History On This Day

1775  The US Army was born. (I'm kinda torn about this but I sure do support our troops!)

1777  The Continental Congress (in Philadelphia, yea!) adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag.

1811  Harriet Beecher Stowe was born. And lived to write "Uncle Tom's Cabin." (Not sure how I feel about that).

1846   California was born. (If they'd only known how many bozos behaving badly and how much bullsh*t would follow).

1922   Warren G. Harding became the first president heard on radio. (I wasn't born yet so I didn't hear him. But I've been told he was boring).

1928   The Republican National Convention nominated Herbert Hoover for president. (Ditto and ditto. Hello to the Great Depression).

1940   The Nazis opened the concentration camp Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland. (Extremely sorry for this association but will use it to remind us all: Never Again!)

1943   The Supreme Court ruled school children could not be compelled to salute the flag of the United States if doing so would conflict with their religious beliefs. (Seriously? I still wasn't born yet, but controversy sure was alive between Church and State).

1954   President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an order adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. (Okay, I was born by then and believe me, I would I have pointed out that hypocritical 'HUH?' if I'd understood irony).

1982   Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands. (Right, George HW Bush's Great War Victory ::gag::).

2002   American Roman Catholic bishops adopted a policy to bar sexually abusive clergy from face-to-face contact with parishioners but keep them in the priesthood. (Don't EVEN get me started on this one. I am totally nauseated to share a day with a doctrine supporting the worst, most venal hypocrites on the earth).

2007   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared an emergency after the Hamas militant group effectively took control of the Gaza Strip. (Correction: two of the worst hypocrites...)

2009   Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson broke Red Auerbach's record by winning his 10th NBA title. (Okay, great, but he's no LeBron... Am I right?)

And finally, out of chronological order because I needed to dig deep, take some cleansing breaths and digest my lunch first...

1946   Real Estate Mogul, TV Personality, Former Would-Be Presidential Candidate and America's Biggest Asshat Donald Trump was born. (Insert your own snide comment here).

History was pretty much a big mess on this day. I can let that slide while hoping to learn from the worst of it.

Still...

Not. Donald. Trump. He might be older and richer, but he can get the hell out of my day. I'm only celebrating ME on my own birthday today, Flag Day, June 14, 2011.

Source: The New York Times On This Day