What Happened Today

The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of combat in American history. It was also one of the key moments in the American Civil War. For both of those reasons, Antietam is held up as one of the signature battles in American history. In reality, two large armies slammed into each other, with neither being able to gain any real ground on the other. Ultimately, it would be a Union victory because Robert E. Lee decided to command his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to retreat at the end of the day. Union General George B. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac could then claim victory. Yet both sides lost astonishing numbers and McClellan's refusal to pursue Lee made Abraham Lincoln remove him from command for a second time.

Father Miguel Hidalgo rallied a small band to begin the Mexican War of Independence in Dolores with a rousing speech. This moment is commemorated as Mexican Independence Day, and the comments by Hidalgo are remembered as "El Grito de Dolores," or "the Cry of Dolores," which is well remembered in Mexico. Remarkably, though, no one knows precisely what Hidalgo actually said at the time, but it is clear he at least rallied people around the Church, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Ferdinand VII, the deposed King of Spain. Hidalgo was also a strange figure to have communicated these ideals. Nonetheless, Hidalgo and El Grito de Dolores became icons of Mexican independence and nationalism.

In the middle of the CIvil Rights Movement, retribution in the form of murders and bombings from white supremacists, especially members of the Ku Klux Klan, was common. Yet when four girls were killed by a bomb that went off at the 16th Street Baptist Church on a Sunday morning, the perception of these actions changed among white Southerners. People were appalled by the bombing. That did not mean the perpetrators were easily apprehended and put on trial. The FBI identified the bombers in 1965, while one conspirator was tried in the 1970s. One died without being charged in 1994. The final two were charged and found guilty in the early 2000s, four decades after the bombing actually took place.

Napoleon Bonaparte and his Grande Armee entered Moscow just after his victory at Borodino, sweeping in as conquering heroes. The only problem with this was that the city had been pretty well deserted and it was beginning to burn. The fire would last for nearly four days and would consume three-quarters of the city, but it also prevented Napoleon from actually conquering Russia. Instead, Napoleon held a smoldering ruin with the Russian winter setting in, and he had to retreat with his army later in the year. While he would rule for another two years before his first exile, the desertion of Moscow was the beginning of the end for Napoleon.

Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman elected to both Houses of the United States Congress. She was also the first woman to hold a Senate seat that was not once her deceased huband's. Yet her career in politics started because she took over her husband's seat in the U.S. House when he died. Margaret Chase Smith was also her husband's chief assistant and advisor, which reflected the spirit of Smith's entire career. A Republican, her political stance was best described as "moderate" because she took on each issue as she saw fit. She also was unafraid to attack both Democrats and Republicans, most notably Republican Senator Joseph P. McCarthy of Wisonsin. There was never anyone like Margaret Chase Smith before she was elected Senator, and there have not been many like her since.

Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia was an African icon, member of a centuries old dynasty, and the Messiah of a burgeoning religious movement. Nonetheless, in his twilight years, he was overthrown in a coup d'etat by a group called the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army. Better known as the Derg, which means "committee," they were high ranking military officers and took over the country to support the peasantry. Eventually, they would united behind Mengistu Haile Mariam, who would instill a Marxist-Leninist form of government and crack down on opposition. It would also trigger a decade and a half long civil war throughout Ethiopia.

Many wagon trains went through Utah in the 1850s, usually without any incident. Yet when the Baker-Fancham Party went to Southern Utah, a militia composed of Mormons in the area attacked the party and eventually killed every member of the group over the age of seven. The Mountain Meadows Massacre was blamed on Native Americans by the people who committed the massacre. People figured out that some group of Mormons had to have been responsible, but exactly how far up the church authority the commands went was hard to decipher. Due to the Civil War, no one was prosecuted until the 1870s, when one person, John D. Lee, was excommunicated from the church, prosecuted for the crime, and sentenced to death. Yet. after Lee was executed by a firing squad, who else was responsible was never fully decided.

The 1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final was a bizarre basketball game that ended in a controversial win for the Soviet Union over the United States, which was the first time the United States had lost in Olympic basketball. Not only did this provide a reflection of Cold War geopolitics, but it also was tainted by an extremely strange last three seconds. Or really, three different attempts at the last three seconds. The confusion in replaying the final moments of the game are what are most focused on, but the ultimate failure of the United States basketball team in the 1972 Olympics should never have even come close to happening.

The Siege of Sevastopol would stand as the centerpiece of the Crimean War, which meant that it would stand large in Victorian memory for the courage, bravery, and valor of the soldiers. The reasoning behind the conflict and the miltary strategy was never so honored. Sevastopol was targeted because it was the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Sevastopol was also extremely well fortified, so it took a year of constant bombardment to soften up Russian defenses and end the siege. And then it only ended because the Russians decided to back out of their positions. With the end of the Siege of Sevastopol, Russian defeat was inevitable, and the vast outcomes of the Crimean War were a direct result of the Russian withdrawal.