0066 - 5th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1340 - English king Edward III proclaimed king of France
1531 - Lisbon hit by Earthquake; about 30,000 die
1654 - Portuguese troops conquer last Dutch base on Recife
1666 - France declares war on England & Münster
1697 - Isaac Newton receives Jean Bernoulli's 6 month time-limit problem, solves problem before going to bed that same night
1699 - Venice, Poland & Austria sign peace treaty with Turkey
1736 - Stanislaw Lesczynski flees Polish throne
1748 - England, Netherlands, Austria & Sardinia sign anti-French treaty
1784 - Ben Franklin expresses unhappiness over the eagle as America's symbol (he wanted the turkey)
1788 - Captain Arthur Phillip forms English colony at Sydney, Botany Bay New South Wales as a penal colony
1797 - Russia, Prussia & Austria sign treaty
1802 - Congress passes an act calling for a US Capitol library
1837 - Michigan admitted as 26th US state
1838 - Tennessee becomes 1st state to prohibit alcohol
1841 - Hong Kong proclaimed a sovereign territory of Britain
1861 - Louisiana becomes 6th state to secede
1862 - Lincoln issues General War Order #1, calling for a Union offensive McClellan ignores order
1863 - War Department authorizes Massachusetts Governor to recruit black troops; 54th MA Regiment (Black) infantry forms
1870 - Virginia rejoins the US
1871 - US income tax repealed
1875 - Electric dental drill is patented by George F Green
1882 - France government of Gambetta falls
1885 - Muhammad Ahmed ("Mahdi") rebels conquer Khartoum
1886 - Karl Benz patents 1st auto with burning motor
1887 - Battle of Dogali Abyssinian Emperor John IV defeats Italians
1897 - Battle at Bida Gold Coast British troops beat Nupe's army
1905 - World's largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, is found in South Africa
1907 - 1st federal corrupt election practices law passed
1910 - Heavy rains cause floods in Paris
1911 - Glenn Curtiss pilots 1st successful hydroplane, San Diego CA
1913 - Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for being a pro
1915 - Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado established
1918 - US food administrator Hoover calls for "wheatless" & "meatless" days for war effort
1926 - Television 1st demonstrated (John L Baird, London)
1929 - Indian National Congress proclaims goal for India's independence
1930 - Cleveland's Terminal Tower opens (52 stories)
1931 - Hungary-Austria sign peace treaty
1932 - British submarine M-2 sinks in Channel (60 dead)
1934 - Nazi Germany & Poland sign non-attack treaty for 10 years
1939 - Federal Hall National Monument established; Franco conquers Barcelona
1940 - Nazis forbid Polish Jews to travel on trains
1942 - 1st US force in Europe during WWII goes ashore in Northern Ireland; Italian supreme command demands dismissal of German marshal Rommel
1945 - Soviet forces reach Auschwitz concentration camp
1947 - KLM Dakota crashes near Copenhagen, 22 die
1948 - Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in US Armed Forces signed
1954 - Ground breaking begins on Disneyland
1956 - 7th Winter Olympic games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy; Porkkala military base returned to Finland by USSR
1957 - Dutch PSP, Pacifist Socialistic Party, forms; India annexes Kashmir
1958 - H Laskow replaces Moshe Dayan as Israeli minister of Defense
1959 - Italy government of Fanfani resigns
1961 - 1st woman "personal physician to President"-JG Travell
1962 - US launches Ranger 3, misses Moon by 22,000-mile (37,000-km); Canadian Marine Service renamed Coast Guard
1965 - South Vietnam military coup under General Nguyen Khanh
1967 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1968 - Israeli submarine Dakar crashes in Mediterranean Sea, 69 die
1971 - Dutch 2nd Chamber accept law against limitation of war crimes
1972 - Stewardess Vesna Vulovic survives 10,160m fall without parachute
1973 - Belgium government of Leburton forms
1976 - Israel opens "Good Fence" to Lebanon
1976 - Belgium - catholic elite start amnesty campaign for war criminals
1978 - International Ultraviolet Explorer placed in Earth orbit; Mario Soares forms Portuguese government; Strikers riot in Tunisia, killing about 40
1980 - Israel & Egypt establish diplomatic relations
1982 - Mauno Koivisto elected President of Finland
1983 - Dutch/British infrared satellite IRAS launched from California
1984 - US Navy exhibits Piasecki helistat-4 helicopters & a blimp able to lift 26 tons, in Lakehurst, New Jersey
1986 - Yoweri Museveni's rebel army conquerors Kampala Uganda
1989 - US computer security expert warns of catastrophic virus
1990 - Annular eclipse visible over Antarctica & South Atlantic
1991 - Alfaro Vive guerrilla group of Ecuador gives arms to Catholic church
1992 - Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect
1998 - Intel launches 333 MHz Pentium II chip; President Clinton says "I want to say one thing to the American people, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky"

Birthdays
1667 - Henricus Zwaardecroon Governor-General of Netherland-Indies
1716 - George Sackville Germain 1st Viscount Sackville
1763 - Charles XIV French marshall, king of Sweden & Norway (1818-44)
1770 - Alexander Carlyle Moderator of General Assembly
1771 - Jacob Andries van Braam colonial director (Suriname)
1814 - Rufus King Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1876
1816 - Lloyd Tilghman Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1826 - Julia Dent Grant 1st lady (1869-77)
1852 - Pierre Brazza explorer/colonial administrator (French Africa)
1880 - Douglas MacArthur Little Rock AR, General of the Army (WWII), he did return!
1886 - Joannes A Veraart Dutch economist/MP (Jews of the Netherlands)
1887 - Enrique E Ecker Curaçao, bacteriologist; Marc A "Pete" Mitscher US Lieutenant-Admiral (WWII-Task Force 58)
1893 - Bessie Coleman 1st black airplane pilot
1902 - Laurence "Bill" Craigie jet pioneer
1904 - Sean MacBride Dublin Ireland, statesman/Amnesty International co-founder (Nobel '74)
1905 - Maria Augusta von Trapp Austria, singer, inspired "Sound of Music"; Marquess of Bath English large landowner/multi-millionaire
1911 - Polykarp Kusch US, nuclear physicist Nobel 1955
1925 - Desmond Cassidi British admiral
1927 - José Simón Azcona Hoyo President of Honduras (1986-90)
1928 - Gene Snyder (Representative-R-KY, 1963-65, 67- )
1937 - Gerrit Gerritse Dutch MP (CDA); Joseph Saidu Momoh General/President (Sierra Leone)
1943 - Sherian Grace Cadoria Brigadier General
1952 - Mario Runco Jr Bronx NY, Lieutenant-Commander USN/astronaut (STS 44, 54, 77)
1953 - Andrée C van Es Dutch MP (PSP)
1997 - Pasaye Twins (Palatine, IL), twin born 92 days after his brother (Oct 26)

Passings
1109 - Albericus of Cîteaux, French saint
1850 - Francis Jeffrey Baron Jeffrey, judge/literary critic
1885 - Charles George Gordon, British Governor-General, executed (slain with troops by Sudanese in Khartoum) at 51
1891 - Nicholaus Otto, auto pioneer (internal combustion engine)
1893 - Abner Doubleday, credited with inventing baseball, on 74th birthday
1904 - John P. R. Tak, Dutch liberal politician, at 64
1911 - Charles Wentworth Dilke, English undersecretary of State, at 67
1920 - Matthias Enzberger, German minister of finance, murdered
1939 - Armand Calinescu, Romania's PM, assassinated by the iron guard
1943 - Nikolai Vavilov, geneticist, in the Saratovv labour camp
1947 - Gustav Adolf, crown prince of Sweden, in air crash
1962 - Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Mafia gangster, at 65
1965 - Ali Mansoer, premier of Persia, murdered
1979 - Nelson Rockefeller, former Vice President & 4 time Governor of NY, at 70
1983 - Paul "Bear" Bryant, college football coach, in Alabama at 69
1990 - FHP "Boy" Trip, Dutch minister
1993 - Axel Von Dem Bussche, German aristocrat; Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (helped Anne Frank), at 87
1995 - Bernardo Leighton, Chilean politician (1964-70)
1997 - Margaret Hesse, princess of Hesse/the Rhine, at 83

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Grubb, Wilmer N., USAF (PA); RF101C shot down, KIC - remains returned March, 1974

1967
Morgan, Thomas Raymond, USAF (OH); F100D shot down - remains ID'd July, 1997

1968
Dunn, Michael E., USN (IL); A6A disappeared inbound from mission (pilot, w/Eidsmoe) - remains returned December, 1999

Eidsmoe, Norman E., USN (SD); A6A disappeared inbound from mission (w/Dunn) - remains returned December, 1999

1969
Singleton, Daniel L., USAF (OH); F4E shot down (pilot w/Utley)

Utley, Russel K., USAF (CA); F4E shot down (EWO, w/Singleton)

1971
Carter, Gerald Lynn, USN (OR); A4F shot down - KIA/BNR

If you agree with this:

Yesterday General Petraeus testified that the Biden/Warner resolutions and those like them encourage the enemy.

What does it mean, "to encourage the enemy?"

It means that the enemy gathers will and strength from the prospect of a collapsing political will to seek victory in Iraq and stability in the region.

With that additional strength and will the enemy redoubles and retriples efforts to kill American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

In short, it means that more Americans will die.

If there is ever an issue for which a filibuster is obviously called, it is such a resolution, especially in the aftermath of such testimony.

Either the Republicans believe General Petraeus, or they don't. These are not a "non-binding" resolutions in the sense that they have no consequences. Either of them will have terrible consequences.


Then you need to read and sign this.

From Hugh Hewitt, via Sparks from the Anvil, A Soldier's Perspective, and Brat at Tanker Brothers

Life at Thule
THULE AIR BASE, Greenland (AFNEWS) -- Landing on a snow-packed winter runway 700 miles north of the Arctic Circle can be a harrowing experience for anyone who journeys here. Snow-blinding winds howling in excess of 50-miles-per-hour, temperatures plunging below zero, and 24-hours-a-day without sunshine are commonplace and make it unlike nearly anywhere on Earth.
More

Sgt. 1st Class Pamela Owens, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, plays with her eye protection while she performs a skit at the 215th BSB Fashion Show, Jan. 20 at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Baqubah, Iraq. The event was held “to have some fun and boost morale,” she said. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ryan Stroud, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SR# 012407-01
Jan. 24, 2007


By Spc. Ryan Stroud
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

BAQUBAH, Iraq (Jan. 20) -- Saturday nights used to be the night for many Soldiers to get dressed up and head out for a night on the town. Since the Soldiers of the 3rd “Grey Wolf” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, are deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 06-08, those nights are temporarily over for the Soldiers – or so they thought.
Soldiers from the 215th Brigade Support Battalion put together a night of “wild” fashion to entertain the rest of the units stationed at Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Jan. 20.
Members of Grey Wolf pilled into Faulkenburg Theater for a night of laughs as Soldiers “strutted their stuff” and competed in different fashion categories.

“We had a fashion show to have some fun and boost morale,” said Sgt. 1st Class Pamela Owens, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 215th BSB.

“The show was to give the Soldiers something different to do after work and to raise morale,” added Sgt. Jacob Taylor, HHC, 215th BSB, and a native of Silver Spring, Md.

“Some of the categories the Soldiers competed in were most outrageous uniform, worst standards, and most athletic,” said Owens, a Worcester, Mass. native.

The Soldiers participating in the show grouped together many different forms of their uniform to create many outlandish costumes and accessories, Owens said.

Soldiers mixed their physical training uniforms with their Army Combat Uniforms and created different ensembles to entertain the crowd of people. Many of the performers also put on small skits to add to the show, while others danced to keep the crowds attention.

“The whole event was crazy!” said Spc. Kisha Mathurin, HHC, 215th BSB, and a native of Long Island, N.Y. “[The event] was a way to show that even though we are in Iraq, we can still have some fun.”

“It was a good change of pace,” said Sgt. Glenn Roberts, HHC, 215th BSB, and a native of Chicago. “It showed some outrageous ways Soldiers could express themselves with their uniforms and outfits, and to just have fun with it.”

Owens, who performed a skit that was inspired from her time as a drill sergeant, was impressed by the how well received the show was.

“I liked the fact that the show was given to the Soldiers to run,” she said. “I, as a [non-commissioned officer], didn’t have anything to do to with the planning or the organization of the show. The Soldiers did everything and did a great job with the entire event.”

“I do hope many more events like this happen,” Owens added. “It really is good for boosting morale.”

As the show came to a close, it was determined that the HHC, 215th Soldiers were the winners of the contest. For the Soldiers, it was a fun and proud moment.

“We worked hard and had a good time with this,” said Mathurin. “I do hope everyone had a good time and the Soldiers enjoyed themselves.”

“It was a great turnout and the Soldiers seemed to really enjoy it,” Taylor added. “I think it really went well.”

Though Soldiers will never be aloud to express their true styles of fashion during the work day, Mathurin hoped the show would let the Soldiers know that they can still look good, even with a uniform on.

“Even if we are in ACUs, we can still be a little fashionable,” she said. “You can make anything look good with a little imagination.”


Sgt. 1st Class Pamela Owens, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, throws magazines on the ground instead of magazines for her weapon during her skit at the 215th BSB Fashion Show, Jan. 20 at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Baqubah, Iraq. Owens was acting like an un-motivated Soldier on her way to guard duty. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ryan Stroud, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)


Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, laugh at the performances during the 215th Brigade Support Battalion Fashion Show, Jan. 20 at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Baqubah, Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ryan Stroud, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)


Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, dance for the Soldiers in attendance during the 215th BSB Fashion Show, Jan. 20 at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Baqubah, Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ryan Stroud, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)

Norfolk, Va. (Jan. 24, 2007) - Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class Bryan Wedding, assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Two Six (HSC-26), hoists two Sailors into an MH-60S helicopter while simulating search and rescue (SAR) operations in Willoughby Bay. HSC-26 SAR swimmers conduct simulated rescue missions annually to keep current on qualifications and remain proficient in their job. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Karsten

The mission was to begin after dark. My gear was ready to go, but during the pre-combat lull, I wanted to make a final adjustment to the “dummy cord” on my night-vision monocular. Soldiers tie important gear and weapons to their bodies: anything not tied eventually falls off, flies off, splashes into a river, or is forgotten somewhere after a few days of sleep deprivation. The dummy cord to my night-vision monocular seemed unsure, and there was enough time, so I walked to the nearest light by some trailers where soldiers from the 2/7 Cavalry rest their heads and dry boots...

Don't miss this one.

Fort Jackson Officer Helps Stranger Live Another Day
Photo by Courtesy
January 25, 2007
Lt. Col. Martha Foss, Fort Jackson deputy staff judge advocate, undergoes her part of the week-long bone marrow donation procedure at Greenebaum Cancer Center in Baltimore, Md., in November 2006.

Related:
Fort Jackson Officer Helps Stranger Live Another Day

Capt. Mitchell Gronewold, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, native to Muscatine, Iowa, gives a speech in front of the “Gauthreaux Internet Café” at Forward Operating Base, Baqubah, Iraq, before officially opening it. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ben Fox, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SR# 012307-02
Jan. 23, 2007


By Pfc. Ben Fox
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division


BAQUBAH, Iraq (Jan. 23, 2007) –Circled in front of a small building beside the movie theater on Forward Operating Base Warhorse was a small group of Soldiers, waiting to honor their fallen friend.

“Gauthreaux Internet Café” reads the top of the sign above the entrance to the small building. Inside, computers line two walls on either side, and above those computers are pictures that bring to life the memory of a fallen Soldier.

Sgt. Jay Gauthreaux, the fallen Soldier who is honored with the café, was killed in action Dec. 4 in Baqubah, Iraq.

Just inside the building on the wall to the right, is a letter from Gauthreaux’s mother, Faye Crawford. In the letter, she shares encouraging thoughts about Gauthreaux and what he lived and died for.

“Some people would think that a mother would be bitter that her son was killed… but she was actually the opposite of that,” said Sgt. 1st Class Mark Lee, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.

“She was very proud that her son was here, doing what he loved to do,” said the Zanesville, Ohio native.

Sgt. James Redick, native to Asuncion, Paraguay, said it is often hard for family members to cope with their children dying.

“I know it is hard for them to understand when we go, but it is our decision that we are in the Army,” said Redick.

Lee explained that the café was a way for others to know Gauthreaux the way his friends did.
“I think it was important that we leave some kind of memorial behind so that… people can know a little bit more about him and see what kind of person he was,” said Lee.

“When we dedicate a building, it is something that stays on so that people can know about him,” said Redick. “Especially how we felt about (him).”

The internet café was chosen as a memorial to Gauthreaux, known by his friends as “G,” because of the job he had in the Army, said Lee.

“Since G belonged to the brigade (communications shop), we thought it would be appropriate to have something communications related,” he said.

The building was an internet café before it was named and re-opened, but it wasn’t in very good shape, said Lee.

“When we first took this place over, it was in pretty bad shape,” Lee said. “You just walked in and it felt dirty.”

All of the old wood was stripped out, and they were issued new computers, he said.
With the games and books that people can use while they are waiting on computer access, the room was meant to be a comfortable place, said Lee.

“We also want it to be a fun place; somewhere Soldiers can gather and be together,” said Lee. “People can come and relax in an environment where they don’t have to worry about work or their mission.”

When the ceremony was over, the café was opened for Soldiers to relax and enjoy the memory of Sgt. Jay Gauthreaux.


Sgt. 1st Class Spencer Winn, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, a native of Beaumont, Texas, reads a note from Faye Crawford, the mother of Sgt. Jay Gauthreaux, who was killed in action Dec. 4. The note is hung in the “Gauthreaux Internet Café” at Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Baqubah, Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ben Fox, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)


During the opening ceremony for the “Gauthreaux Internet Café,” Sgt. Kristen Vulich, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, a native of Estherville, Iowa, cuts a cake with the words “In Honor and Memory of Sgt. Jay Gauthreaux” on it at Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Baqubah, Iraq. Gauthreaux was killed in action Dec. 4 in Baqubah. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ben Fox, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)

LITTLE SHEPHERD — An Afghan boy brings his animals to be vaccinated and dewormed during a veterinarian civic action program conducted by Combined Joint Task Force 76 in Panjshir, Afghanistan, Jan. 17, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman