1633 – The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe. It’s not like he was contradicting global warming, because they’d have burned him at the stake for that…

1898 – Spanish–American War: United States Marines land in Cuba. We STILL have Marines in Cuba.

1940 – France is forced to sign the Second Compiègne Armistice with Germany. Hitler makes them sign the papers in the very same railway car where German signed armistice papers in 1918. In the measured language of diplomacy this is called “rubbing their nose in it.”

1941 – Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. In the precise terminology of military studies, this is called “biting off more than you can chew.”

1969 – The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio catches fire, which triggers a crack-down on pollution in the river. Yep! That’d be one of the signs… Actually, this was only one of thirteen reported fires on the Cuyahoga since 1868.

1990 – Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin. The Wall was down.

2009 – Eastman Kodak Company announces that it will discontinue sales of the Kodachrome Color Film, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon. It is still a Paul Simon song, though, and a great one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wZpaNJqF4po