Short for the Sturmabteilung, meaning 'Storm Detachment' and where the phrase 'storm trooper' comes from. They were also known as Brown Shirts, as they wore a brown uniform. Their primary purposes were providing vocal and violent protection for Nazi meetings, and disrupting, intimidating or fighting with the Nazi's opponents.
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Fact of the Day
A wealthy early modern London merchant asked his agent to send him '2 or 3 apes' from Africa, but didn't write the 'r'. The order was interpreted as 203 apes, the first cargo of 80 of which arrived with the promise of more to come.
Quote of the Day
"I have no words to describe Bonaparte's merit: much technical skill, an equal degree of intelligence, and too much gallantry
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~ General Jacques François Dugommier, at the Siege of Toulon
On This Day
1265 England's first Parliament met at Westminster Hall in London, convened by the Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort.
1356 Edward Balliol, King of Scotland, surrendered his claim to the throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.
1649 Charles I went on trial for treason against England. He refused to enter a plea, not recognising the authority of the court.
1783 Britain signed preliminary peace treaties with France and Spain, ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.
1841 British forces occupied Hong Kong, after the Qing authorities refused to support British opium imports.
1936 George V, the last British monarch to have been murdered (technically), died of a lethal injection of cocaine and morphine.
1936 Edward VIII succeeded his father, George V, to the British throne. Something of a PR disaster, he abdicated the same year.
1942 Nazi officials met to discuss the 'final solution' of the 'Jewish question' at the Wannsee Conference.
1981 The Iranian Hostage Crisis ended. More than 60 people had been held hostage in the American Embassy in Tehran for 444 days.
1987 Terry Waite was kidnapped in Beirut whilst attempting to win freedom for hostages. He was held for 1,763 days.
