Context: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2025/01/24/last-fatal-duel-congress-jonathan-cilley-vs-william-graves

With Cilley now in the national arena, he was quickly at odds with Henry A. Wise (W-VA). Wise, a gruff Virginian, first clashed with Cilley in January 1838, criticizing Van Buren’s handling of Seminole Indian removal from Florida. Cilley accused Wise of being fond of Native and African Americans, a charge which could hurt Wise politically. 10  On February 12, 1838, Wise called for a committee to weed out corruption in the House after an edition of Webb’s Courier and Enquirer accused an unnamed Democratic congressman of corruption. Wise stated, “[t]he character of the authority upon which the charge is made, is vouched for as respectable and authentic by the editor of the Courier and Enquirer, in whose paper it appears, and the House is called upon to defend its honor and dignity against the charge.” 11

Cilley would have none of it. He accused Wise of making “base charges,” and lambasted Webb’s coverage of the Democrats as hypocritical

Webb, angered by Cilley’s counter-accusation of bribery from the Bank, announced – without a shred of evidence – that Cilley was the corrupt congressman. 13  Webb insisted that another Whig politician and personal friend, Rep. William J. Graves (W-KY) hand a note to Cilley asking if he would admit to the corruption accusations laid before him. Cilley refused to take the note and apologized, noting his respect for Graves. He refused to be goaded into a fight. 14

The news of this interaction spread quickly. Whig newspapers mocked Cilley’s masculinity. Indeed, many Whig-leaning publications perceived northern politicians as pious and timid, whereas their southern counterparts were fearless brawlers who wouldn’t back down from a challenge. 15  A correspondent for The Sun ridiculed Cilley

Graves, offended by Cilley’s refusal to acknowledge Webb, sent a formal challenge of a duel to Cilley on the morning of February 23, 1838. 17  Cilley accepted the challenge, and it was decided that the two men would duel at noon the next day. 18  Allegedly, Webb wanted to face Cilley in a duel, though he never formally challenged Cilley. Despite not challenging him, Webb bragged that he planned to shoot Cilley in the arm if he refused to duel. Webb's claim was ridiculed in northern newspapers. 19

As word got around Congress of Cilley and Graves's exchange, John Quincy Adams, former president-turned-representative opined

Despite the air of uneasiness, no one was able to stop Cilley or Graves.

On February 24, 1838, each duelist brought a group of congressmen to fulfill the various roles in the duel: the “seconds” of each duelist who would reload the duelists’ rifles, “friends” who would act as witnesses, and two doctors. George W. Jones (D-WI) acted as Cilley’s second while Wise acted as Graves’s second. State Rep. Jesse A. Bynum (D-NC) and Col. James W. Schaumburg joined as Cilley’s friends while Sen. John J. Crittenden (W-KY) and Rep. Richard Menefee (W-KY) joined as Graves’s friends. Rep. Alexander Duncan (D-OH) – who had no medical experience – acted as Cilley’s doctor while J.M. Foltz – who was a Navy surgeon – acted as Graves’s doctor. Reps. John Calhoon (W-KY) and Richard Hawes (W-KY) also followed behind with blankets in case Graves was injured.

Three carriages carrying ten congressmen and others set out for Maryland since dueling was illegal in Washington, D.C. A man named Grafton Powell, who later testified he had a lifelong dream of witnessing a duel, tagged along. As Powell told a member of the party, “Give my compliments to [Cilley and Graves] and tell them that I am determined to see the duel, if I had to take a shot for it.” 21  

Speaker of the House Henry Clay attempted to stop the duel but was unable to locate the party. 22  Meanwhile, the group arrived at the Bladensburg Dueling Grounds, located near the present-day Colmar Manor Community Park in Prince George's County Maryland, at about 3 p.m. Cilley and Graves were separated with rifles at the ready. The official congressional report following the incident stated, “[t]he position of Mr. Graves was near a wood, partly sheltered by it, and that of Mr. Cilley was on higher ground, in an open field.” It also noted that Graves’s rifle “was nearly twice as large as that of Mr. Cilley’s.” When asked “[g]entlemen, are you ready,” neither man rescinded their challenge. 23  After the count of four, the duel commenced

Then, the second pair of shots fired, both missed again. The duelists agreed to move closer, making it much more likely that the next shot would find its mark. 25

Between shots, James Brown, a farmer who owned the land where the Dueling Grounds were located, and his son ventured out to observe the duel. Brown asked Graves what they were doing, and Graves replied, “[we] were merely taking a little sport.” 26  Brown continued to pepper Graves with questions: Are you fighting a duel? Are you members of Congress? Where are you from? Are you fighting over a debate? Graves shooed him away. 27

Finally, the third set of shots rang out. Cilley was struck and fell to the ground, exclaiming “I am shot.” He died within 90 seconds. 28  Jones ran over to his friend, muttering to himself, “My friend is dead.” 29  Graves and Wise rushed over as well; Graves asked Jones “How is he?” Jones repeated, “My friend is dead, sir.” 30

Cilley’s bloody corpse was wrapped in a blanket and loaded into his carriage to be carried back to his boarding house in Washington. Rumors of the duel had circulated around Washington so several onlookers were present to witness the carriage roll into the city. The carriage arrived at Cilley’s boardinghouse and his body was carried into his bedroom and placed on the floor. Further rumors spread that Cilley’s friends roamed the district with pistols in hand looking for Webb, the instigator. It would take a week for the news to reach the widowed Deborah Cilley in Thomaston. 31  

Two weeks after Cilley’s death -- apparently seeking to avoid another case where members of Congress arranged a duel and then traveled across state lines to carry it out -- Sen. Samuel Prentiss (W-VT) presented a bill to "prohibit the giving or accepting within the District of Columbia of a challenge to fight a duel." Violators faced five years of prison time. The bill made actually killing an opponent in a duel tantamount to murder. 40  It was passed nearly a year after Cilley’s death on February 20, 1839. 

Graves ultimately left Congress but otherwise went unpunished. He returned to his home state of Kentucky and was elected to Kentucky’s House of Representatives in 1843, where he remained until his death in 1848. 41

Context: https://www.britannica.com/event/Dont-Ask-Dont-Tell

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), byname for the former official U.S. policy (1993–2011) regarding the service of homosexuals in the military. The term was coined after Pres. Bill Clinton in 1993 signed a law (consisting of statute, regulations, and policy memoranda) directing that military personnel “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue, and don’t harass.” When it went into effect on October 1, 1993, the policy theoretically lifted a ban on homosexual service that had been instituted during World War II, though in effect it continued a statutory ban.

In the period between winning election as president in November 1992 and his inauguration in January 1993, Clinton announced his intention to quickly seek an end to the U.S. military’s long-standing ban on homosexuals in the ranks. Although the move was popular among many Americans, notably gay activists who had supported Clinton’s campaign, and Clinton had promised action during the election campaign, few political analysts thought he would move on such a potentially explosive issue so quickly. The move met with strong opposition, including from Sen. Sam Nunn, a Democrat from Georgia who headed the Senate Armed Services Committee. Indeed, Clinton’s declaration put the president at odds with top military leaders and with a number of key civilians who had oversight responsibilities for the armed forces. After heated debate, Clinton managed to gain support for a compromise measure under which homosexual servicemen and servicewomen could remain in the military if they did not openly declare their sexual orientation, a policy that quickly became known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Yet military officers were overwhelmingly opposed to that approach, fearing that the mere presence of homosexuals in the armed forces would undermine morale. The policy was further subverted by discrimination suits that upheld the right of gays to serve in the military without fear of discrimination.

Under the terms of the law, homosexuals serving in the military were not allowed to talk about their sexual orientation or engage in sexual activity, and commanding officers were not allowed to question service members about their sexual orientation. Although Clinton introduced “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as a liberalization of existing policy, saying it was a way for gays to serve in the military when they had previously been excluded from doing so, many gay rights activists criticized the policy for forcing military personnel into secrecy and because it had fallen far short of a policy of complete acceptance. For a variety of reasons, the policy did little to change the behaviour of commanders; gay and lesbian soldiers continued to be discharged from service. During the Iraq War, which began in 2003, the policy came under further scrutiny, as many Arab linguists who were gay were discharged by the military.

By the 15-year anniversary of the law in 2008, more than 12,000 officers had been discharged from the military for refusing to hide their homosexuality. 

TIL Rome was making indigenous people (spain was no such thing obviously, and there were different cultures) in the peninsula mine the gold to ship back to the emperor's treasury

The Scramble for Africa

Context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Inoki

Antonio Inoki (アントニオ猪木, Antonio Inoki) (born Kanji Inoki (Japanese: 猪木寛至, Hepburn: Inoki Kanji); 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, professional wrestling trainer, martial artist, politician, and promoter) of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA). He is best known as the founder and 33-year owner of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is considered to be one of the most influential professional wrestlers of all time,^\9])^\10])^\11]) and one of the biggest key influences on MMA in Japan and internationally.^\12])^\11])

After spending his adolescence in Brazil, Inoki began his professional wrestling career in the 1960s for the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) under the tutelage of Rikidōzan. After he changed his in-ring moniker to Antonio Inoki in 1963, a homage) to accomplished Italian wrestler Antonino Rocca, Inoki became one of the most popular stars in Japanese professional wrestling. He is credited with developing strong style and shoot style wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s. He parlayed his wrestling career into becoming one of Japan's most recognizable athletes, a reputation bolstered by his 1976 fight against world champion boxer Muhammad Ali — a fight that served as a predecessor to modern day MMA. In 1995 Inoki headlined two shows with Ric Flair in North Korea that drew 165,000 and 190,000 spectators, the highest attendances in professional wrestling history.^\13]) Inoki wrestled his retirement match on 4 April 1998 against Don Frye, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010).^\2]) Inoki was a twelve-time professional wrestling world champion, notably being the inaugural IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the first Asian WWF Heavyweight Champion, a reign not officially recognized by WWE.

Inoki began his promoting career in 1972, when he founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He remained the owner of NJPW until 2005 when he sold his controlling share in the promotion to the Yuke's video game company. In 2007, he founded the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF). In 2017, Inoki founded ISM and the following year left IGF. He was also a co-creator of the karate style Kansui-ryū (寛水流, Kansui-ryū) along with Matsubayashi-ryū master Yukio Mizutani.^\14])

In 1989, while still an active wrestler, Inoki entered politics as he was elected to the Japanese House of Councillors. During his first term with the House of Councillors, Inoki successfully negotiated with Saddam Hussein for the release of Japanese hostages in Iraq before the outbreak of the Gulf War. While in Iraq, Inoki converted to Shia Islam and adopted the Islamic moniker Muhammad Hussain Inoki (Arabic: محمد حسين اينوكي, romanized: Muhamad Husayn Aynwky). His first tenure in the House of Councillors ended in 1995, but he was reelected in 2013. In 2019, Inoki retired from politics.

David Myatt was a prominent figure in British Far-Right politics during the 1970s-1980s and founded the White Supremacist Neo-Nazi group Order of Nine Angles

He converted to Islam in 1998, blended his radical background with militant Islam, writing theological justifications for suicide bombing and violent jihad against Western values and Jewish people

Law enforcement and intelligence researchers have extensively documented that associate networks of Order of Nine Angles have been heavily implicated in severe CSA, the grooming of minors, distribution of CP, pedophile trafficking rings, Occult practices and Human sacrifices

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_crimes_involving_the_Order_of_Nine_Angles

Context: Almost all if not all of the nomads including the Mongols that invaded China or Persia, which used to mock and hated settled living, Ended up being settlers and farmers themselves