| 216 BC | Hannibal Barca wins his greatest victory over the Romans at Cannae. After avidly studying the tactics of Hannibal, Scipio Africanus eventually bested his Carthaginian adversary. | |
| 47 BC | Caesar defeats Pharnaces at Zela in Syria and declares, “veni, vidi, vici,” (I came, I saw, I conquered). | |
| 1552 | The treaty of Passau gives religious freedom to Protestants living in Germany. | |
| 1553 | An invading French army is destroyed at the Battle of Marciano in Italy by an imperial army. | |
| 1589 | During France’s religious war, a fanatical monk stabs King Henry II to death. | |
| 1776 | The Continental Congress, having decided unanimously to make the Declaration of Independence, affixes the signatures of the other delegates to the document. | |
| 1790 | The first US census begins enumerating the population. | |
| 1802 | Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed “Consul for Life” by the French Senate after a plebiscite from the French people. | |
| 1819 | The first parachute jump from a balloon is made by Charles Guille in New York City. | |
| 1832 | Troops under General Henry Atkinson massacre Sauk Indian men, women and children who are followers of Black Hawk at the Bad Axe River in Wisconsin. Black Hawk himself finally surrenders three weeks later, bringing the Black Hawk War to an end. | |
| 1847 | William A. Leidesdorff launches the first steam boat in San Francisco Bay. | |
| 1862 | Union General John Pope captures Orange Court House, Virginia. | |
| 1862 | The Army Ambulance Corps is established by Maj. Gen. George McClellan. | |
| 1876 | Wild Bill Hickok is shot while playing poker. | |
| 1914 | Germany invades Luxembourg. | |
| 1918 | A British force lands in Archangel, Russia, to support White Russian opposition to the Bolsheviks. | |
| 1923 | Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of Warren G. Harding. | |
| 1934 | German President Paul von Hindenburg dies and Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor. | |
| 1943 | Lt. John F. Kennedy, towing an injured sailor, swims to a small island in the Solomon Islands. The night before, his boat, PT-109, had been split in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. | |
| 1950 | The U.S. First Provisional Marine Brigade arrives in Korea from the United States. | |
| 1964 | U.S. destroyer Maddox is reportedly attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats. | |
| 1965 | Newsman Morley Safer films the destruction of a Vietnamese village by U.S. Marines. | |
| 1990 | Iraqi forces invade neighboring Kuwait. | |
| 1997 | Author William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch), considered the godfather of the “Beat Generation” in American literature, dies at age 83. |
Finland hosts the various championships because these sports were born in Finland. An article at the New York Times focuses mostly on swamp soccer, but also asks why Finland does sports the way they do. It appears to be a longing for something to do, a culture that values fun over winning, and alcohol.The genesis of swamp soccer was in 1998, when creative town officials in Hyrynsalmi cooked up a festival-like event that would make use of the area’s vast swamplands. Thirteen teams showed up for the first tournament. Since then, the competitive field has grown to about 200 teams.
The recent matches — six-on-six, with 10-minute halves — were played on 20 fields of varying squishiness, spread out over 50 acres of swamp. Finnish rock echoed through the woods.
People striding on seemingly firm ground would disappear suddenly into the soft earth, as if descending a stairway. Some tottered on their hands and knees, like babies. Others stood still, until they were waist-deep in muck. The scores were generally low. Many of the players were drunk.
"I just want to get away from here," Wenzel told German broadcasters NDR and WDR and Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. "I want to get away from the war, from the many weapons, from the noise…I just want to go home to my family."It's sad when young people let hasty decisions ruin their lives, but hopefully other teens who are thinking of lashing out at their parents by joining ISIS will hear Linda's story and think twice.
She went on to explain that she regretted joining ISIL and wanted to be extradited to Germany. Wenzel had a gunshot wound on her left leg and another injury on her right knee that she claims was caused during a helicopter attack. The Times reports that she was found with a malnourished baby boy, though it could not confirm if the child was Wenzel's.
The Daily Mail reports that Wenzel, who was discovered in Mosul with ISIL female supporters, became radicalized after her parents' marriage broke down. Police believe she was persuaded to fly to Syria after falling in love with an ISIL fighter she met online.
