April 19th: Today in 1861 pro-secessionists rioters attacked US troops marching thru Baltimore on their way to Washington D.C. killing four soldiers with an additional twelve civilians killed in the fighting. The rioting led to the suspension of civil rights in Baltimore with many in the local government being jailed and the city occupied and [...]

April 18th: Today in 1906 a large earthquake and fires that followed it all but destroyed San Fransisco. The earthquake was one of the first large natural disasters to be documented in motion pictures as well as photos and the impact of the earthquake on the development of the state of California was enormous.

April 17th: Today in 1961 a small force of Cubans lands at the Playa Girón beach in an ill fated attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The attempt was a failure and embarassed the Kennedy administration who approved it. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion set the tone of relations between the [...]

April 16th: Today in 1947 the Grandcamp and the Highflyer two ships carrying ammonium nitrate exploded in the harbor of Texas City killing at least 600 people and devastating the city. This was one of the worst industrial accidents in American history with the explosion first being mistaken for an atomic bomb by seismologists and [...]

April 15th: Today in 1912 the Titanic sank after striking an iceberg. No word on the fate of the iceberg, but it is presumed melted and no longer dangerous. If anyone should see the iceberg please alert attorneys for the survivors who want it included into a lawsuit.

OK, this is serious nerd humor here as in a spoof film about guys reenacting the Marvel Comics ‘Secret Wars’. Great stuff if you are a comic book nerd.

Via The All-New All-Different Howling Curmudgeons

April 14th: Today in 1775 the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage is founded in Philadelphia, Pa. It is the first known major anti-slavery group in modern history.

I am headed home tomorrow so posting should return to normal, if there is such as thing.

April 13th: Today in 1742 the first public performance of Handel’s Messiah occured at New Musick Theatre in Fishamble Street in Dublin. Interestingly the performance was at first opposed by Jonathan Swift, yes the Gulliver one, who wrote:
… whereas it hath been reported that I gave a licence to certain vicars to assist at a [...]

April 12th: Today in 1204 the crusader army of the fourth crusade sacked Constantinople. The crusaders spared little, looting, murdering and defiling the holy sites. Pope Innocent III perhaps said it best:
You vowed to liberate the Holy Land but you rashly turned away from the purity of your vow when you took up arms not [...]