Today is Patriots Day, April 19th.
The Revolutionary War began, not July 4th 1776, but 232 years ago this day, April 19th 1775; when the army moved to seize the caches of arms that his majesties loyal subjects had assembled over the previous three years of being treated as an occupied enemy territory.
April 19th 1775 was the day that Englishmen chose to become Americans, unable to tolerate any longer their suppression by force of arms.
On April 19th, an unknown subject became a citizen; by firing his rifle at the men who would disarm him. The shot heard round the world. It took almost 15 years for it to finish it's travel, but when it did the greatest nation in the history of this world had been founded, formed, and launched on it's way.
Today is the 144th anniversary of the first deaths of the civil war (a riot in Baltimore).
Today is the 73rd anniversary of the United States moving to fiat currency; for good or ill, when Roosevelt demonetized gold.
Today is the 64th anniversary of the final battle of the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto uprising.
In early April, German soldiers began rounding up Jews for their final shipment to work camps. On April 19th, passover eve, a group of less than 20 of them began fighting back, by killing a single German soldier, stealing his gun, and killing another, then another, and so on until perhaps 1000 men were armed and fighting back against the entire German army. An entire brigade worth of Germans were killed, along with 6,000 of the approximately 7000 Jews resident in the Ghetto. It ended on May 16th in a massacre by poison gas. The last of the fighters were trapped in a few buildings, and some sewer tunnels. They flooded the tunnels with gas, and then went in and exterminated all but a few; who they saved for show trials.
6,000 died on their feet, rather than on their knees.
Today is the 46th anniversary of the betrayal of the Cuban people by president Kennedy; leaving brave men who were fighting for their nations freedom. to be tortured to death at the hand of Fidel and Raul Castro, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and the "reveolucion". Sadly, he would not be the last president to abandon those fighting for freedom to their own fate.
Today is the 20th anniversary of when "The Simpsons", first aired as a segment on the Tracy Ullman show.
Today is the 18th birthday of people born April 19th 1989... yes, people BORN after Reagan left office can now vote.
Today is the 14th anniversary of the federal government murdering 81 law abiding citizens in Waco Texas; because they had some weird beliefs, and because they decided to defend themselves against tax agents acting as criminals.
Today is the 12th anniversary of the Murragh federal building being blown up, killing 168; in the bloodiest example of entirely internal domestic terrorism NOT conducted by our government (the bloodiest would have to be the bonus army).
Today is the second anniversary of the day Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was officially elected supreme pontiff, and chose the name Benedictus XVI.
Lord Byron, Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Darwin, and Layne Staley all died on this day.
Today is the 28th anniversary of my little brothers birth. I hope not his last, though I fear it will be.
