It was Rome without Rome, strange to say
And outlasted the West far and’way
After two months of siege
Mehmed was the new liege
And the Turks were now having their day

Event: The fall of Constantinople and end of the Byzantine (also called “Eastern Roman”) Empire
Year: 1453
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire

People call today’s congress a zoo
But their fighting is not at all new
Preston Brooks drew his cane
Sumner nearly was slain
I’d say things have improved now, don’t you?

Event: Representative Preston Brooks (D-SC) beats Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA) with a cane in the Senate chamber in response to Sumner’s “Crime Against Kansas” speech
Year: 1856
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Charles_Sumner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas-Nebraska_Act

Standard Oil, both hearty and hale
Had to be blown to pieces, wholesale
Said the court, “It’s not fair
Others haven’t a prayer”
How’s that sound next to “Too big to fail”?

Event: In Standard Oil Company of New Jersey v. United States, the Supreme Court rules that Standard Oil is an unfair monopoly and must be split into a number of different companies
Year: 1911
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil_Co._of_New_Jersey_v._United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act

“Try a sip of this drink, my fine bloke!
It’ll cure all that ails you, no joke!
The ingredients? Well
I have sworn ne’er to tell
What’s it called? I’ve been thinking ’bout ‘Coke'”

Event: Coca-Cola is first sold
Year: 1886
Learn more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola

And . . . we’re back to Wednesdays.

England sought to extend north their might
But the Scots, they put up a good fight
So they said, “It’s all square”
But it would not end there
Later on, they would fin’lly unite

Events: England ratifies the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, ending the First War of Scottish Independence with Scotland retaining its status as an independent kingdom; The Acts of Union of 1707 go into effect, uniting England and Scotland into a single kingdom: Great Britain
Years: 1328; 1707
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Edinburgh-Northampton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_Scottish_Independence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Union_1707

Darwin knew that we all come from ape
But detractors just stood there agape
See, he knew not the trick
It took Watson and Crick
To discover that nice helix shape

Event: James Watson and Francis Crick publish “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” in which the double helix structure of DNA is described for the first time
Year: 1953
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_Structure_of_Nucleic_Acids:_A_Structure_for_Deoxyribose_Nucleic_Acid

There’s a name that is known far and near
‘Twas a name that the Brits came to fear
When they came in by sea
He warned ev’ry county
Shout it out! He was called: Samuel Prescott

Event: A group of men, including but not limited to Samuel Prescott and William Dawes, ride through Middlesex County to warn residents of the impending arrival of British troops
Year: 1775
Learn more: http://wordsman.dxli.com/2010/03/08/brevitywit-entry-14a/

Now my thesis, as you may recall
Is events, they are shared by dates all
But it may not be so
A computer did show
On this date, naught of interest did fall

Year: 1954
(Lack of) Event: The True Knowledge (now Evi) Answer Engine objectively (?) determined in November 2010 that this was the single most boring date in the entire 20th century
Learn more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8160622/Computer-identifies-the-most-boring-day-in-history.html

Though their tactics have not been thought nice
In their business, it seems that’s the price
To be on the top bough
(But that spot’s Apple’s now!)
Counting dollars like others count rice

Event: Founding of Microsoft
Year: 1975
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft

This one’s a bonus. Apparently I already did a poem for April 3rd in 2012. Looks like April updates will be on Thursdays this year (so look for one tomorrow). Apologies for the–though I’m sure you’re used to it by now–confusion.

Two-point-five, quite a few pounds to weigh
To recharge? Just ten hours, they say
But it fit in your hand
Could this concept expand?
What can you hold in your hand today?

Event: The first successful call from a handheld mobile phone is made
Year: 1973
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones