Picture is Robert The Bruce Engaging with Sir Henry de Bohun on June 23, 1314

On this day in 1314, the Battle of Bannockburn started. This two day battle was a resounding victory for the Scots and is considered to be the turning point in what is called The First War of Scottish Independence. The Scots had been and were independent at the time but had been fighting against the English since they invasion Scotland in 1296. Though the Scots beat the English decisively at Bannockburn, the war continued until May 1, 1328, when the English agreed to and signed the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton. Said treaty not only recognized Scotland's independence, but Rogert the Bruce's ascension to King of Scotland.

This battle, among other things, somewhat changed the face of warfare in Europe. Warfare had previously been largely dependent upon kniggits knights fighting on horseback. The Scots at Bannockburn were primarily infantry, deployed as schiltrons (think phalanx). The ability of foot soldiers to stand up to and even go on offence against mounted knights changed the face of tactics throughout Europe, lasting even into the gunpowder era.

On this day in 1960, the US FDA approved the use of Enovid as an oral contraceptive for women. This small step toward women's control and ownership of their own bodies caused consternation and outrage among various patriarchal groups who believe that women's only legitimate purpose for existence is to be men's chattels or to serve as breeding stock devoted to the production of prodigious quantities of offspring. This immediately led to endless campaigns of all types aimed at making all such products unavailable to women which are still ongoing.

On this day on 2016 the UK voted in favor of Brexit, which is to say that they beat feet from the EU. This has led to certain complications and problems because they still have a colony in the Northeast corner Ireland (the island, not the republic). The Euroids have assorted rules and policies concerning borders and border transits between EU states and non-EU states that at some places are at odds with the terms of the existing peace treaties between the Republic of Ireland and the UK, specifically as to its colony upon the island of Ireland.

On this day in history:

1314 – The Battle of Bannockburn began

1532 – Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France signed a treaty pledging mutual aid against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V,

1683 – William Penn signed a friendship treaty with Lenape Indians which the settlers repeatedly violated.

1713 – The French residents of Acadia were given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia

1794 – Empress Catherine II of Russia granted Jews permission to settle in Kyiv.

1810 – John Jacob Astor formed the Pacific Fur Company.

1812 – Great Britain revoked the restrictions on American commerce, thus eliminating one of the chief reasons for going to war.

1860 – The United States Congress established the Government Printing Office.

1868 – Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the "Type-Writer".

1887 – The Rocky Mountains Park Act became law creating Banff National Park, Canada 's first national park

1894 – The International Olympic Committee was founded at the Sorbonne in Paris

1914 – Pancho Villa took Zacatecas from Victoriano Huerta.

1919 – The decisive defeat of the Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cēsis; celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia.

1926 – The College Board administered the first SAT exam.

1931 – Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island on the first circumnavigation of the world in a single-engine plane.

1938 – The Civil Aeronautics Act was signed into law, forming the US Civil Aeronautics Authority

1940 – Henry Larsen began the first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[

1947 – The United States Senate followed the United States House of Representatives in overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft–Hartley Act.

1960 – The United States Food and Drug Administration declared Enovid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill in the world.

1961 – The Antarctic Treaty System, setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, went into force.

1969 – IBM announced that effective January 1970 it would price its software and services separately from hardware

1972 – U.S. PresidentNixon and H. R. Haldeman were taped talking about using the CIA to obstruct the FBI's investigation into the Watergate break-ins.

1972 – Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended to prohibit sexual discrimination in any educational program receiving federal funds.

1994 – NASA's Space Station Processing Facility officially opened at Kennedy Space Center.

2013 – Nik Wallenda became the first person to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a tight rope.

2016 – The UK voted 52% to 48% in a referendum to leave the EU, though they still meddle in EU affairs

Some people who were born on this day:

The only immorality is not to do what one has to do when one has to do it.

~~ Jean Anouilh

1668 – Giambattista Vico, jurist, historian, and philosopher
1683 – Étienne Fourmont, orientalist and sinologist
1750 – Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, geologist and academic
1800 – Karol Marcinkowski, physician and activist
1824 – Carl Reinecke, pianist, composer, and conductor
1843 – Paul Heinrich von Groth, scientist
1860 – Albert Giraud, poet and librarian
1879 – Huda Sha'arawi, feminist and journalist
1889 – Anna Akhmatova, poet and author
1889 – Verena Holmes, engineer
1894 – Alfred Kinsey, entomologist and sexologist
1900 – Blanche Noyes, aviator, winner of the 1936 Bendix Trophy Race
1907 – Dercy Gonçalves, actress and singer
1910 – Jean Anouilh, playwright and screenwriter
1910 – Milt Hinton, bassist and photographer
1912 – Alan Turing, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist
1916 – Al G. Wright, bandleader and conductor
1920 – Saleh Ajeery, astronomer
1923 – Giuseppina Tuissi, communist and Partisan
1926 – Lawson Soulsby, Baron Soulsby of Swaffham Prior, microbiologist and parasitologist
1929 – June Carter Cash, singer, songwriter, musician, and actress
1937 – Niki Sullivan, guitarist and songwriter
1940 – Adam Faith, singer
1940 – Stuart Sutcliffe, painter and musician, early Beatles bassist
1940 – Diana Trask, singer and songwriter
1941 – Robert Hunter, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1942 – Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, cosmologist and astrophysicist
1943 – Vint Cerf, computer scientist and Internet pioneer
1943 – James Levine, pianist and conductor
1951 – Angelo Falcón, political scientist, activist, and academic, founded the National Institute for Latino Policy
1951 – Michèle Mouton, race car driver and manager
1955 – Glenn Danzig, singer, songwriter, and producer
1956 – Randy Jackson, bass player and producer
1960 – Donald Harrison, saxophonist, composer, and producer
1960 – Tatsuya Uemura, composer and programmer
1962 – Chuck Billy, singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – Tara Morice, actress and singer
1965 – Paul Arthurs, guitarist
1966 – Chico DeBarge, singer and pianist
1970 – Martin Deschamps, singer and songwriter
1970 – Yann Tiersen, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1975 – KT Tunstall, singer, songwriter, and musician
1976 – Joe Becker, guitarist and composer
1976 – Emmanuelle Vaugier, actress and singer
1977 – Jason Mraz, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1981 – Antony Costa, singer, songwriter
1984 – Duffy, singer, songwriter, and actress
1988 – Chet Faker, singer and songwriter
1991 – Katie Armiger, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

Some people who died on this day:

The most powerful weapon against oppression is knowledge.

~~ Betty Shabazz

1832 – Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, geologist and geophysicist
1836 – James Mill, economist, historian, and philosopher
1881 – Matthias Jakob Schleiden, botanist and academic
1891 – Wilhelm Eduard Weber, physicist and academic
1945 – Giuseppina Tuissi, journalist and activist
1953 – Albert Gleizes, painter
1995 – Roger Grimsby, journalist
1995 – Jonas Salk, biologist and physician
1997 – Betty Shabazz, educator and activist
2009 – Raymond Berthiaume, singer, songwriter and producer
2012 – Brigitte Engerer, pianist and educator
2013 – Bobby Bland, singer and songwriter
2013 – Darryl Read, singer, songwriter, drummer, and actor
2016 – Ralph Stanley, singer and banjo player
2021 – John McAfee, computer programmer and businessman,

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

International Women in Engineering Day
International Widows Day (international)
National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism (Canada)
Okinawa Memorial Day (Okinawa Prefecture)
United Nations Public Service Day (International)
Victory Day (Estonia)
Typewriter Day
National Pink Day
Pink Flamingo Day
Let It Go Day

Today's Tunes

They say its National Pink Day, so ...

Villa beat Huerta at Zacatecas

Carl Reinecke

Milt Hinton

June Carter Cash

Niki Sullivan

Stuart Sutcliffe

Robert Hunter

Glenn Danzig

Randy Jackson

Donald Harrison

1970 – Martin Deschamps, singer and songwriter

Yann Tiersen

KT Tunstall

Jason Mraz

Bobby Bland

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

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

open thread, Bannockburn, Enovid, Brexit, Zacatecas, Jean Anouilh, June Carter Cash, Robert Hunter, Martin Deschamps, KT Tunstall, Betty Shabazz, Bobby Bland