Through the wilds to Castlebar take
Humbert’s boys beat the pants off of Lake
To the races they flew
And though ’twas quite a coup
One win’d not a free Ireland make

Event: Combined Irish and French forces defeat the British in the Battle of Castlebar
Year: 1798
Learn more: Battle of Castlebar
Irish Rebellion of 1798

Through the whole solar system it tore
Past Uranus and Neptune and more
And inside it does hold
Our culture, in gold
Asking folks to come knock on our door

Event: Space probe Voyager 2 launches (curiously enough, 2 weeks before Voyager 1)
Year: 1977
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record

With his Birds, he made viewers distressed
At Vertiginous films he was best
Did the Man Know Too Much?
Only Psychos say such
As they wander off North by Northwest

Event: Birth of Alfred Hitchcock
Year: 1899
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock

Ever since the year fourteen-nine-two
Spain’d a massive domain ‘cross the blue
But Napoleon’s war
Meant a shift was in store
And America got a new view

Event: Bolivia gains independence from Spain
Year: 1825
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_American_wars_of_independence