“Yes, I know any rose smells the same
But ‘Octavian’? That’s pretty lame
If I’m going to rule
I need something that’s cool
Can’t you give me a fancy new name?”

Event: Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is given the name Augustus, which later becomes representative of the Roman emperor
Year: 27 BC
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_%28honorific%29

The relations were–well, let’s say “stressed”
So the ship’s timing wasn’t the best
Was’t in anyone’s fears
There’d be war for four years
When they shot at the Star of the West?

Event: Cadets at The Citadel fire on the Star of the West as it attempts to resupply Fort Sumter (considered the first shots of the U.S. Civil War)
Year: 1861
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_the_West

That our robots should our orders take
That they try not to let themselves break
That, above those first two
They do no harm to you
Not a robot can these rules forsake

Event: Birth of Isaac Asimov
Year: 1920
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_robotics

Does the blame fall on Bucky Dent’s shot?
Or on Buckner, who came up with naught?
For those eighty-six years
When the Fens filled with tears
Most folks point to the Sultan of Swat

Event: Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth to the Yankees
Year: 1919
Learn more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino

Ebenezer was once young and gay
But then money made him lose his way
And his Bah and Humbug
They became like a drug
‘Til the youth announced, “It’s Christmas Day!”

Event: A Christmas Carol is published
Year: 1843
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol

Chiang Kai-shek didn’t want to play nice
But his buddy Zhang gave him advice:
“You may want to fight Mao
But the time is not now
Otherwise we’ll be on real thin ice”

Event: The Xi’an Incident: Zhang Xueliang arrests Chiang Kai-shek in order to persuade him to work together with the communists to fight the Japanese
Year: 1936
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an_Incident

‘Twas an era of many high jinks
Though it lasted for not a few blinks
They discovered, in time
Making drinking a crime
Didn’t really do much to stop drinks

Event: Utah ratifies the 21st Amendment, bringing an end to prohibition in the United States
Year: 1933
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States

Talk about an astonishing pace!
Seven miles per hour–first place!
Fifty miles to run
In eight hours it won
My, that motorized wagon could race!

Event: The Chicago-Times Herald race, considered the first American automobile race
Year: 1895
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Times-Herald_race

“See, controlling a man’s speech and prayer
Can’t you tell that it’s really not fair?”
“Oh, my world, she is rocked!”
“Sacré bleu! I am shocked!”
“Now you know why they call me Voltaire”

Event: Birth of François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire)
Year: 1694
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire

Now the captain had started to flip
Hearing of this unorthodox trip
“I don’t sail on your plane!
I don’t bike on your train!
Why on earth would you fly off my ship?”

Event: Eugene Ely performs the first successful takeoff from a ship
Year: 1910
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Ely