MARCH 2

On this date in 1807, the U.S. Congress passed an act prohibiting the importation of new slaves into the country.  Note that it was 54 years later that the Civil War began and four years after that before the war ended.  We lost 600,000 citizens, thousands more were maimed and the much of the South demolished before slavery was finally abolished.

The United States should remember this before poking it's pious nose into the civil wars of other nations.  

On this date in 1877, the U.S. Congress named Rutherford B. Hayes as President even though Sam Tilden got the most votes in the election.  When the Electoral College convened in December, Tilden received 184 votes and Hayes 165 with 20 votes disputed.  Some last minute wheeling and dealing went on and finally, two days before inauguration, all 20 disputed votes went to Hayes.

185 to 184 is the closest vote in the history of the country.

On this date in 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game - still the all-time record.  Wilt was playing for the San Francisco Warriors against the New York Knicks.

The Knicks still can't play defense.

On this date in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson began Operation Rolling Thunder in Vietnam.  This was the continual bombing of the North that lasted for many years.

It also signaled a huge troop build-up which captured me 10 months later.
o.o