🌟 Editor's Note
Good morning — it’s Friday, February 13. Today we’re diving into Baghdad's fall, James Lancaster's first voyage, Galileo's trial, Switzerland's neutrality, Dresden bombing—plus so much more!
It's going to be a fast-paced adventure filled with sharp insights and riveting tales!
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🚀 Time Machine
-1258
Baghdad fell to the Mongols, destroying the Abbasid Caliphate and ending the Islamic Golden Age with tens of thousands killed.
-1601
James Lancaster leads the “Red Dragon” of the British East India Company on their first voyage, lasting nearly 16 months.
-1633
Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome to face charges of heresy for promoting Copernican theory, which holds that Earth revolves around the Sun.
-1689
The Parliament of England adopts the Bill of Rights, establishing Parliament's rights and placing limits on the Crown.
-1866
Jesse James robbed his first bank, stealing $15,000 from the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri.
-1920
After World War I, the League of Nations recognized Switzerland's neutrality.
-1923
New York Renaissance, the first all-Black basketball team, was organized.
-1942
Operation Sea Lion, Germany's invasion of England, was canceled by Adolf Hitler.
-1945
Soviet forces captured Budapest after a 50-day battle with Nazi Germany that killed 159,000 people.
-1960
France becomes the fourth nuclear nation with the detonation of a 70-kiloton atomic bomb in the Algerian Sahara Desert.
-1998
Hermann Maier makes one of the most dramatic crashes: 30 feet in the air, he lands on his helmet and rams through two safety fences at 80 miles per hour.
📸 Snapshot
Marilyn Monroe visiting injured troops in Japan. This guy had a broken back, but it didn't stop Marilyn, 1954
🗨️ Last Words
“What news from Boston?”