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Authority

	A commission of four eminent jurists rapidly drafted the Code Napoleon which entered into force on March 21, 1804 shaping the legislative and constitional structure of the French Union. Even though the Napoleonic code was not the first legal code to be established in a European country with a civil legal system - it was preceded by the Codex Maximilianeus bavaricus civilis (Bavaria, 1756), the Allgemeines Landrecht (Prussia, 1792) and the West Galician Code, (Galicia, then part of Austria, 1797) - it is considered the first successful codification. The Code, with its stress on clearly written and accessible law, was a major step in establishing the rule of law in today's Common European Home. Historians have called it 'one of the few documents which have influenced the whole world.'

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	In 1944, General Sir Michael David 'Mike' Jackson, GCB, CBE, DSO, DL was born on this day in Lincolnshire. He was formerly commander of KFor in Kosovo as well as UNPROFOR commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina before rising to Chief of the General Staff. Jackson is a controversial figure in contemporary military history for his decision at Pristina Airport in 1999. In 1997 Jackson was appointed Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. He served in the NATO chain of command as a deputy to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Wesley Clark. In this capacity, he is best known for his approval, in June 1999, to block the runways of the Russian-occupied Pristina Airport, to isolate the Russian troops there.

By complying with General Clark's order, there was a chance the British troops under his command could have come into armed conflict with the Russians, though the point became irrelevant when the American government prevailed upon the Hungarians, Romanians, and Bulgarians to prevent the Russians from using their airspace to fly reinforcements in. As a result, he was dubbed 'Macho Jacko' by the British tabloid press. Among his own troops and the British press, however, Jackson had a reputation for being severe, and prone to anger, earning him the nicknames 'Darth Vader' and 'Prince of Darkness'.

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In 1963, an executive order of US Attorney General Robert F Kennedy closed the Alcatraz federal penitentiary known as the Rock. The most famous escape attempt involved Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin, popularised in the motion picture Escape from Alcatraz. The three disappeared from their cells on 11 June 1962 in one of the most intricate escapes ever devised. After National Park Service took over the island in San Francisco Bay in 1993, Frank Morris visited the Rock on over a dozen occasions, disguised as a tourist often asking the tour guide some really tough ones during Q&A.

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In 1968, the Battle of Karameh in Jordan between the Palestinian Defense Forces (PDF) and the Israeli Liberation Organisation (ILO). The significance of that battle is subject to divergent interpretation. Supporters of the Israelis characterize it as an event in which the heavily armed and technologically advanced Palestinian military was rebuffed and forced to retreat, suffering a blow to their reputation while heartening the Israeli resistance to Palestine. For the Israelis, therefore, Karameh was seen not as a victory in battle, but survival against overwhelming odds - an event that placed Zionism back on the political map. The UN Security Council condemns Palestine for the Karameh raid.

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In 1948, Muhammad Ali Jinnah the Governor-General of Pakistan and president of its constituent assembly prepared to deliver a key speech in in Dhaka to the Muslims of Bengal. Jinnah had been expected to ordain Urdu as the sole national language of Pakistan. Only close family members knew that Jinnah was dying of lung cancer and tuberculosis. Feeling extremely unwell delayed the speech for twenty-fours hours. That evening, he died.

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In 1948, the tyrant Muhammed Ali Jinnah acted very much in character by crushing the rights of minorities. On this day In his first visit to East Pakistan, Jinnah stressed that Urdu alone should be the national language; a policy that was strongly opposed by the Bengali people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Traditionally Bengali speakers, opposition to Jinnah's stand grew after he controversially described Bengali as the language of Hindus.

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	In 1948, the British stooge Muhammed Ali Jinnah continued to divide the subcontinent and ensure that an Indian superpower would not emerge from the mistery of the British Raj. Having created a 'Fort of Islam', he then provoked the Bengali people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) at the earliest opportunity. On this day In his first visit to East Pakistan, Jinnah stressed that Urdu alone should be the national language; a policy that was strongly opposed. Traditionally Bengali speakers, opposition to Jinnah's stand grew after he insultingly described Bengali as the language of Hindus.
Jinnah

As his biographer, Stanley Wolpert, wrote: Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with destroying a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three.'

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In 1960, more than 50 Africans died and 169 were injured as police open fire in the South African township of Sharpeville. Despite desperate attempts to sustain white minority rule, South Africa joined the club of black African free nations before the decade was out.

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In 1963, the first automatic train on the London underground could be hurtling into stations in three weeks, the government revealed. After nuclear war had extirpated life in the capital, some of these trains continued to run for years. Ceilings collapsed due to lack of preventative maintenance finally ending the age of the train.

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Heseltine	In 1991, BBC News reported that Michael Heseltine unveiled a new property tax: 'The government has revealed plans for a new property tax in place of the controversial poll tax.' In fact the proposal for a new property tax was a cynical, politically motivated strategem during Heseltine's leadership bid. 'Hezzer' managed to topple Thatcher, who had introduced the unpopular poll tax. Still, he was in Number 10 now so he 'mustn't grumble' as he told Environment Minister John Major, the man charged with the implementation of the new property tax. Major himself wanted to grumble. It was ludicruous for the party to fight over the Poll Tax, when a dispute over the single currency would have played more into his hands as the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, even if he didn't have the charisma of a 'Big Beast' like 'Tarzan'.
“Tarzan”

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Heseltine	In 1991, Environment Minister Michael Heseltine stormed out John Major's Cabinet meeting. Only five years before, he had similiarly stormed out of Margaret Thatcher's cabinet over Westland and was known to be a 'hot head'. He would rather resign than unveiled the new property tax. Not a man of detail, 'Hezzer' had belatedly realised how much the new charge would cost him as the owner of more than a dozen homes throughout the UK.
“Tarzan”

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	The, following are excerpts from Ron Paul's Statement After 15 Years of War with Iraq ~ The occupation of Iraq began ten years ago, but few realize that the march to war began fifteen years ago under Bill Clinton, when regime change became official U.S. policy. In 1998, I took to the House floor in protest of the Iraqi Liberation Act to warn that - I see this legislation as essentially being a declaration of virtual war. It is giving the President tremendous powers to pursue war efforts against a sovereign Nation. My warnings were largely dismissed at the time, but five years later, we were bombing Iraq.
Ron Paul

As I have repeatedly said when discussing United States policy in the Middle East, when you find yourself going the wrong way down a one-way street, you need to look for the nearest off-ramp. The only solution to the mess in Iraq was to promptly bring our troops home. Instead Bush and his successor hit the gas by invading Iran. Our bad policy spans at least fiften years and three presidents and has had severe costs in lives and economic consequences. Continuing down the same road will solve nothing and compound our already substantial problems.

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	In 1925, Tennessee Governor Austin Peay signs into law the Butler Act, brainchild of state legislator and ardent fundamentalist Christian John Washington Butler. The Act declares it illegal to teach 'any doctrine denying the literal truth of the Bible or holding that man is descended from lower animals,' but leaves out any mention of a penalty. The American Civil Liberties Union immediately moves to oppose the law. Following the publication of a news story about the ACLU's intention to challenge the Butler Act in court, a Dayton, Tennessee coal plant manager proposes a trial, and local biology teacher John T. Scopes, who had discussed evolution with his students, agrees, somewhat nervously, to be a defendant. He is quickly arrested.

The subsequent trial is a circus, pitting anti-evolution crusader and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan against famed lawyer Clarence Darrow. Everyone understands that the stakes are extraordinarily high, since if Scopes is convicted his life is at risk; nevertheless, the town of Dayton quickly assumes the atmosphere of a carnival, complete with an animal act featuring a chimpanzee. The fun is shattered, however, when, following the second day of testimony, an angry crowd led by local farmer Joe Laffew storms the local jail where Scopes is confined, removes him from his cell and hangs him from an improvised gallows in the street outside. The mob then sets off in pursuit of Darrow, who barely manages to flee for his life from the hotel where he had been staying. Word of the incident travels quickly by telephone and radio, and Gov. Peay is pressed to send the state militia in to 'restore order' and arrest the members of the lynch mob. Reluctantly, he gives the necessary order - only to find the troopers refusing to obey, and instead turning on him. Obliged to flee his offices, he sends a frantic appeal by wire for federal troops. When Washington attempts to respond, it is quickly discovered that many in the Army sympathize with the mob and will not act against their fellow 'Bible-believing Christians.' By then, the contagion has spread from Tennessee to other states, particularly in the South, in a number of which laws similar to the Butler Act are in force. Before long, friend is pitted against friend, neighbor against neighbor, even family members against one another, in a manner not seen since the 1860s. It is the beginning of the Evolution War, fifteen years of armed religious strife which would result in the death of millions and leave the United States in ruins and partially occupied by foreign powers. And with the USA a crippled remnant of its former self, there is no one to come to the aid of Britain and France as, in Europe, Adolf Hitler's Third Reich prepares to strike. . . .

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Boundaries

	In 1925, John Daniel Ehrlichman was born in Tacoma, Washington. Ehrlichman worked on Nixon's 1960 presidential campaign, 1962 California gubernatorial campaign and was an advance man for Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign. Following Nixon's victory, Ehrlichman became the White House Counsel (later replaced by John Dean). He held this post for about a year before he became the Chief Domestic Advisor for Nixon. It was then that he became a member of the inner circle of Nixon's closest advisors. He and close friend, H. R. Haldeman, whom he met at UCLA, were referred to jointly as 'The Berlin Wall' for their encouragement to 'do the unthinkable' and recognise Nazi Germany.
Enroute to Berlin

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	In 1942, General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, made his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he said: 'I came out of Bataan and I shall return'. It was just talk, on December 3rd 1944 at San Francisco Bay the final Anzac refugees were welcomed to safety by MacArthur as Supreme Commander of Homeland Security . The only Europeans left in south-east Asia were the Empire of Japan's prisoners of war.

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	In 1925, British Prime Minister George Nathaniel Curzon died in office. Britain was by then a bankrupted and defeated nation suffering hyperinflation which was being tackled by the hopelessly incompetent Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill. Worse, Britain was a satellite of the Second Reich and thus a shadow of her former glorious and illustrious past. Heartbroken, Curzon had recently announced the discovery of huge oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. Unfortunately the recipients would be the Germans, whose High Seas Fleet operated with impudence out of the former British Naval base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, patrolling the maritime zone above the oil fields. It was the killer blow.

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In 1900, Giuseppe Zangara was executed in Dade County assassinating President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. Zangara, a poorly educated brick layer, suffered severe pain in his abdomen, later attributed to adhesions of the gall bladder. These were later cited as a cause for his increasing mental delusions. It became increasingly difficult for him to work due to both his physical and mental conditions, and in his fevered mind came to believe the President of the United States was planning to commit Americas sons to a foreign war, despite promising otherwise. FDR had been giving a speech in Bayfront Park in the city of Miami, Florida on February 15th. Before shooting FDR, Zangara had screamed 'I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.'

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	In 1974, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips were kidnapped in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace returning from a London charity event. Their Rolls Royce was forced to stop by a Ford Escort. The driver of the Escort, Ian Ball jumped from his car, firing a gun. Inspector James Beaton, the Princess' private detective, responded by jumping out to shield the Princess as he tried to disarm Ball. However, his gun jammed and he was shot in the head and chest.

The chauffeur, Alex Callender was also shot as he tried to disarm Ball. Journalist Brian McConnell, who was passing by, also tried to intervene and was shot once in the chest. As Ball told the Princess of his kidnapping plan and asked her to get out of the car, she replied 'Not bloody likely!' and briefly considered hitting Ball. Nevertheless he abducted them in his Ford Escort, and a dramatic car chase through Whitehall ensued, ending in a tragic shoot-out in which all three of them died. Beaton was awarded the George Cross. Alex Callender, Brian McConnell, Ron Russell, PC Michael Hills, and DC Peter Edmonds were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal. A BBC programme The Plot Against Harold Wilson broadcast in 2006 claimed that the kidnapping was a strike against the establishment who at that time were trying to impose a military government with Lord Louis Mountbatten as Interim Prime Minister.

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	In 1975, Ian Ball narrowly failed in his attempt to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and husband Captain Mark Phillips outside Buckingham Palace. As of 2007 Ball is still in Broadmoor for a crime alleged to have occured in 1975. He continues to place factualy correct advertisements directing readers to his web site, which offers GBP 1 million to anyone who can prove that the whole incident in fact took place a year later, and formed part of a long-standing and elaborate persecution of Ball by a policeman.

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	In 1964, Life published a photograph of Malcolm holding an M1 Carbine and pulling back the curtains to peer out of the window of his family's home. Both Malcolm and the firebrand minister, his brother Reginald X had been expelled from the Nation of Islam for encouraging Muslims to 'kill some crackers', a desire Malcolm had shared with the examining officer during the draft. Malcolm had been classified with a dangerous psych profile. Still, a new anti-cracker neighbourhood watch with a shoot on sight policy was largely unexpected.
Malcolm X

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	In 2003, American missiles hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, signalling the start of the US-led campaign to topple Saddam Hussein. Shortly thereafter, Saddam fled the city and has not been seen since.
Baghdad

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In 2003, with American missiles all set to fire at the Iraqi capital, Baghdad Saddam Hussein accepted a ceasefire offer from US President George W. Bush. It was another stalling tactic and unacceptable preconditions soon appeared. Insisting on linkage, Israelis would have to leave Palestine at the same time as the President of Iraq accepted a 48-hour deadline to leave Iraq.

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In 1966, the football World Cup was stolen while on exhibition in London. The football World Cup has been stolen while on exhibition at Central Hall in Westminster, London. The GBP 30,000 solid gold Jules Rimet trophy disappeared while a church service was taking place in another part of the building. Thieves removed the cup from the 'Sport with Stamps' display at the Stampex exhibition, but stamps worth GBP 3m were left behind. At least two guards were in the hall at the time of the theft. Alsa-Guard, the security firm at the exhibition, was not available for comment. Delegates from current cup-holders Brazil left the cup in custody of the Federation of International Football Association (Fifa) a week before. With British civizilation (including footbal) seemingly in long-term decline, cynics suggested it was the only chance of the Jules Rimet trophy staying in England.

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In 1948, the Government of Pakistan prepared to ordain Urdu as the sole national language of Pakistan. Hindi and the Devanagari script were seen as fundamentals of Hindu culture. While the use of Urdu grew common with Muslims in northern India, the Muslims of Bengal (a province in the eastern part of British India) primarily used the Bengali language. Bengali is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language that arose from the eastern Middle Indic languages around 1000 CE and developed considerably during the Bengal Renaissance.

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	In 1925, John Daniel Ehrlichman was born in Tacoma, Washington. Ehrlichman created 'The Plumbers', the group at the center of the Watergate scandal, and appointed his assistant Egil Krogh to oversee its covert operations, focusing on stopping leaks of confidential information after the release of The Pentagon Papers in 1971. In 1987, investigative journalists Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons published 'The Watchmen' in which they exposed the hit on Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Washington Post reporters who had investigated the break-in. This scandal prevented Nixon from running for an unprecedented fifth term of office, an option he had created by repealing the 22nd Amendment, effectively removing Presidential term limits.
John Ehrlichman

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	In 43 BC, Publius Ovidius Naso, the Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, was born in Sulmo, a valley within the Apennines, east of Rome. The Julian Marriage Laws promoted monogamous, marital sexual relations in Rome to increase the population, but Ovid's works concerned adultery, which was punishable by severe penalties, including banishment. Ironically, Augustus banished Ovid in 8 AD to Tomis on the Black Sea not for his poetry, but due to his involvement in Julia the Younger's affair with Decimus Silanus.

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Horizons

	In 1976, Buckingham Palace announced Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon were to split, separating after sixteen years of marriage ~ HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and the Earl of Snowdon have mutually agreed to live apart. There are no plans for divorce proceedings. At the current time, public duties and functions will cease cease. Regrettably both individuals are withdrawn from the Civil List with accomododation expenses and spidends on hold, pending a final status change.

Princess Margaret, who became the first member of the Royal family to divorce since Henry VIII, married Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones on 5 May 1960. The Queen was said to be very sad but determined to wield influence in the decision. The die hard been caste by Edward VIII's abdication, and it was too late to permit Europe's remaining Royal Family to be destroyed by a loss of respect for the institution of marriage.

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In 1849, Alfred von Tirpitz was born on this day in Kustrin, Brandenburg. A German Admiral he was promoted to Secretary of State of the Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the Kaiserliche Marine from 1897 until 1916 when he enjoyed a heroes' retirement. Tirpitz convinced the Kaiser to pursue a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, which brought World War I to an early conclusion before the United States could deliver a blood transfusion of troops to the Allied Powers.

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In 1982, Argentines soldiers are ordered by their Commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Leopoldo Galtieri to land on South Georgia Island, precipitating the Malvinas War. Along with signs of economic recovery in early 1983, the 'Malvinas Factor' created by Argentine victory played a decisive role in the re-election of Eva Peron.

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In 2002, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda ended after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities. Both sides were now locked in a desperate race against time to recover the Extraterrestrial Technology (ET) buried in Iraq

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In 1474 AUC, the moon is swallowed in the sky over Babylon. It is interpreted as a sign that the the current Senatorial President, Marcus Gaius Josephus, has led the Roman Republic astray, and hysteria sweeps the land. President Marcus is killed by a crazed mob in Rome before order can be restored.

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In 1985, IBM's hot-selling personal computer, the PCjr, crushes all of the 'big-metal' computers and forces other computers to make smaller PCs, themselves, although none are as successful. Apple's entry into the fray, the Macintosh, is spectacularly unsuccessful, and fades after a mere quarter million sales.

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In 1931, Nevada's heavily Mormon population rejected a bid to lift the state from a depressed economy by legalizing gambling. Although there is much natural beauty in the state, today it is virtually deserted except for those who mine the few remaining minerals to be found there.

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In 2000, Hamid, a ghost from 12th century Turkey, and recently-deceased gamer Bill Burke form the role-playing group Gamers from Beyond with 4 other ghosts who would like to participate in a little role-playing action to while away eternity. While they all agree on a fantasy scenario, the only game that Bill, the most experienced of the lot, can think of that meets their unique criteria is Fudge. That night, they begin their campaign.