And now for something completely different...
Here's your official break from current news... a journey back in time.
The text immediately after each date is from this link.
1865:
Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Va. Marks end of Civil War, U.S. total of over 500,000 dead.
And what did Lee have to say?
"It would be useless and therefore cruel," Robert E. Lee remarked on the morning of April 9, 1865, "to provoke the further effusion of blood, and I have arranged to meet with General Grant with a view to surrender."
(from E.B. Long with Barbara Long, The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac, 1861-1865, (1971; reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 670.
There's much, much more Civil War history, including pictures, at the Library of Congress American Memory site.
And, there's more history below the fold.
1866:
Congress passes "Civil Rights Bills" -- over the veto of Pres. Andrew Jackson Johnson -- guaranteeing the same civil rights to all persons born in the U.S.
[The site had "Jackson" - definitely a typo!]
Johnson was eventually impeached.
There's more on the Civil Rights Act of 1866 here, including the text of the Act.
1928:
Birth of the 20th century's greatest living American classical composer, arranger, musician, singer: Tom Lehrer.
Check out the Wikipedia entry on Tom Lehrer, which includes a link to his song lyrics, one of which is particularly timely.
The Vatican Rag (inspired by the Vatican II coucil in 1965):
First you get down on your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!
Do whatever steps you want if
You have cleared them with the Pontiff.
Everybody say his own
Kyrie eleison,
Doin' the Vatican Rag.
Get in line in that processional,
Step into that small confessional.
There the guy who's got religion'll
Tell you if your sin's original.
If it is, try playin' it safer,
Drink the wine and chew the wafer,
Two, four, six, eight,
Time to transubstantiate!
So get down upon your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!
Make a cross on your abdomen,
When in Rome do like a Roman;
Ave Maria,
Gee, it's good to see ya.
Gettin' ecstatic an' sorta dramatic an'
Doin' the Vatican Rag!
1969:
Harvard students take over the campus administration building, ousting the deans.
You can read more about the protest here. Did any Kossacks participate? How about protests at other campuses in the 1960s? Tell us all about it.
The BBC News website also has an "on this day" collection. Check it out.
Add your own stories about "this day in history". Birthdays count too.
