Random News and Notes 19 September
On this date:
- 1356 – In a landmark battle of the Hundred Years’ War, English Prince Edward defeats the French at Poitiers.
- 1544 – Francis, the king of France, and Charles V of Austria sign a peace treaty in Crespy, France, ending a 20-year war.
- 1692 – Giles Corey is pressed to death for standing mute and refusing to answer charges of witchcraft brought against him in Salem Mass. He is the only person in America to have suffered this punishment.
- 1777 – American forces under Gen. Horatio Gates meet British troops led by Gen. John Burgoyne at Saratoga Springs, NY.
- 1783 – The first hot-air balloon is sent aloft in Versailles, France with animal passengers including a sheep, rooster and a duck.
- 1827 – After a duel turns into an all-out brawl on September 19, 1827, Jim Bowie disembowels a banker on a sandbar near the eastern shore of the Mississippi River, with an early version of his famous Bowie knife.
- 1841 – The first railway to span a frontier is completed between Strasbourg and Basel, in Europe.
- 1863 – In Georgia, the two-day Battle of Chickamauga begins as Union troops under George Thomas clash with Confederates under Nathan Bedford Forrest.
- 1881 – President James A. Garfield, who had been in office just under four months, succumbs to wounds inflicted by an assassin 80 days earlier, on July 2. His Vice President, Chester A Arthur would be sworn in the next day.
- 1893 – New Zealand becomes the first nation to grant women the right to vote.
- 1900 – President Emile Loubet of France pardons Jewish army captain Alfred Dreyfus, twice court-martialed and wrongly convicted of spying for Germany.
- 1918 – American troops of the Allied North Russia Expeditionary Force receive their baptism of fire near the town of Seltso against Soviet forces.
- 1955 – Argentina’s President Juan Peron is overthrown by rebels.
- 1957 – The first underground nuclear test takes place in Nevada. The test, called Rainier, was part of a series of 29 nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons safety tests known as Operation Plumbbob that were conducted at the NTS between May 28, 1957, and October 7, 1957.
- 1959 – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev explodes with anger when he learns that he cannot visit Disneyland. Khrushchev was in the US for an extended visit and a summit meeting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- 1985 – At 7:18 in the morning, the residents of Mexico City were jolted awake by an 8.1-magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest to ever hit the area. The quake kills 10,000, injures 30,000 more and left tens of thousands homeless.
- 1991 – German hikers near the Austria-Italy border discover the naturally preserved mummy of a man from about 3,300 BC; Europe’s oldest natural human mummy, he is dubbed Otzi the Iceman because his lower half was encased in ice.
- 2006 – A military coup in Bangkok deposes Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The ruling junta revokes Thailand’s constitution and establishes martial law.
We start the news at Katmai National Park where the brackets for the annual Fat Bear week competition were released. The competition runs from This coming Monday, 22 September, through Tuesday 29 September. This year’s field includes family units for the first time – mothers with cubs – and juvenile bears as well as adult bears. The brown bears gather on the Brooks River every year to gorge on the Salmon swimming upstream to spawn.
You can vote for your picks, including last year’s champ, Bear 32, Chunk, at explore.org. Vote early and vote often.
You can watch livestreamed coverage of the Brooks River falls area below:
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This one amuses me, you’ll see why. Coosa County, Alabama deputies arrested seven people after investigating a drug distribution network in Goodwater. The seven are facing charges of possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, prescription drugs, and two of them caught child endangerment charges. The group includes Lonnie Grogan, 49; Stormie Bobo, 38; Christopher Mulkey, 43; Tonya Brown, 45; Samantha Pitts Sly, 47; Chandler Sly, about 22; and Barbara Butler, 62. A warrant was issued for an 8th, unnamed suspect.
Coosa County Sheriff Michael Howell emphasized the focus on accountability for those bringing narcotics into the community, as the probe continues.
Very few people look good in a mug shot, but seriously? This crew isn’t doing much for the whole Alabama is a bunch of inbreds thing.
There are a couple of 2A notes to pass along, First up is the Trump admin decision to not appeal the federal court ruling in August 2026 (Jensen v. ATF) that struck down certain National Firearms Act (NFA) registration requirements for zero-tax items like short-barreled rifles (SBRs) and suppressors. It is being reported that the President himself decided against any appeal.
The second note comes out of the 5th Circuit where a 3 judge panel ruled that the prohibition against interstate transfers of handguns is unconstitutional. The 2-1 decision in Elite Precision Customs v. ATF, holds that key parts of the 1968 Gun Control Act’s restrictions on interstate handgun sales are unconstitutional. The majority, led by Judge Jerry E. Smith, found the government failed to justify the ban under historical firearms traditions from the founding era, as required by the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision.
For now the ruling applies in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. However, it creates a circuit split, and that means SCOTUS will be forced to look at it.
In more Administration news, President Trump signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to closely examine H-1B applications from employers with recent or planned layoffs of U.S. workers in similar roles. It also mandates better data sharing across departments like Labor and Homeland Security, plus reviews of past applications for enforcement.
A separate proclamation extends a $100,000 fee for many new H-1B petitions through September 2027, with exceptions for national interest cases.
O’zapft is! The 191st München Oktoberfest, the world’s largest folk festival, opened today on Munich’s Theresienwiese and runs through October 4. Oktoberfest draws millions for Munich-brewed beers like Paulaner and Hofbräu, brass bands, and Bavarian eats such as pretzels and roast pork. Visitors in lederhosen and dirndl filled the tents early, toasting with Maßkrüge, the traditional Bavarian beer mug.
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit!