Welcome back to another installment of the Watercooler, RedState’s daily Open Thread! Today, we’ve got a bad case of burnout from your humble scribe, so let’s get the weekly formalities taken care of and go straight to the Open Thread.

Landmark Anniversary

My German correspondent, E.D., asked me to note in today’s historical discussion that yesterday marks the point where the Berlin Wall has been down for as long as it was up. May it and all the chekist bastards who ran it rot in Hell…

This Week In History

• Sunday, 2/4: Washington’s unanimous election, 1789; Last of the Mohicans published, 1826; Hearst kidnapping, 1974
• Monday, 2/5: Battle of Dabney’s Mill, 1865; Southern Pacific RR completes “Sunset Route,” 1883; Wilson veto of Immigration Act overridden, 1917
• Tuesday, 2/6: Franco-American alliance signed, 1778; Dalton Gang’s first train robbery, 1891; Of Mice and Men published, 1937; Reagan Doctrine announced, 1985
• Wednesday, 2/7: Franklin publishes “Imaginary Speech,” 1775; plea bargaining becomes common practice, 1881; Cuban trade embargo begins, 1962
• Thursday, 2/8: First legal Japanese immigrants enter Hawaii, 1885; Boy Scouts of America incorporated, 1910; last crew leaves Skylab, 1974
• Friday, 2/9: Mass. declared in rebellion, 1775; J.Q. Adams elected President by House, 1825; McCarthy sounds alarm about State Dept. Commie infestation, 1950
• Saturday, 2/10: French & Indian War ends, 1763; CSA Mosquito Fleet destroyed, 1862; Texas Tech founded, 1923; U-2 pilot Gary Powers traded for spy Rudolf Abel, 1962

Today’s Birthdays: Blacksmith-businessman John Deere, 1804; authors Charles Dickens, 1812 and Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867; “Hacksaw Ridge” hero Desmond Doss, 1919.

Holidays Around the World: It’s Independence Day in Grenada.

This Week In History is compiled with assistance from History.com and Wikipedia. Something interesting not listed here? Please share in the Comments section–this is an Audience Participation Encouraged featurette.

Gratuitous Gun Giveaways

• *American Handgunner magazine, for a Les Baer Premier II longslide 1911 pistol package: http://americanhandgunner.com/giveaway/
• *Guns Magazine, for a Ruger Mk IV scoped .22 target pistol, KRISS .22LR AR-pattern rifle or Auto-Ordnance 1911BKOW WWII-style .45 pistol package: http://gunsmagazine.com/giveaway/
• Davidson’s Gallery of Guns, for a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield M2.0 w/factory Crimson Trace laser or M&P9 M2.0 Compact 9mm pistol: https://ggg.galleryofguns.com/
• GrabAGun, for a Remingto 870 TAC-14 12-gauge firearm: http://grabagun.com/giveaway
• Springfield Armory, for a 911 .380 pocket-pistol, or a Saint 5.56mm AR15 pistol and two XD-S Mod.2 compact .45s: http://www.springfield-armory.com/resources/giveaways/

*Note: FMG Publishing giveaways require you to provide an FFL dealer’s info at entry. Aero Precision and Primary Arms giveaways give me one entry each per person who uses my referral link.

Quote of the Day

The will to be stupid is a very powerful force, but there are always alternatives.–Lois McMaster Bujold

As always, the Watercooler is an Open Thread. And as so eloquently coined by ntrepid, “Thanks for the click! Your effort helps fund future posts of this nature.”

“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”–Voltaire

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