TODAY IN HISTORY:

WEDNESDAY: AUGUST 1:

1291: The Swiss Cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden form the alliance known as the Swiss Confederation to defend themselves against Hapsburg expansion. Later to lead to the nation of Switzerland whose history gives the lie to the statist idea that direct democracy, neutrality and decentralization are impossible. This day is celebrated as either Confederation Day or National Day in Switzerland.

1498: "There goes the neighbourhood": Christopher Columbus sets foot on the American mainland for the first time today at the Paria Peninsula in present day Venezuela. Mistakes it for an island and calls it Isla Santa. The Holy Island becomes less so over the next few centuries as imperial Europe expands and exterminates.

1758: "I told you so". The consequence of the above event. First Indian reservation in North America established by the New Jersey Colonial Assembly.

1774: English minster and scientific investigator Joseph Priestly discovers oxygen.

1790: "Count me out". The first US census is completed. It shows a population of 3,939,326, and the state of Virginia is the most populous. Descendants of native Americans consider the meaning of the word "oops"(see 1498 and 1758).

1831: The new London Bridge is opened by King William IV and Queen Adelaide. Later sold, disassembled and reassembled in Arizona. One can only hope that it falls down. Too wierd !

1834: The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Abolition Act declaring slavery illegal throughout the British Empire (except of course for prisoners, debtors, wage slaves, Irish tenants, etc.- took a few more years for most of these. Presently under attack in the attempt at recinding it under the heading of "workfare"). Followed on the abolition of the slave trade in 1772.

1914: WWI: The Guns of August: Germany and Russia declare war on each other today, France orders general mobilization, German armies cross into Luxembourg. All in defense of civilization of course.

1917: IWW organizer Frank Little lynched in Butte Montana.

1920: Opening of Marcus Garvey's 'Universal Negro Improvement Association' in Harlem NYC.

1932: The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) formed in Calgary, Alberta today. Starts off with high socialist principles and rolls downhill all the way.

1939: Glenn Miller records 'In the Mood'.

1941: The Willy's Truck Company (no connection to Wiley Coyote) produces a "fast all-terrain vehicle" that can be built in 49 days. Nicknamed the "Jeep". So...Wiley actually is the father of "Jeep, Jeep the Roadrunner". What a Hollywood scandal if it every becomes known beyond Molly's Blog.

1943: Groundbreaking ceremony at Oak Ridge, TN where the first U-235 production for America's atom bomb production takes place.

1944: Last entry in the diary of Anne Frank. Also the Red Army reaches the outskirts of Warsaw prompting the rising of the population of that city. Under Stalin's orders the soviet Army halts its advance, picks its collective noses (the Peoples' Noses-Comrade) and gets drunk daily while the Nazis deal with the Poles in detail. Those under the "illusion" that you should never trust a communist see this as Stalin's way of letting the Germans deal with his potential opposition in the Polish underground. Standing proof that commies don't actually have to do anything to be sneaky. Not doing something can be equally effective at times.

1953: Salk polio vaccine becomes available in the USA. Incidence of Polio (which Molly had as a child) declines rapidly. Health nuts and various conspiracy theorists are set back for 10 years.

1972: First article published in the Washington Post exposing the Watergate Scandal.

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You:

10 BC: Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) born.

1744: Jean Baptiste de Lamarck born. Probably from acquired parents.

1779: Francis Scott Key, author of the 'Star Spangled Banner' born. Song composed in memory of the first US defeat when Canada and Britain defeat American expansionism and even burn Washington (early civic renewal ?). USA not to be defeated again until the Korean stalemate. First and ONLY time when Canada was ever directly threatened by a foreign power (unless you include subsequent American threats around border disputes).

1819: Author Herman Melville born. Has a whale of a good time. Never invades Canada despite the symbol of the Great White Whale.

1843: The oddities of history dept: Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, born. later rescued from a train accident by Edwin Booth, the brother of John Wilkes Booth who assassinated his father.

1875: Birth of French anarchist Francois-Henri Jolivet, poet, pacifist and anarchist performer. Died 1955. also birth of another French anarchist, Pierre Mualdes. Real name Pierre-Louis Beauchet. Principle editor of the anarchist publication 'Libertaire' during the 1920. Wrote for many other anarchist publications.

1897: French anarchist Andre Daunis born in the south of France. Often presented himself as an "anarchist candidate" for elections, being careful to always withdraw before election day.

1907: Birth of Italian anarchist Angelo Sbardellotto who later tried to assassinate Mussolini. Executed by the fascists in 1932 for his attempt. Possible inspiration for Lena Wertmueller's film 'Love and Anarchy'.

1919: birth of Bulgarian anarchist Alexander Metodiev nakov, peasant, miner and anarchist militant. Created the resistance group 'Elisee Reclus' in 1944. Arrested in 1948 along with 600 other anarchists (did Molly say something about never trusting commies earlier ?) in 1948 and sentenced to a concentration camp. Released in 1953 without recanting his principles. Under severe police surveillance until his death.