August 27
 

[I'm the worst at this game... :(]

This Day in History

History's shortest war began and ended on this date in 1896. British ships began bombing the island of Zanzibar at 9 a.m., and Zanzibar surrendered at about 9:45 a.m., that same morning. The battle was prompted by the ascension to Zanzibar's throne of Khalid bin Barghash, second son to Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini, who had died two days before. The British, who had sovereignty over the island, opposed the new sultan. When he refused to step down, the British fired upon the island, quickly bringing the insurrection to an end.

"War, he sung, is toil and trouble; honour but an empty bubble." — John Dryden

On August 28, 1811, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Harriet Westbrook eloped...

On August 28th, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at a civil rights rally in Washington, D.C.

On August 29, 1533, Atahualpa, the last Incan King of Peru, was murdered on orders from Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro. The Inca Empire died with him...

On August 30, 1146, European leaders outlawed the crossbow...

On August 31, 1881, the first tennis championships in the U.S. were played...

On September 1, 1887, Emile Berliner filed for a patent for his invention of the lateral-cut, flat-disk gramophone. It is a device that is better known as a record player. Thomas Edison made the idea work...

On September 2, 0490, Phidippides of Athens was sent to seek help against the invading Persian Army. The runner was the inspiration for the 26-mile marathon of the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896...

On September 3, 1935, Sir Malcolm Campbell became the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles an hour. He reached 304.331 MPH on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah...

On September, 4th, 2008 Tully beat Uncle Phil to this thread.

Also on this day..

On September, 4th, 1781 the Spanish settled Los Angles.

son of a gun, so he did...

to extrapolate:

On September 4, 1781, Los Angeles, CA, was founded by Spanish settlers. The original name was "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula," which translates as "The Town of the Queen of Angels..."

On September 5th, 1698 Russia's Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.

September 5th marks the 338th anniversary of when jurors refused to convict William Penn of violating England's Conventicle Acts, despite clear evidence that he acted illegally by preaching a Quaker sermon. In refusing to convict Penn, the jurors ignored what they knew to be an unjust law. This is known as jury nullification.

By refusing to enforce what they knew was an unjust law, the Penn jurors served justice, and provided a basis for our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, religion, and peaceable assembly. For refusing to find Penn guilty, the judge sent four of Penn's jurors to prison. Their exoneration fixed forever the English and American doctrine that jurors have the responsibility to decide both matters of law and fact in any case before them. Individual jurors are last line of defense for people who are prosecuted under bad laws by overzealous prosecutors and court officials.

The Founders intended that jurors would use their rights and responsibilities to judge the law and the facts in every trial, and do justice. The Sixth and Seventh Amendments were included in the Bill of Rights to guarantee that every person brought to trial has Juror Protection.

Juror nullification is integral to our judicial system. It is one of the "checks and balances" of justice required by a free society. An individual juror has the authority to stop an unjust prosecution by refusing to convict. No reason for the verdict is required. Most Grand and Petit Jurors do not know about their authority. This authority must be restored to protect us.

Our Founders embraced juror nullification as necessary to a free society. Nullification is the test that all laws must pass. Juror nullification has been used by jurors throughout our history to "nullify" unpopular and unjust laws, ranging from laws against witches, publishing the truth, free speech, religion, hiding slaves, and Prohibition.

The Fully Informed Jury Association (Fully Informed Jury Association) is dedicated to educating all Americans about the authority of the Juror. FIJA publishes and distributes educational material but depends upon grassroots activists to inform jurors of their rights and to undertake state-level lobbying or ballot-issue efforts.

On September 6, 1837, the Oberlin Collegiate Institute of Ohio went co-educational...

On September 7, 1822, Brazil declared its independence from Portugal...

On September 8, 1893, in New Zealand, the Electoral Act 1893 was passed by the Legislative Council. It was consented by the governor on September 19 giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote...

On September 9, 490 B.C., the Battle of Marathon took place between the invading Persian army and the Athenian Army. The marathon race was derived from the events that occurred surrounding this battle...

On September 10th, 1935 Sen. Huey P. Long died two days after being shot in Baton Rouge.

Also, on September 10, 1845, King Willem II opened the Amsterdam Stock exchange...

On September 11th, 1941 Charles A. Lindbergh sparked charges of anti-Semitism with a speech in which he blamed "the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration" for trying to draw the United States into World War II.

Also, on September 11, 1609, explorer Henry Hudson sailed into New York harbor and discovered Manhattan Island and the Hudson River...

^ I wonder if that's the day they named the stinky cheese after him?

On September 12th, 1944 U.S. Army ground troops entered Germany for the first time during World War II.

lindbergher? :)

Also, on September 12, 1916, Adelina and August Van Buren finished the first successful transcontinental motorcycle tour to be attempted by two women. They started in New York City on July 5, 1916...

poetic license...or poetic justice? I get those mixed up today.

On September 13, 1907, the RMS Lusitania arrived in New York, completing its maiden voyage from England...

On September 13th in 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem, Star-Spangled Banner, which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America's national anthem

Also, on September 14, 1847, U.S. forces took control of Mexico City under the leadership of General Winfield Scott...

On September 15th, 1935 The Nuremberg Laws were enacted in German- stripping Jews of their citizenship and made the swastika the official symbol of Nazi Germany.

And before that, on September 15, 1821, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador proclaimed independence...

On September 16, 1630, the village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston...

Today is a big day in Apple history.

Sept. 16, 1985: Steve Jobs Quits Apple

Sept. 16, 1997: Steve Jobs Rejoins Apple

Bewitch premiered on ABC-TV (1964), Hogan's Heroes debuted on CBS-TV (1965) and Mission Impossible premiered on CBS-TV (1966)

On September 17, 1872, Phillip W. Pratt patented a version of the sprinkler system...

On Septemebr. 17, 1862, Union forces held back the Confederate invasion of Maryland at Antietam. The battle left 23,100 killed, wounded or captured. The was not only the bloodiest of the Civil War, it is, to this day, the bloodiest day in US military history.

On September 18, 1759, the French formally surrendered Quebec to the British...

On September 19, 1876, Melville R. Bissell patented the carpet sweeper...

On September 20, 1946, the first Cannes Film Festival premiered. The original premier was delayed in 1939 due to World War II...

On September 21, 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" was first published...

On September 22, 1656, an all-female jury heard the case of a woman murdering her child. The jury in Patuxent, MD, voted for acquittal...