This Week in History: Military, Politics … and Geography
When it comes to military history and political history, geography plays a starring role. Here’s what’s happened during this week in history (from October 11 through October 17):
732 Battle of Tours
1066 Battle of Hastings
1492 Columbus arrived in America
1644 Birthday of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania (Penn’s Woods) [A personal note here: If you have never read Penn’s book, “Some Fruits of Solitude,” consider getting a copy. His section on “Rules of Conversation” is priceless.]
1754 Birthday of Milly Pitcher (who carried water to artillerymen at the Battle of Monmouth)
1775 Birthday of the U.S. Navy
1854 Abraham Lincoln gave his first major political address in Peoria. [Food for thought: “How does it play in Peoria?”]
1890 Founding of the D.A. R. (Daughters of the American Revolution)
1890 Birthday of Dwight D. Eisenhower
1908 Birthday of John Kenneth Galbraith: “Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.”
1917 Birthday of Lions International … crossing geographical borders with civic contributions
1960 Premier of the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev, spoke at the United Nations - summing his various opinions by banging his shoe on the desk. [And, yes, I’m old enough to say: I saw it on TV when it happened. What an image!]