Infinite Wisdom

"This altar of Zeus the Liberator did the Hellenes erect, an ornament for Hellas such as becomes a free land, after that, obeying their brave hearts' impulse, they had driven out the Persians by the might of their hands and by the toil of battle."

La Triviata

• Since Peru attained its independence in 1821, it has had 47 presidents plus 28 interim or provisional chief executives, about a third of whom came to power through coups d’etat.
• Despite the fact that he was allied with their overlord, the King of Spain, during most of the 1690s, the people of Milan were obliged to pay the Duke of Savoy a subsidy to avoid having him let his troops take their winter quarters on their territory, an arrangement that ceased in 1696, when the Duke switched sides to join the French in the Nine Years’ War.
• During the last years of the Cold War, nearly a half-million Swiss men underwent military training each year, for an average of about 30 days per man.
• Although nicknamed “Biberius Caldius Mero – Drinker of Strong Hot Wine,” the Roman Emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero – Tiberius – (r. 14-39), was a very capable commander, able ruler, and abstemious in his habits, but had the bad luck to be survived by his political enemies, who also fabricated charges that he was a pedophile.
• As his personal contribution to the British War Relief Society early in World War II, New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia organized the manufacture and sale of little “Thumbs Up” badges to help raise money.
• At any given moment during World War II 4.22 percent of U.S. Army personnel were classified as "non-effective," usually due to wounds or illness.
• Between 1501 and 1600 there were only 25 years without large-scale international military operations somewhere in Europe, and most of those were devoted to civil wars and rebellions.
• During the first year of the American Revolution patriotic citizens of New York City contributed over 100 tons of lead to the cause by collecting window counterweights and other junk, including a statue of George III which had stood in Bowling Green.

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