1452 – First European book printed with moveable type, Johann Gutenberg’s Bible, in Mainz, Germany. Mainz has a terrific museum devoted to printing, including a display of an original Gutenberg Bible. It’s worth a visit if you’re in the area. I was.
1544 – King Henry VIII draws his armies out of France. His army leaves behind a considerable amount of genetic material.
1791 – The Magic Flute, the last opera composed by Mozart, receives its premiere performance at Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, Austria.
1791 – The National Constituent Assembly in Paris is dissolved; Parisians hail Maximilien Robespierre and Jérôme Pétion as incorruptible patriots. Yeah. Just like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are “incorruptible patriots”. And cool move, there Gaston!: You get rid of a monarchy and pass control to a dictatorship by moonbat.
1841 – Samuel Slocum patented the stapler. Hey! A milestone IS a milestone…
1882 – Thomas Edison’s first commercial hydroelectric power plant (later known as Appleton Edison Light Company) begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. it was a whopping 12.5 kilowatts. Honda makes a portable generator that big now and it fits in the back of a pickup truck. I’ve worked on a 600 MEGAwatt unit. That’s 48,000(!) times bigger. In less than a hundred years.
1938 – At 2:00 am, Britain, France, Germany and Italy sign the Munich Agreement, allowing Germany to occupy the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Neville Chamberlain forever sets the standard for moonbat politicians being flim-flammed by dictators when he returns to London, waves a copy of the agreement and says it means “peace in our time.” Hitler says “a little piece of Poland, a little piece of France…” (and extra points if you can identify where the Hitler quote comes from…)
1938 – The League of Nations unanimously outlaws “intentional bombings of civilian populations”. Yeah, that worked. The League of Nations died. If only the UN would have the grace to do the same…
1949 – Berlin Airlift ends after 277,000 flights. America faces down the Soviet Union. Today’s Left would not only have signed West Berlin Over to them, but would have held a star-studded concert to celebrate.
1954 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world’s first nuclear reactor powered vessel.
1968 – First Boeing 747 rolls out. American aviation shows the world how it’s done.
2005 – The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Muslims are driven to a killing frenzy by cartoons. Who knew? Other things that drive Muslims into a killing frenzy: Days that end with “y”. Puppies. Music. People smiling. BACON!