Random News and Notes 9 September

On this date:

• 337 – Constantine the Great’s three sons, already Caesars, each take the title of Augustus. Constantine II and Constans share the west while Constantius II takes control of the east.
• 1087 – William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, dies in Rouen while conducting a war which began when the French king made fun of him for being fat.
• 1513 – King James IV of Scotland is defeated and killed by English at Flodden.
• 1585 – Pope Sixtus V deprives Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown.
• 1776 – The term “United States” is adopted by the Continental Congress to be used instead of the “United Colonies.”
• 1786 – George Washington calls for the abolition of slavery.
• 1791 – French Royalists take control of Arles and barricade themselves inside the town.
• 1834 – Parliament passes the Municipal Corporations Act, reforming city and town governments in England.
• 1850 – California enters the Union as the 31st state.
• 1863 – The Union Army of the Cumberland passes through Chattanooga as they chase after the retreating Confederates. The Union troops will soon be repulsed at the Battle of Chickamauga.
• 1886 – The Berne International Copyright Convention takes place.
• 1893 – Frances Folsom Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland, gives birth to a daughter, Esther, in the White House.
• 1926 – The Radio Corporation of America creates the National Broadcasting Co.
• 1942 – A Japanese float plane, launched from a submarine, makes its first bombing run on a U.S. forest near Brookings, Oregon.
• 1943 – Allied troops land at Salerno, Italy and encounter strong resistance from German troops.
• 1948 – Kim Il-sung declares the establishment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
• 1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; cameras focus on his upper torso and legs to avoid showing his pelvis gyrations, which many Americans—including Ed Sullivan—thought unfit for a family show.
• 1967 – Sergeant Duane D. Hackney is presented with the Air Force Cross for bravery in rescuing an Air Force pilot in Vietnam. He was the first living Air Force enlisted man to receive the award, the nation’s second highest award for bravery in action.

• 1969 – Canada’s Official Languages Act takes effect, making French equal to English as a language within the nation’s government.
• 1970 – U.S. Marines launch Operation Dubois Square, a 10-day search for North Vietnamese troops near Da Nang.
• 1971 – Attica Prison Riot begins; the 4-day riot leaves 39 dead.
• 1976 – Communist Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung dies in Beijing at age 82.
• 1990 – Sri Lankan Army massacres 184 civilians of the Tamil minority in the Batticaloa District of Sri Lanka.
• 1991 – Tajikistan declares independence from USSR.
• 2001 – Two al Qaeda assassins kill Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.
• 2002 – Buzz Aldrin—the second human to set foot on the moon—is walking outside a Beverly Hills hotel when a conspiracy theorist starts harassing him and accusing Aldrin of lying about the Apollo 11 moon landing. Incensed, Aldrin punches his heckler in the face.

It was an active 48 hours in the Middle East. Iran fired some missiles at US Navy vessels in the region, but they either missed or were swatted down. CENTCOM retaliated by disabling or sinking 10 Iranian tankers. Iran then launched around 30 ballistic missiles at US facilities in Jordan overnight. It appears that none of the inbound actually hit anything. According to the Jordanian military, the missiles were either shot down by Patriot batteries or impacted in the desert away from anything important.

Staying in the region, the Yemeni government – the actual one, not the retarded Houthi – have finally gotten their shit together and have been taking territory back from the Iran backed Houthi rebels. The Saudi backed government forces have launched successful offensives in Al-Jawf and Marib provinces breaking Houthi lines with support from airstrikes and artillery, as part of a counteroffensive to retake Sanaa.

Without their Iranian overlords to supply them, I expect the Houthi threat to be greatly diminished.

Igor Chaika, head of Rossotrudnichestvo – A Russian government agency that manages international cultural exchange, humanitarian aid, and relations with Russian citizens living abroad – gave remarks about Russia’s deteriorating relations with Armenia.

Armenia is in accession talks with the EU despite being a part of Putin’s Eurasian Economic Union. The story is frankly unimportant, I just wanted to share the image of the incredibly obese Russian official.

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a 2.1-magnitude quake at a shallow depth of about 3.2 miles, centered right at Rising Sun at 12:41 this morning. Meteorologists Justin Berk and Tony Pann shared the news, asking if anyone felt the vibration, while outlets like WBAL and The Baltimore Sun confirmed the minor event.

USGS maps showed limited shaking with no damage or injuries.

Yes, it is a slow news day.

Full disclosure, I used to be a huge Dr Who fan. Back when Tom Baker was the Doctor. Anyway, British actor Noel Clarke – best known for his role on Dr. Who – has been charged as a sex pest in London. The 50-year-old has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, three of voyeurism, and one of exposure, related to offences between 2007 and 2016. The Metropolitan Police investigation started in September 2025, leading to charges authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Clarke will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 21 October.

There are reports of an explosion at a Swiss hydro-electric plant. The explosion happened at Switzerland’s Ritom hydroelectric power plant in Piotta.

Swiss police describe it as a workplace accident during commissioning tests at the old 1917 plant, likely from an electrical issue with a transformer. Two people were seriously injured and part of the structure was damaged.