Article: Embarrassing War Stories

The link below is to an article that looks at six embarrassing war stories for the countries involved.

For more visit:
http://www.cracked.com/article_20160_the-6-most-embarrassing-war-stories-all-time.html

Article: Why Do So Many Countries End in “-stan”?

The link below is to an article that looks at why so many countries end in ‘stan.’

For more visit:
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/140674

Article: A Bit of Baltic and Polish History

The link below is to an article looking at the boundaries of the Baltic and Polish states. It looks at the history of the territory in these countries.

For more visit:
http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/576-baltic-ifs-and-polish-buts

Today in History – 29 April 1672

Louis XIV: Franco-Dutch War – France Invades the Netherlands

The Franco-Dutch War was more than a war between France and the Netherlands, then known as the United Provinces. It involved a host of other nations including Sweden, Spain, England and other less known regions/countries. The war lasted from 1672 to 1678 and ended with the Treaty of Nijmegen.

This day in 1672 saw the beginning of the war with the French invasion of the United Provinces and they quickly made progress into the country. However, as the war continued it quickly became a stalemate-type situation, though the French did gain territory from the Treaty of Nijmegen.

For a more detailed treatment of the war, see the Wikipedia page at:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Dutch_War

 

Today in History – 22 April 1970

Earth Day: Celebrated for the First Time

Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 on this day. Earth Day was first celebrated in the United States and was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson to raise awareness of the world’s environmental problems and hopefully provoke action to remedy them. Earth day is now celebrated around the world in many countries.

For more on Earth Day, visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day