The steel plow farmers did depend on
Was this crafty inventor’s great spawn
Now his enemies jeer:
“Nothing runs like a Deere
But so, too, nothing smells like a John!”

Event: Birth of John Deere, inventor of the steel plow and founder of Deere & Company
Year: 1804
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Deere_%28inventor%29

“Now, this sure ain’t no cruise in no blimp!
On the luxuries we’ve had to skimp
There’s no wind in your face
Just the darkness of space
And the pilot? Uh, well, he’s a chimp”

Event: Ham the Astrochimp becomes the first American (technically, Cameroonian) chimpanzee in space
Year: 1961
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_the_chimp

Yes, his madness was a tour de force
As he made into Consul his horse
Soon he misplayed his cards
Got killed by his own guards
Who then turned to his uncle, of course

Event: Roman Emperor Caligula is killed by the Praetorian Guards, who then proclaim Claudius Emperor
Year: 41
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula

This great man first appeared on a pier
Sans the spinach he later held dear
He put Bluto to sleep
Even owned a pet jeep
All in all, quite the sailing career

Event: Popeye the Sailor first appears in E.C. Segar’s Thimble Theatre
Year: 1929
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye

Now, I know you guys can’t be that dense
This injustice is frickin’ immense!
If you’re not a great fool
You’ll throw off British rule
Now come on! Ain’t that just common sense?

Event: Common Sense, the wildly successful pamphlet supporting the cause of American independence, is first published
Year: 1776
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Sense_%28pamphlet%29

“As the sky has not more than one sun
So must one man the whole country run”
Folks the emp’ror did cheer
Ringing in a new year
That was named just for him: Meiji 1

Event: Mutsuhito (also known as the Emperor Meiji) proclaims the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which had ruled Japan for over 250 years
Year: 1868
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Ishin

With its architecture Byzantine
This is something that has to be seen
‘Twas the biggest to come
For a millennium
In a town famously in between

Event: Dedication of the Hagia Sophia
Year: 537
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia

“They’ll destroy the world if they’re let loose!”
“Do these ‘atoms’ have practical use?”
“We could eat ’em, and then
We’d become supermen!”
“Let’s just smash ’em to generate juice.”

Event: EBR-I in Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity (it powered 4 light bulbs)
Year: 1951
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_plant

It took way longer than eighty days
And he wasn’t the first anyways
But to circle the girth
Of the entire Earth
Hey, let’s give Drake a smidgen of praise

Event: Francis Drake’s fleet departs from Plymouth. By the time he returned, he had circumnavigated the globe.
Year: 1577
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Drake#Circumnavigation_of_the_earth

Not from TNT or from grenades;
This land suffered most keenly from spades
Drain the water away
And what lives cannot stay
‘Twas canals almost killed th’Everglades

Event: Everglades National Park is dedicated
Year: 1947
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everglades_National_Park