On 09-09-1776, the Continental Congress named their domain "The United States of America". Simple and descriptive, they were a union of separate states, which were localed in America. At that time, I suspect, North America and South America hadn't come into their own as separate continents, and the entire "new world" was simply referred to as America. As far as I know, there was no other "United States", though there was at least one "United Provinces", so "America" was somewhat superflous until "The United States of Mexico" came along. Of course, USofA people mostly refer to 'Los Estados Unidos de Mexico" as simply "Mexico". Similarly, they mostly refer to the USofA as simply "Merrikuh"; so, though still arguably superflous, it has become our name. That's pretty ironic, since we are no longer a union of states located in America and haven't been since August 21, 1959. Ah well.

Throughout history certain battles are generally regarded as having seriously altered the course of history. One such occurred on September 9th in what is now Germany. On September 8 through September 11, 9 (CE), an alliance of Germanic tribes under the leadership of Arminius utterly and completely annihilated three Roman Legions, six cohorts of Roman auxiliaries, and three squadrons of Roman cavalry under the leadership of one Publius Quinctilius Varus (yes, that damn Varus). As near as I can tell, the principal ambush and massacre happened on September 9, with a skirmish on the 8th diverting the Romans into a trap, and the 10th and 11th devoted to pursuit and mopping-up. For the record, that damn Varus was a truly horrible piece of work and thoroughly merited such a fate. Even though their eagles were eventually recovered, two of the lost legions (Legio XVII and Legio XIX) were never reconstituted. Legio XVIII was briefly reconstituted under Nero, but later disbanded. This is generally regarded as Rome's greatest military defeat. Following their victory, the Germans then made a complete sweep of all Roman forts, towns and garrisons east of the Rhine and constituted a serious threat to cross the Rhine and invade "Gaul". The continuous steady expansion of the Roman Empire was stopped cold in the Region, and Rome never again attempted to conquer, hold, and rule German territory east of the Rhine outside of Mainz, which was established on the eastern bank of the Rhine some 80 years later.

On this day in history:

In 9 CE Varus and his legions were annihilated at Teutoburger Wald.

In 1493 Columbus, with 17 ships and 1,200 men, left Cadiz on his second voyage

In 1739 the largest slave uprising in Britain's North American colonies erupted near Charleston, South Carolina.

In 1776 the Continental Congress officially named its domain the United States.

In 1791 the capital of the USofA was named after President George Washington.

In 1839 polymath John Herschel took the first glass plate photograph.

In 1850 California was admitted as the thirty-first U.S. state.

In 1863 The US' Union Army entered Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In 1892 Jupiter's third moon, Amalthea, was discovered.

In 1923 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, founded the Republican People's Party of Turkey.

In 1940 George Stiblitz became the first to operate a computer remotely. operating a Bell Labs Computer in New York from a modified teletype at Dartmouth College. ATDT, and all that.

1945 – The Empire of Japan formally surrendered to China.

In 1956, Elvis made his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. Some were shocked, some were thrilled, some watched something else and some were reading or having sex, or something.

In 1965 the US Department of Housing and Urban Development was established.

In 1966 the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was signed into law by LBJ.

In 1971 the Attica Prison Riot began

In 2016 the government of North Korea conducted its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemned the act, but the DPRK hasn't been invaded

Some people who were born on this day:

Even in the valley of the shadow of death, two and two do not make six.

~~ Leo Tolstoy

1585 – Cardinal Richelieu, politician, eminence grise, all around sob cardinal
1629 – Cornelius Tromp, Dutch general/admiral, well worth reading about, unless you're an anglophile
1737 – Luigi Galvani, electrifying physician and physicist
1754 – William Bligh, admiral, extremely skilled small boat sailor and navigator, asshole extraordinaire
1828 – Leo Tolstoy, author and playwright
1868 – Mary Hunter Austin, author, poet, and critic
1876 – Frank Chance, victim of poetry or doggerel as the case may be, friend of Tinker and Evers
1894 – Arthur Freed, composer and producer
1927 – Elvin Jones, drummer and bandleader
1934 – Sonia Sanchez, poet, playwright, and activist
1935 – Chaim Topol, actor, singer, and producer
1940 – Joe Negroni, doo-wop singer
1941 – Otis Redding, singer, songwriter, and producer
1941 – Dennis Ritchie, computer scientist, created the C programming language
1942 – Inez Foxx, singer
1942 – Danny Kalb, singer and guitarist
1945 – Dee Dee Sharp, singer
1945 – Doug Ingle, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player
1946 – Bruce Palmer, bass player
1947 – Freddy Weller, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1950 – John McFee, singer, songwriter, guitarist, doobie, and producer
1952 – Per Jørgensen, singer and trumpet player
1952 – David A. Stewart, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1967 – Chris Caffery, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

Some people who died on this day:

Women hold up half the sky.

~~ Mao Zedong

1087 – William the Bastard, aka William the Conqueror, king
1569 – Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painter
1834 – James Weddell, sailor and navigator
1901 – Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, painter and illustrator
1976 – Mao Zedong, philosopher, revolutionary, and politician
1993 – Helen O'Connell, singer and actress
1996 – Bill Monroe, mandolin player, singer, and songwriter
2003 – Edward Teller, physicist
2014 – Firoza Begum, singer

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

California Admission Day
National Wiener Schnitzel Day
Wonderful Weirdos Day
National Steak au Poivre Day

Today's Tunes

John Herschel

US Union Army

Elvis

Elvin Jones

Joe Negroni

Otis Redding

Inez Foxx

Danny Kalb

Dee Dee Sharp

Doug Ingle

Bruce Palmer

Freddy Weller

John McFee

Per Jørgensen

David A Stewart

Chris Caffery

Helen O'Connell

Bill Monroe

Firoza Begum

Image is a statue of Arminius in Teutoburger Wald

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

Open Thread, Arminius, Varus, Teutoburger Wald, USA, Elvis, George Stiblitz, Elvin Jones, Otis Redding, Inez Foxx, Bill Monroe, Firoza Begum