On This Date in History...

Sometimes you wake up on a day like yesterday, and--unless it was your birthday or something--you probably thought, "Nothing very important ever really happened on July 10."  I mean, it's not like June 6 (D-Day), or July 4 (Independence Day), or December 7 (Pearl Harbor Day), or February 14 (Valentine's Day).  Would you like me to go on listing other important/noteworthy dates for you?  No?  Okay then, let's just say that July 10 is a random, mundane, ordinary date, with little or no significance tied to it...right?

But on any given date in history, the most amazing things have happened.  I went on a website called Hisdate.com this morning to see if I could get any inspiration for a blog topic, and I was surprised to see some of the world-changing events that have taken place over the centuries on July 10.  Here is a sampling of them:


1040: Lady Godiva rode naked on horseback to force her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes.  (Do you think that would work in our current political climate?  And did you know that Lady Godiva wasn't just a character from a fairy tale, or merely the inspiration for some seriously delicious chocolate treats?)


1212: The most severe of several early fires in London burns most of the city to the ground.  (Is this where the song "London Bridge is Falling Down" came from?)


1692: The first Salem "witch," Bridget Bishop, was hanged.


1797: The first U.S. frigate, the "United States," was launched in Philadelphia.  (Dad, this one's for you; GO NAVY!)


1892: The first concrete paved street was completed in Bellefountaine, Ohio.


1914: The Red Sox purchased Babe Ruth from the Baltimore Orioles. (This was wicked GOOD.  When Ruth went to the Yankees, that was wicked BAD.)

1938: The "Yankee Clipper" completed the first passenger flight across the Atlantic.  (A world-changing event that made my husband's future career as an airline pilot a possibility!)

1940: The Battle of Britain began when Nazi forces attacked by air. 


1949: The first practical rectangular T.V. tube was announced in Toledo, Ohio.  (Woo hoo!  Yay for T.V.!  This historic date is sure to be celebrated by one of my sisters-in-law, who has seven T.V.'s in her house!)


I could keep going, but I think you get my point.  And now I have to sign off, because I have some things to do. I'm going to drive over to the store on the smoothly paved roads of my little city and grab some Godiva chocolates.  When I get home, I'm going to sit around eating bon-bons while I channel surf to see what's on the tube.*  And none of this would be possible if it weren't for July 10!

*Not really!