Harriet Tubman's parents were enslaved people and she was, accordingly, born into slavery in 1822. She was able to escape and then made around thirteen return trips to Dixie to rescue about seventy enslaved families and friends. When the US civil war broke out, she worked for the Union Army, initially as a cook and nurse, but then graduated to working as a spy and a scout. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in that war and led one raid that freed over 700 enslaved people. Once the war ended, she became active in the women's suffrage movement until she became too ill to carry on. She died on March 10, 1913.

I seldom devote any space to kings and queens and the like because why would I? They're seldom great inventors, authors, composers, or anything like that. Nonetheless, on March 10, 1452, the person who would become Ferdinand II, king of Castile and León was born. He definitely left his mark on history and it stung, and still does. He started out as king of Aragorn, and then hooked up with and married Isabella, Queen of Castile, to become King of Castile and Leon. These two were The Catholic Monarchs or Their Most Catholic Majesties and jointly loosed a lot of terror upon the earth. They expelled the Jews from Spain (except those willing to convert). They expelled the Moors from Spain (except those willing to convert). They started the Spanish Inquisition . They financed Christopher Columbus and loosed his predacious slaver ass upon the world. Though they are not directly personally responsible for every Inquisitor, Conquistador, slaver, torturer murderer, and rapist who came after, they started the ball rolling.

Speaking of no good bastards, on this day in 1952, Fulgencio Batista led a successful coup d'etat in Cuba. A fascist dictator who cultivated ties with US Mafiosi and Major US Corporations, he became one of Uncle Sam's most favored nephews until he was driven off of the island by a victory of rebel forces under the command of Che Guevara at the Battle of Santa Clara on January 1, 1959.

On this day in history:

241 BC – The Romans sank the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.

1496 – Christopher Columbus headed back to Spain, leaving his brother in command of Santo Domingo

1831 – The French Foreign Legion was created by Louis Philippe, the King of France,

1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was ratified by the US Senate, ending the US war on Mexico

1876 – The first successful test of a telephone was made by Alexander Graham Bell

1891 – Almon Strowger patented the Strowger switch, which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching

1922 – Mahatma Gandhi was arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison

1945 – The U.S. Army Air Force firebombed Tokyo, killing more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians

1952 – Fulgencio Batista led a successful coup in Cuba

1969 – James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He later to recanted

1970 – Captain Ernest Medina was charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes and later acquitted

1977 – Astronomers discovered the rings of Uranus

2000 – The Dot-com bubble peaked with the NASDAQ Composite stock market index reaching 5,048.62

2017 – The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal was unanimously upheld by the country's Constitutional Court, ending her presidency

2023 – The Silicon Valley Bank collapsed due to a run on its deposits; the second largest bank failure in US history.

Some people who were born on this day:

The task of organizing human happiness needs the active cooperation of man and woman: it cannot be relegated to one half of the world.

~~ Lillian Wald

1452 – Ferdinand II, king of Castile and León
1628 – Marcello Malpighi, physician and biologist
1844 – Pablo de Sarasate, violinist and composer
1849 – Hallie Quinn Brown, educator, writer and activist
1867 – Lillian Wald, nurse, humanitarian, and author, founded the Henry Street Settlement
1903 – Bix Beiderbecke, cornet player, pianist, and composer
1903 – Clare Boothe Luce, playwright, journalist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy
1928 – James Earl Ray, criminal; assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.
1938 – Norman Blake, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1947 – Tom Scholz, musician and songwriter
1956 – Odile Buisson, gynecologist, advocate for women's right to pleasure
1963 – Jeff Ament, bass player and songwriter
1963 – Rick Rubin, record producer
1964 – Neneh Cherry, singer and songwriter
1966 – Edie Brickell, singer and songwriter
1977 – Robin Thicke, singer, songwriter, and record producer
1978 – Benjamin Burnley, musician
1978 – Camille, singer, songwriter, and actress
1983 – Carrie Underwood, singer and songwriter

Some people who died on this day:

“I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive.”

~~ Harriet Tubman

1910 – Carl Reinecke, pianist, composer, and conductor
1913 – Harriet Tubman, nurse and activist
1942 – Wilbur Scoville, pharmacist and chemist
1977 – E. Power Biggs, organist and composer
1988 – Andy Gibb, singer, songwriterand actor
1997 – LaVern Baker, singer and actress

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

Harriet Tubman Day (United States of America)
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
International Bagpipe Day
Salvation Army Day

Today's Tunes

The Starvation Army

OK, seriously, the Salvation Army

Pablo de Sarasate

Bix Beiderbecke

Norman Blake

Tom Scholz

Wilbur Scoville

E. Power Biggs

Andy Gibb

LaVern Baker

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, Harriet Tubman, Ferdinand II, Batista, Bix Beiderbecke, Wilbur Scoville, LaVerne Baker