happy second of july

As we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, we should remember that Founding Father John Adams actually expected the SECOND of July to be the day we would remember. That was the day the colonies actually voted for independence. But it was a secret vote, and the Declaration of Independence wasn't actually adopted until the fourth -- so that's the day we remember with fireworks, hot dogs, beer, and sunburn.

Anyway, a few other key dates of history are presented here. It's interesting to imagine how things would have been different if the struggling English colony in Virginia hadn't been reinforced in 1610, or if Napoleon's army hadn't succumbed to disease in trying to defeat the slave revolt in what is now known as Haiti, causing Bonaparte to abandon his dreams of establishing a new French Empire in North America and leading to his offer to President Jefferson to sell the huge Louisiana Territory. Or if the cruise missile Bill Clinton had ordered fired at Osama Bin Laden had arrived just one hour earlier in 1998...