1806 – Britain occupies the Dutch Cape Colony after the Battle of Blaauwberg. Between the Brits and the Dutch, South Africa is turned into the most prosperous nation on the whole continent. Now that they’ve decided to let the ‘natives’ run the place, it’s headed downhill fast. Before Europeans showed up, Sub-Saharan Africa hadn’t invented the wheel. And some people think they can run modern economies. That’s okay. The Chinese are rapidly taking over.

1807 – Robert E. Lee, American general and academic is born.

1871 – Franco-Prussian War: In the Siege of Paris, Prussia wins the Battle of St. Quentin. Meanwhile, the French attempt to break the siege in the Battle of Buzenval will end unsuccessfully the following day. After starting the war, France continually bludgeons Germany’s fist with its face.

1883 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.

1915 – Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising. Solid-state digital electronics has just about ended neon’s reign.

1915 – World War I: German zeppelins bomb the cities of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn in the United Kingdom killing more than 20, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.

1917 – German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann sends the Zimmermann Telegram to Mexico, proposing a German-Mexican alliance against the United States. Mexico, cognizant of that “Halls of Montezuma” thing and several other more recent events, decides not to bite. US declares war on Germany shortly thereafter…

1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded. It’s got a noble-sounding name, but it is now entirely a front organization for the Left.

1920 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations. Now they’re up to their eyeballs in the UN.

1935 – The birthday of tighty-whities: Coopers Inc. sells the world’s first briefs.

1937 – Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds. Today the flight takes MUCH less time, but the trip takes longer, especially after your appearance at the government-mandated TSA gropefest.

1955 – “Scrabble” debuts on board game market. The next day a dog eats half the tiles and the day after that, seventeen new names for ghetto kids are discovered.

1970 – UCLA fires Angela Davis for being a communist. Today they’d make her a department head.

1977 – Global Warming: Snow falls in Miami, Florida. This is the only time in the history of the city that snowfall has occurred. It also fell in the Bahamas.

1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle (Type 111) made in Germany leaves VW’s plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America would continue until 2003. I bought one brand spankin’ new in 1971 for $1985.00. With vinyl seats and an AM radio.

1981 – Iran Hostage Crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity. They knew that incoming president Ronald Reagan wasn’t a hopeless boob like his predecessor…

1983 – The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced. One of my geek buds said “Nobody will EVER seriously consider a computer with a graphical interface and a stupid mouse. REAL men use DOS!” The Lisa was a flop because of $9,995 pricetag. A year later, Apple rolls out the Macintosh and hits a home run. GUI, WYSIWYG and mice are loose!

1986 – The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter unauthorized copying of the software they had written.

1997 – Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city. Under his sterling and able leadership, the Palestinians turn the Gaza Strip and the West Bank into the beacons of fairness and equality in the Middle East. Right?!?