9/12 The Battle of Marathon

Just to get things straight, the Battle of Marathon took place on the shore of a bay near a Greek town known as Marathon. Boston was .NOT. involved. Darius, of Persia, had sent a force to invade Greece and in particular to force Athens to submit to his rule (or be destroyed) in 490 BCE. There is a ton of back story here which I'm going to skip. The Persians sailed to Greece and landed at the bay of Marathon and the greatly outnumbered Athenians accompanies by a small force from Platea went out to meet them. The Athenians also sent a runner named Pheidippides to Sparta to ask for help, but the Spartans claimed that they had to go to church for the next ten days or something and so sorry but couldn't make it. ("Go tell Sparta", hah!)

So the Athenians quickly arrayed themselves with respect to the topography in such fashion as to render the Persian cavalry somewhat useless and the waiting began. There are several versions of many aspects of the battle so I'll just say that the Athenians seriously whupped the Persians. There were numerous impacts on and implications for Greek and world history, all of which is a fitting research project for anybody interested. In the end, poor Pheidippides (supra) had to high tail it back to Athens with the good news since they didn't have ROTC or National Guard or anybody else hanging back to defend the city and were understandably on edge

1213 CE brings us to the Battle of Muret, the last major battle of the Most Holy genocidal Albigensian Crusade. The Crusaders won and the campaigns of extermination of the Cathars/Albigensians continued until 1229 when the Treaty of Paris, also known as Treaty of Meaux, "formally" ended the Most Holy genocidal Albigensian Crusade and "formally" put the Holy Inquisition in charge of searching out and capturing heretics, but nonetheless saw Raymond VII of Toulouse in charge of hunting down and exterminating any surviving Cathars. The Most Holy genocidal Albigensian Crusade was ordered by some pope or another because the Cathars, while "christians" deviated from official church dogma and ritual in a few details and therefore had to be exterminated just like any other free thinkers, non-believers, heretics or pagans (see for example the Most Holy genocidal Northern Crusades).

In 1847 the US invasion of Mexico reached Chapultepec in front of which the US forces hung 30 members of the Battallon San Patricio whom they had captured at the Battle of Churubusco. Presumbaly they intended to make some kind of impression on the Mexican populace, and they did, they ensured that the members of said Battalion would be remembered and honored in Mexico, which they are to this day. The San Patricios were a largely Irish force of immigrants to the US who fought on the side of Mexico during the US war on Mexico. They were staunch fighters who gave the US troops a great deal of trouble, especially at Churubusco. They are remembered as heroes especially on this day, but also, in various places, on Saint Patrick's Day, and by the performances of Mexico's only bagpipe band, the Banda de Gaitas del Batallon de San Patricio in Churubusco.

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On this day in history:

490 BCE -- The Battle of Marathon

1213 -- Crusaders won the Battle of Muret then slaughtered the Cathars fleeing from the town thereby ending the Cathar Genocide Holy Albigensian Crusade

1609 -- Henry Hudson began exploring the Hudson River.

1683 -- John III Sobieski, et. al. stopped the Ottoman Empire's conquests and advances at the Battle of Vienna

1846 -- Elizabeth Barrett eloped with Robert Browning.

1847 -- At the Battle of Chapultepec, 30 previously captured members of the Battallon San Patricio were hung en masse in view of Chapultepec. They are honored and celebrated in Mexico to this day.

1848 – A new constitution established Switzerland as a federal state.

1910 -- The Premiere performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 took place

1933 -- Leo Szilard had the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.

1940 –- Cave paintings were discovered in Lascaux, France.

1958 –- Jack Kilby demonstrated the first working integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments.

1974 -- Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was deposed in a coup d'etat

1977 -- Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko died in police custody from torture & beatings at their hands.

1990 -- The "Four Powers" and both German states and signed the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany.

2003 -- The United Nations lifted sanctions against Libya and the Libyan government fell for it. Fools.

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Some people who were born on this day:

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

and

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

~~ H.L. Menken.

1725 –- Guillaume Le Gentil, astronomer 1797 –- Samuel Joseph May, activist 1862 -- Carl Eytel, painter and illustrator 1880 -- H. L. Mencken, journalist, wise-ass, and critic 1892 -- Alfred A. Knopf, Sr., a publisher who founded Alfred A. Knopf Inc. 1897 -- Irene Joliot-Curie, chemist, physicist, and Nobel Prize laureate 1921 –- Stanisław Lem, philosopher and author 1931 -- George Jones, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1944 -- Barry White, singer and songwriter 1944 -- Colin Young, singer 1946 -- Tony Bellamy, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1948 -- Steve Turre, trombonist and educator 1951 -- Ali-Ollie Woodson, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player 1952 -- Gerry Beckley, singer, songwriter and guitarist 1952 -- Neil Peart, drummer, songwriter, and producer 1954 -- Scott Hamilton, saxophonist 1956 -- Barry Andrews, singer and keyboard player 1956 -- Brian Robertson, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1968 -- Larry LaLonde, guitarist and songwriter 1970 -- Nathan Larson, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1974 -- Jennifer Nettles, singer & songwriter 1977 -- Jeff Irwin, singer, songwriter, and producer 1977 -- James McCartney, singer & songwriter 1988 -- Amanda Jenssen, singer, songwriter and guitarist

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Some people who died on this day:

The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed

~~ Steve Biko

1712 -- Jan van der Heyden, painter and illustrator

1764 -- Jean-Philippe Rameau, composer and theorist

1819 -- Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher, general, hero of Waterloo

1869 -- Peter Mark Roget, physician, theologian, and lexicographer

1977 -- Steve Biko, South African activist

2000 -- Stanley Turrentine, saxophonist, composer, and bandleader

2003 -- Johnny Cash, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor

2007 -- Bobby Byrd, singer, songwriter and producer

2014 -- John Gustafson, singer, songwriter and bass player

2014 -- Joe Sample, pianist and composer

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Commemoration of the mass hanging of the Saint Patrick's Battalion. (Mexico) National Day of Encouragement (United States) National Chocolate Milkshake Day (United States)

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Today's Tunes

El Batallon San Patricio - The Chieftans, Ry Cooder, Banda de Gaita de Batallón de San Patricio, et. al:

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