
1836 – The city of Houston is founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen. “Houston” was a lot snappier-sounding than “mosquito-ridden, festering bayou”.
1918 – Fanny Kaplan shoots and seriously injures Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. This, along with the assassination of Bolshevik senior official Moisei Uritsky days earlier, prompts the decree for Red Terror.
“To overcome of our enemies we must have our own socialist militarism. We must carry along with us 90 million out of the 100 million of Soviet Russia’s population. As for the rest, we have nothing to say to them. They must be annihilated.”“Do not look in the file of incriminating evidence to see whether or not the accused rose up against the Soviets with arms or words. Ask him instead to which class he belongs, what is his background, his education, his profession. These are the questions that will determine the fate of the accused. That is the meaning and essence of the Red Terror.”
And that’s how a handful of radicals gain control of a nation.
1939 – Isoroku Yamamoto appointed supreme commander of Japanese fleet. A couple of years later, he attacks Pearl Harbor.
1956 – Lake Pontchartrain Causeway opens. Longest continuous over-water bridge in the world. Unfortunately, one end is in New Orleans, making it roughly equivalent to a concrete enema pipe…
1979 – President Jimmy “I never met a despot I didn’t like” Carter attacked by a rabbit on a canoe trip in Plains Ga. This says a lot about the quality of this man’s presidency. I wholly expect Obama to be chased by war gerbils.
1146–Europe in their infinite knowledge , gets out in front !! Maybe it “will work” ???
1928 – Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, signed by sixty nations. Ah, yes, the notable “signing a piece of paper will stop crazed lunatics with armies” ploy. WE all KNOW this one works…
1956 – So the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is much like the Garden State Parkway, eh?
}:-]
1146: The crossbow ban was an attempt to keep the peasants in their place. With a crossbow, any man could kill an armored knight. It didn’t last – even knights found crossbows too useful, especially during sieges. But even when wielded by knights, the crossbow was still a threat to the social order – a few years later, King Richard the Lionheart was killed with a crossbow by a mere knight so poor that he was using a frypan as a shield.
1836: An allegedly true story: When the Allen brothers were selling lots in the fetid, stinking not-yet-drained swamp to European immigrants, they realized they needed a much more prestigious name for their swindle than “Allen’s Landing”, the actual name at that time. Searching for a suitably notable name that would assist them in fleecing victims, they approached Sam Houston for permission to use his name. After finally catching Ol’ Sam both sober and somewhat reasonable, and after convincing him that they did NOT want to name the city “Sam”, they offered him a substantial sum of money for the right to call the city “Houston”. Sam told them he had all the money he wanted. Then they offered him land, and Sam replied that he could have any part of Texas that he wanted. Finally, Augustus (Gus) said, “I promise you that when the first man walks on the moon, your name will be the first word out of his mouth.” Sam thought for a moment, then replied, “Yep, that’ll do’er.” And so, the city also known as the armpit of the Gulf Coast was named.