Today In History: Busy day.

On August 2nd...

...in 216BC, the Romans got their calzones folded by a numerically inferior force of Carthaginians under Hannibal. Ever since then, generals have attempted to copy the double envelopment, even ones who weren't sure what it was. Not only was this an important part of the victory, it's also the only one a general in the field has any control over. It's kind of hard to duplicate the other ingredient of the success, because if you call your opponent's Senate on the phone and ask them to assign two amateur dilettante boobs as your opposing co-commanders, they might smell a rat.

...in 1798, Admiral Nelson picked up his first career win, at the Battle Of The Nile, on the way to a 3-1 lifetime W-L record.

...in 1870, the British discovered a whole new venue for urban crime by opening the world's first subway.

...in 1934, von Hindenburg died and Adolf Hitler became Fuhrer, Chancellor, President, Grand Poobah, Dictator-For-Life, and Homecoming Queen.

...in 1939, Einstein and Szilard scribbled their missive to Roosevelt, encouraging him to go ahead with the Manhattan Project. Both showed restraint by not using the phrase "bang for the buck".

...in 1943, JFK got his PT boat T-boned by a Japanese destroyer, starting a Kennedy family tradition of waterlogged accidents.

...in 1964, the part of the Tonkin Gulf incident that actually happened, happened. The USS Maddox (376ft long, 2200 tons displacement) is hit by one (1) 14.5mm projectile (.59" caliber).

...in 1990, Saddam Hussein got himself cross-threaded with the rest of the planet by invading Kuwait. He's probably wishing he hadn't done that now.