1763 – Touro shul of Newport, Rhode Island dedicated, becoming the first and oldest existing US synagogue.

1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years. So much for that “revolution” crap…

1823 – Monroe Doctrine: US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts.

1845 – Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.

1851 – Newly-elected French President Charles Louis Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic. A year later in 1852 he names himself Napoleon III and becomes Emperor of the Second French Empire. This lasted until a galloping case of the dumb-a** caused him to declare war on Germany which started the tradition of German soldiers sitting in the cafes of Paris. He also managed to have part of the French Army beaten soundly by Mexico, resulting in the Cinco de Mayo celebration. Gotta love the French…

1927 – First Model A Fords sold, for $385. This ends the nineteen-year run for the previous “Model T”.

1942 – Manhattan Project: A team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. A little over three years later, they sustained the hell out of a couple in Japan…

1961 – In a nationally-broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism. But they sure did get rid of that corrupt Batista government. Like Egypt and Mubarak… Let’s see what Egypt announces…

2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Many of my co-workers are members of a former Enron subsidiary. The mention of the name provokes hard words.