COMING SOON: PATTON II "With twice the soldier-slapping"

On this day in 1863, 77,000 Union soldiers under Ulysses S. Grant lay siege to Vicksburg on the east bank of the Mississippi. The city holds out for 47 days. Its loss will cut the the Confederate states in two and doom the Southern rebellion.

On this day in 1917, the Selective Service Act comes into force authorizing the federal government to conscript a national army for use in the war against Germany. Nearly five million Americans will serve in uniform before the 1918 Armistice.

On this day in 1291, the Crusader held fortress city of Acre falls to the Mamluks. With it goes the last stronghold of the 200-year-old Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem.

On this day in 1803, Great Britain suspends the year-old Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France. The short-lived peace represents the only break in hostilities between the two powers from 1793 to 1814.

On this day in 1944, the fortified hilltop abbey of Monte Cassino falls to the Allies. It takes four bloody assaults over 123 days before the summit is finally captured leaving 55,000 Allied troops dead or wounded. German casualties are 20,000.

On this day in 1974, India detonates its first atom bomb, describing the test as a "peaceful nuclear explosion." The 8-kiloton blast is codenamed "Smiling Buddha."

Next, they'll want to know why there's a twirling thing on the front

On this day in 1988, Moscow begins pulling Soviet troops out of Afghanistan. The withdrawal comes after 3,064 days of war there that leaves as many as a million dead and reduces the country to ruins

Today in 1975, America fights its last pitched battle in South East Asia as U.S. Marines storm a Khmer Rouge outpost in Cambodia. The fighting, which leaves 41 Americans dead, takes place two full weeks after the fall of Saigon. Here's what happened: militaryhistorynow.com/2015/04/30/t...

Today in 1918, two soldiers of the U.S. Army's 369th Infantry Regiment (aka Harlem Hellfighters) fend off a German attack in the Argonne Forest. One of them, Henry Johnson, is wounded 21 times during the clash. They will be the first Americans to win France's Croix de Guerre.

On this day in 1955, the Soviet Union and seven Eastern European nations establish the Warsaw Pact. The move is seen as a response by Moscow to West Germany's admission into the NATO alliance just five days earlier.

On this day in 1940, Luftwaffe bombers flatten Rotterdam leaving more than 800 Dutch civilians dead. Britain condemns the raid and within 24 hours retaliates against targets inside Germany.

On this day in 1846, the United States declares war on Mexico after both countries raise armies to defend competing claims over Texas. The fighting continues for 649 days and ultimately nets the U.S. 529,000 square miles of new territory stretching from Colorado to California.

On this day in 1861, the United Kingdom declares its neutrality in the U.S. Civil War, although London stops short of recognizing the Confederacy as an independent nation. Britain will sell arms to both sides, including 900,000 Enfield Pattern 1853 muskets.

Today in 1862, 15 escaped slaves led by one Robert Smalls commandeer the Rebel steamboat CSS Planter and slip out of Charleston harbour. Smalls is awarded prize money for the vessel and goes on to serve with Union forces. After the war, he takes over his former master's house.

I'm actually surprised Trump isn't also changing the word 'GULF' to 'GOLF' 'Gulf of Mexico' becomes 'Golf of America'

On this day in 1429, Joan of Arc marches at the head of a French army to rescue the besieged city of Orleans. She is just 17 years old.

On this day in 1945, #VEDay celebrations in Halifax, Canada get out of control as 10,000 Allied sailors rampage through the city. More than 600 shops are looted and rioters make off with 16,000 gallons of booze and 8,000 cases of beer. Two die from alcohol poisoning.

The Battle of Texel – Inside the Deadly German Army Mutiny That Continued After VE-Day “The 45-day standoff, which did not end until two weeks after the war was over, is now remembered as the final battle of the Second World War in Europe.” militaryhistorynow.com/2020/05/17/t...

Today in 1915, a torpedo from the German submarine U-20 slams into the starboard hull of the RMS Lusitania roughly 11 miles off of Ireland's Old Head of Kinsale. The ocean liner sinks in 18 minutes. Nearly 1,200 perish, including 128 passengers from the neutral United States

On this day in 1945, the world wakes to news of Nazi Germany's "immediate, simultaneous and unconditional surrender on all fronts." The war in Europe is over. #VEDay80

On this day in 1954, the French outpost at Dien Bien Phu falls to communist Viet Minh forces after a 55-day siege. France's nine-year war to retain control of IndoChina is at its end.

A 1904 film of the USS Holland (SS-1), the U.S. Navy's first true submarine. The gasoline/electric powered boat carried three torpedos, had a range of 200 miles and could reach speeds of 6 knots. She could dive to 75 feet. The Holland was retired in 1905.

On this day in 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte, 51, dies in exile on the island of St. Helena. "France... Armée... Tête d'armée... Joséphine," he supposedly calls out in his final moments.

On this day in 1811, an Anglo-Portuguese army under Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) halts the French advance on Almeida at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro.

On this day in 1864, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant meet in battle for the first time as Union and Confederate armies collide in the Virginia Wilderness. The encounter touches off three days of intense fighting. Click below: militaryhistorynow.com/2021/04/21/t...

On this day in 1862, Mexican Republican forces defeat the French army at the Battle of Puebla. 120 years later, American advertisers will seize upon the anniversary to sell beer. 🤔 Happy #CincoDeMayo

On this day in 1945, six American civilians are killed when a Japanese balloon bomb explodes near Bly, Oregon. Although the strange weapons have been drifting into North American airspace for months, officials keep it a secret to prevent panic. Click below: militaryhistorynow.com/2013/05/23/d...

Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group (aka the "Tuskegee Airmen") show off their P-40 Warhawks at Oscoda Army Air Field before heading overseas.

A camera strapped to the chest of a U.S. Army paratrooper captures a training jump from the door of the plane all the way to the ground. March, 1944. (Note the smile on his face when the chute deploys.)

Shooting the Messenger — Meet the Journalist Who Was Fired for Breaking the Story of Germany’s Surrender “Allied commanders demanded the assembled newsies wait at least 36 hours before releasing the bombshell to the world.” militaryhistorynow.com/2025/05/04/s...

On this day in 1970, four are killed as Ohio National Guardsmen open fire into a crowd of anti-war protesters at Kent State University. "They were all on one knee and pointing their rifles at ... us," recalled one eyewitness. "Then they fired."

On this day in 1942, U.S. and Japanese fleets do battle in the Coral Sea. It's history's first clash between aircraft carriers.

Today in 1982, HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentine Exocet. The missile is reportedly a dud; it's the rocket's fuel that guts the ship. 20 are killed and several dozen are wounded.

On this day in 1814, a defeated Napoleon Bonaparte arrives on Elba to begin his exile. 289 days later, he'll escape and attempt to rebuild his shattered empire.

On this day in 1808, the French army crushes a rebellion in Madrid. The violence is commemorated in this Francisco Goya painting.

On this day in 1915, a Canadian army doctor by the name of John McCrae writes one of the best-known poems about the First World War during a lull in the fighting at Ypres. "In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row."

This famous shot of the Soviet flag being unfurled over Berlin on May 2, 1945 was photo-edited to remove what appeared to show wristwatches being worn on both arms of one soldier. Political leaders wanted to avoid the suggestion that Red Army troops were looters.

On this day in 1945, the Soviet Union announces that Berlin has fallen to the Red Army. The battle to capture the German capital lasted 17 days and generated nearly a million casualties, including more than 125,000 civilian dead.

On this day in 1982, the Royal Navy submarine HMS Conqueror torpedoes the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano in the South Atlantic. More than 320 perish in the attack.

On this day in 1863, Stonewall Jackson is mortally wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville. His own sentries mistake him for a Union officer in the darkness and open fire.

On this day in 1960, Francis Gary Powers’ U2 spy plane is shot down over the USSR. He'll spend 650 days as a prisoner in the Soviet Union.

On this day in 1862, Union forces occupy New Orleans. Lincoln appoints Benjamin Butler as military commander for the city. His harsh decrees, particularly those aimed at women who insult Federal troops, anger locals. Butler's likeness soon graces chamber pots across the Big Easy.

On this day in 1863, the Confederates outmaneuver and outfight a larger Union army at Chancellorsville, Virginia. Despite the loss of Stonewall Jackson to friendly fire, the three-day clash there will be remembered as Robert E. Lee's "perfect battle."

On this day in 2011, President Obama surprises the world with the announcement that U.S. forces have killed Osama bin Laden.