On this day in 1855, William Walker and his brigands conquered Nicaragua. William Walker was an American "mercenary" who organized several private military expeditions into Latin America with the intention of establishing fiefdoms under his control. This specific type of brigandage and piracy was known as "filibustering" back then. Today, we call it regime change, or humanitarian operations. It is also almost always state sponsored today, and, in particular, US sponsored. Though the CIA does continue to play a big role in such operations, the US is more and more willing to openly use its military. It does still use mercenary surrogates like Afghan Warlords, The Taliban, al quaeda/al nusra front, Blackwater/Xe/Acadami, and random insurgents ginned up by the CIA, but is quite comfortable openly sending in the armed forces whether it be boots on the ground or shelling, bombing, drone strikes and other forms of "stand off" terrorism. At any rate, Walker managed to get control of Nicaragua for about a year (which is better that the USA did at the Bay of Pigs) but he was, all the same, deposed and eventually captured and put to death.

On this day in history:

1495 – John Cor, a monk, recorded the first known batch of Scotch whisky.

1779 – Benedict Arnold, was court-martialed for malfeasance.

1794 – The battle of the Glorious First of June was fought between Britain and France. Both sides won

1812 – President James Madison asked Congress to declare war on the UK.

1855 – William Walker conquered Nicaragua.

1868 – The Treaty of Bosque Redondo was signed, allowing the Navajo to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico.

1890 – The United States Census Bureau began using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns.

1929 – The 1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America was held in Buenos Aires.

1961 – The Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada merged to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the largest bank merger in Canadian history. No doubt for the benefit of the little people, eh.

1964 – Kenya became a republic with Jomo Kenyatta as its first President (1964 to 1978). Britannia wept. Bwahahaha.

1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims was published in the journal Emergency Medicine. Now they need one for choke-hold victims and others who fall prey to the Blue Plague.

1979 – The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years took power. More tears and anguish from Britannia, tsk, tsk.

1988 – The European Central Bank was founded in Brussels., no doubt also for the benefit of the little people.

1988 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty went into effect.

1990 – George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev signed a treaty to end chemical weapon production.

2008 – A fire on the back lot of Universal Studios broke out, destroying a large irreplaceable archive of master tapes for music and film.

2009 – General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It was the fourth largest United States bankruptcy in history.

Some people who were born on this day:

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth,

~~ Kip Thorne

1637 – Jacques Marquette, missionary and explorer
1653 – Georg Muffat, and composer
1796 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, physicist and engineer
1843 – Henry Faulds, physician and missionary, developed fingerprinting
1878 – John Masefield, author and poet
1896 – Sydney Kyte, bandleader
1907 – Frank Whittle, soldier and engineer who developed the jet engine
1921 – Nelson Riddle, composer and bandleader
1922 – Povel Ramel, singer, songwriter, and pianist
1929 – James H. Billington, academic and Thirteenth Librarian of Congress
1930 – John Lemmon, logician and philosopher
1934 – Pat Boone, singer, songwriter, and actor
1940 – Kip Thorne, physicist, astronomer, and academic
1941 – Dean Chance, baseball player and manager, the real answer to "who's on first?" *
1943 – Richard Goode, pianist
1945 – Jim McCarty, blues rock guitarist
1945 – Linda Scott, singer
1947 – Ronnie Wood, guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1950 – Charlene, singer, songwriter
1953 – Ronnie Dunn, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1959 – Alan Wilder, singer, songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1960 – Simon Gallup, musician
1961 – Peter Machajdík, pianist and composer
1974 – Alanis Morissette, singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress
1981 – Brandi Carlile, singer, songwriter and guitarist

*

These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double –
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Franklin Pierce Adams

-

Some people who died on this day:

Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.

~~ John Dewey

1639 – Melchior Franck, composer
1660 – Mary Dyer, Boston martyr, hanged by Puritans for being a Quaker
1872 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr., publisher, founded the New York Herald
1927 – Lizzie Borden, accused and acquitted of murder
1952 – John Dewey, psychologist, educational reformer, and philosopher
1966 – Papa Jack Laine, drummer and bandleader
1968 – Helen Keller, author and activist
1980 – Arthur Nielsen, businessman who founded the ACNielsen company
1988 – Herbert Feigl, philosopher from the Vienna Circle
1989 – Aurelio Lampredi, engineer, designed the Ferrari Lampredi engine
1991 – David Ruffin, singer and songwriter
1999 – Christopher Cockerell, engineer, invented the hovercraft
2000 – Tito Puente, drummer, composer, and producer
2004 – William Manchester, historian and author
2007 – Tony Thompson, singer and songwriter (Hi-Five)
2012 – Faruq Z. Bey, saxophonist and composer
2015 – Jean Ritchie, singer, songwriter, dulcimer player, and guitarist

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

Children's Day (International)
Global Day of Parents (international)
World Milk Day (international)

Today's Tunes

Nelson Riddle

Pat Boone

Richard Goode

Jim McCarty

Linda Scott

Ronnie Wood

Ronnie Dunn

Alan Wilder

Brandi Carlile

Tito Puente

Faruq Z. Bey

Jean Ritchie

Bonus Boone

Ronnie Redux

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, Children's Day, William Walker, regime change, Brigandage, Ronnie Wood, Nelson Riddle, Pat Boone, Jean Ritchie, Tito Puente