Today in History

August 6th marks kind of a big day, historically speaking.

Back in 1806 the Holy Roman Empire, long relatively irrelevant anyway, officially ended when Emperor Francis II abdicated the throne after getting stomped by Napoleon.
In 1945 the United States, in the biggest act of terrorist violence in history, became the first nation to drop a nuclear weapon on, you know, people when they destroyed Hiroshima, killing tens of thousands and probably over 100,000 people.  Go USA!

In 1962 Jamaica gained independence.  Since then we’ve all enjoyed the benefits, such as The Harder They Come, Bob Marley, and rastafarianism.  Huzzah.

In 1965 Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, securing the right to vote (good title) to African-Americans.  Republicans are still working hard to find a way around it.

And most recently, Bush II ignored the infamous warning that bin Laden was busy working on a scheme to attack the United States but only because he was on vacation in Texas and didn’t want to cut his relaxation short to protect America.   Money quote by Bush to the FBI staffer who told him of the threat:  “You’ve covered your ass now.”  Oops.  Strangely enough, he has still not been held accountable for this.  (And, yes, you can interpret this last sentence as meaning either Bush or bin Laden.)

So all in all, kind of a mixed bag.  Here’s hoping this is a good one.

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