Random News and Notes 16 July
On this date in 1779, Continental troops under Mad Anthony Wayne take Stony Point from the British. A handpicked force of 1,300–1,500 troops launched a daring nighttime bayonet assault. They moved out around 11:30 PM on July 15 and struck the heavily fortified British position at Stony Point, New York. Around 2:00 AM on the 16th the Americans had stormed the rocky heights in a surprise attack that caught the British completely off guard. Advancing silently through the darkness with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets only, they overwhelmed the defenders in brutal close quarters fighting.
Wayne’s men captured the fort, hundreds of prisoners, artillery and valuable supplies while suffering relatively light losses. The lightning victory boosted Patriot morale at a critical time and showcased the growing skill and fighting spirit of the Continental Army. George Washington himself praised the troops for behaving “like men determined to be free.”
On this date in 1790, Congress signed the Residence Act. The Act created the the nation’s permanent capital: The city of Washington in the District of Columbia. George Washington, who had been in office just over a year when the capital site was determined, asked a French architect and city planner named Pierre L Enfant to design the capital.
In Yekaterinburg, Russia, Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks, bringing an end to the three-century-old Romanov dynasty. Late on the night of July 16 1918, Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children and four servants were ordered to dress quickly and go down to the cellar of the house in which they were being held. There, the family and servants were arranged in two rows for a photograph they were told was being taken to quell rumors that they had escaped. Suddenly, a dozen armed men burst into the room and gunned down the imperial family in a hail of gunfire. Those who were still breathing when the smoked cleared were stabbed to death.
On this date in 1945, at 5:29:45 a.m., the Manhattan Project yields explosive results as the first atom bomb is successfully tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The first mushroom cloud of searing light stretched 40,000 feet into the air and generated the destructive power of 15,000 to 20,000 tons of TNT. The tower on which the bomb sat when detonated was vaporized.
At 9:32 a.m. EDT on this date in 1969, Apollo 11, the first U.S. lunar landing mission, is launched on a historic journey to the surface of the moon. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19.
The Texas Hill Country is in trouble. Over the past few days, torrential rains have fallen with some areas getting more than a foot of rain in a 24 hour period. Flash flood warnings are up all across Uvalde and Kerr counties. You will remember Kerr county was the location of the bible camp disaster last year.
If you are in the affected area, move to higher ground immediately. DO NOT attempt to cross flooded sections of roadway
In an update of a story from yesterday, the Canadian woman who got herself arrested for attacking a minor wearing Trump gear on the boardwalk at Point Pleasant NJ is an illegal. Kaitlyn Tracey entered on a tourist visa back in April of 2024. Her visa expired in September of the same year.
Her US citizen husband is making all kinds of claims about the assault of children being self defense without evidence. I hope homie likes Canada, cuz his wife isn’t ever coming back to the US.
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This just crossed the transom as I was looking for an ending meme. There is cellphone video of the Canadian harpy slapping one of the girls:
While speaking at the U.S. Army War College, President Trump announced a new program for Veterans. The program makes Vets automatically eligible for CDLs if they had two years of safe heavy-truck experience in the military. The initiative builds on programs like the Military Skills Test Waiver.
Dunno about you, but this Vet’s experience with 88M/3531/2T131/EOs has been uneven at best. Not streetshitter bad, but not great.
It is day 4 of the current round of strikes on Iran. According to an official CENTCOM release:
U.S. forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten innocent mariners crewing commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM used precision munitions to hit targets in multiple locations including Bandar Abbas.
Earlier this morning, American forces struck coastal defense and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island during a 90-minute wave.
Additionally, President Trump announced the ‘release’ of an American citizen who had been detained by Iran. Dena Karari is a 53-year-old dual Iranian American citizen and resident of California. Her passport was seized in December 2024 while she was visiting relatives in Shiraz. She faced espionage and collaboration charges related to her operation of the Children of Mehr Foundation, a licensed nonprofit assisting impoverished children in Iran.
I put released in scare quotes above because there is some indication that this was not a release but rather a rescue. There are additional signs that the snatch was carried out by the IDF.
We have some more wildlife related content today. This time its video of a black bear stealing a set of golf clubs. The juvenile bear ripped the clubs off the back of a cart on the Golden Eagle Golf Club in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada. The 57-second video shows a black bear approaching a parked golf cart, rummaging through the back, pulling out a golf bag with clubs, and running off across the fairway dragging the items toward nearby trees.
You will note the bear was not deterred by anything the golfers did. I suspect there was some sort of sweet food item in the bag and the bear decided it wanted whatever it was. You will also note that the golfers did the right thing and stayed away.