7-18-12: Today in History

[Rockntractor]

Lead Story
FDR nominated for unprecedented third term, 1940
American Revolution
Naval hero John Paul Jones dies in Paris, 1792
Automotive
Juan Manuel Fangio makes Formula One debut, 1948
Civil War
Assault of Battery Wagner and death of Robert Gould Shaw, 1863
Cold War
Charges of communists in the U.S. Army raised, 1945
Crime
Twenty-one people are shot to death at McDonald's, 1984
Disaster
Nero's Rome burns, 64
General Interest
Fire of Rome, 64
Hitler publishes Mein Kampf, 1925
Spanish Civil War breaks out, 1936
Incident on Chappaquiddick Island, 1969
Video of Titanic wreckage released, 1986
Hollywood
The Dark Knight opens with highest-grossing weekend, 2008
Literary
Hunter S. Thompson is born, 1929
Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father" is published, 1995
Music
Fifteen-year-old Brenda Lee earns a #1 hit with "I'm Sorry", 1960
Old West
Singing Wobbly Joe Hill sentenced to death, 1914
Presidential
Truman signs second Presidential Succession Act, 1947
Congress preserves birthplace and property of Theodore Roosevelt, 1962
Sports
David Cone pitches perfect game, 1999
Vietnam War
Soviet Union agrees to grant Hanoi economic aid, 1955
Johnson meets Thieu in Honolulu, 1968
World War I
Allies begin major counter-offensive in Second Battle of the Marne, 1918
World War II
Mein Kampf is published, 1925

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

[Starbuck]

The story of Rome's fire is one of my pet peeves.

Famously, nearly everyone believes that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, while history clearly shows he did no such thing.

In the first place Nero was not in Rome when the fire started. He was off elsewhere and rushed back to help. And he did help. Several people were saved or assisted and did not realize their assistant was the Emperor Nero until after the fact.

And in the second place the violin, or fiddle, had not been invented yet. It was not invented until about 1550, whereas the Roman conflagration occurred in 64 AD. So there.

I have no idea why, but you cannot stop a rumor with a fact. Nero will always fiddle while Rome burns, George Washington will always have wooden teeth, and FDR will always be a great President.
Makes me crazy.:blue:

[Retread]

1916 - Horace S. Carswell, Jr. was born in Fort Worth, TX. In 1946 he was awarded a Medal of Honor for giving "his life...to save all members of his crew" and for "sacrifice far beyond that required of him" on October 26, 1944. In 1946 Fort Worth Army Airfield was renamed Carswell Air Force Base.

1917 - Camp Bowie was established near present-day downtown Fort Worth. It was named for the Alamo hero Jim Bowie, the camp served as an army base in WWI.

1918 - Daniel R. Edwards from Mooresville, TX, earned a Medal of Honor. After undergoing treatment for had wounds including a shattered arm he crawled alone into an enemy trench. In the trench he killed four, took for prisoners and suffered a shattered leg from an enemy shell.

1919 - In Longview, martial law was lifted. Governor William Hobby had imposed martial law on July 11 after a series of events lead him to order Texas Rangers and National Guard troops to the area.

1936 - The Fort Worth Frontier Centennial Exposition opened. It closed on November 14.

1988 - In Atlanta, GA, Texas Treasurer Ann Richards delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.

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And more of history's lies:
Lincoln the great emancipator
The war between the states was about slavery
War was the only way to end slavery
etc.