1374 – A sudden outbreak of St. John’s Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion. We had the same thing in the US in 2008 and 2012, except they called them Obama rallies.

1497 – John Cabot lands on North America in Newfoundland; the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings. He thought he found Asia.

1692 – Kingston, Jamaica is founded.

Q: What do they say in Jamaica when they run out of dope?
A: Mon, dis MUSIC SUCKS!

1793 – The first Republican constitution in France is adopted. Don’t let the word “Republican” fool you, folks! This is FRANCE we’re talking about, and they’re chopping off heads left and right under this document.

1812 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon’s Grande Armée crosses the Neman River beginning his invasion of Russia. In the precise language of military science, this is known as “biting off more than you can chew”. But don’t feel bad for France. Germany made the same mistake in 1941. And yeah, I know I did this yesterday too, but a monumental screw-up like this deserves two days…

1916 – World War I: The Battle of the Somme begins with a week long artillery bombardment on the German Line. By the time it ends in mid-November, 650,000 French and British and 450,000 Germans are dead, wounded or captured. It is during this battle that the tank makes its battlefield debut.

1939 – Pan Am’s first regularly scheduled US to England flight. Pan Am is no more, and before long, there wont be a reason or money enough to fly to England.

1945 – The Moscow Victory Parade takes place. Part of the display is the captured German Army’s standards:

1947 – Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington. Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that UFO sightings have dropped off considerably with the advent of ubiquitous digital cameras and cellphones?

1948 – Start of the Berlin Blockade. The Soviet Union makes overland travel between West Germany (actually the British, French and American sectors. West Germany wasn’t a country yet.) and West Berlin impossible.

1982 – British Airways Flight 9, sometimes referred to as the Jakarta incident, flew into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.”

The subsequent landing with a scarred windshield and partially inoperative ground navigation equipment was in the words of Captain Moody, “a bit like negotiating one’s way up a badger’s arse”. I’m thinking that having a beer with Captain Moody would be quite an experience.