Back in the Day Sept 27-Oct 3
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
This week in history…
September 27, 1821: All your base is not belong to us…
Mexico gains its independence from Spain after a long insurgency that was nearly defeated multiple times by the Spanish occupation force.
September 28, 48 BC: Keep your friends close…
A former ally of Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great is defeated by Caesar in a civil war and flees to Egypt. Upon arrival, Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII had Pompey assassinated in the hopes of earning the favor of the victorious Julius Caesar. The plan backfired, and Caesar became enraged when given Pompey’s head. Ptolemy’s sister Cleopatra (the Cleopatra) figured out that giving Caesar sex was a better way of winning his favor than a friend’s head.
September 29, 1916: Pass go, collect $318.3 billion…
John D. Rockefeller becomes the world’s first billionaire. Amusingly enough, the Communist party chose this day 33 years later to write a treatise on the future of Communism in China.
September 30, 1938: Dirty appeasers, energizing and legitimizing…
At 2 am, Neville Chamberlain of England, Edouard Daladier of France, Benito Mussolini of Italy, and Adolf Hitler of Germany, sign the Munich Agreement (also known as the Munich Betrayal). This agreement effectively gave half of Czechoslovakia to Germany.
October 1, 1827: A millennium later…
Russian forces storm the city of Yerevan. This marks the first time in over a thousand years that Christian Armenia is not being ruled by Muslims.
October 2, 1187: Role reversal…
Saladin captures Jerusalem after a 12 day siege. This is the first time in 88 years that Jerusalem is not being ruled by Christians. This defeat prompted the Third Crusade as the Christians attempted to recapture the city.
October 3, 52 BC: France is conquered for the first time…
After being defeated by the Romans at a truly epic battle at the siege of Alesia, leader of the Gauls, Vercingetorix (there’s a heck of a name) surrenders to Julius Caesar. The conquest of Gaul (France) resulted in a huge increase of power and prestige for Caesar, and this new power resulted in the tension and eventual conflict between Pompey the Great and Caesar.
Thought for the week:
“We have not to fear anything except fear itself.”
-Gaius Julius Caesar
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