19-Jan: Today in History
Jan 19, 1981: The United States and Iran signed an agreement for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months.
I Say: This agreement paved the way for the actual release of the hostages minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th President of the United States. I remember the late 70’s, and the Carter Administration’s inability to effect either hope or change. Even for me, a 13 y/o 8th grader, Reagan’s “Morning in America” was real. It meant something. He gave us hope — hope that “malaise” was not our unavoidable destiny. It was an interesting time to live in Macomb County, MI — birthplace of the “Reagan Democrats”…
For me, Ronald Reagan shall always be the embodiment of being “Presidential”. I consider myself very fortunate to have come of age, going through both high school and college, during the 1980’s lifespan of the Reagan Administration.
-ghp
(also, on Jan 19, 1939, Marilyn Esther Jones was born — an event of epic significance for me & bigsis! 
Happy Birthday, Mama!)
18-Jan: Today in History
In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference, held to negotiate peace treaties ending World War I, opened in Versailles, France.
I Say: And a fat lot of good it did! All they really accomplished was to impose such onerous terms on the Germans that the nascent Weimar Republic was pretty much doomed to fail from the start. Thus ensuring that an Austrian loon would gain stature, influence, & power, appeasement would become all the rage in the UK, the French would build the defense to end all defenses at Maginot, and Wilson’s Folly would become the precursor of the U.N.
Wow — thanks for all that good, good stuff, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, & Woodrow Wilson! Feh!
One of my favorite non-standard views/takes on early 20th-century history is that WWI & WWII really weren’t two separate, distinct events. Rather, they were a single conflict, linked by a smoldering, not-so-cold/calm period of time in the 20’s & 30’s — a “reloading” phase, if you will. If that is a valid theory (and it is in many ways), it is largely so because of what was done at Versailles.
-ghp
17-Jan: Today in History
Time to roll out a new feature here at Territorial Bloggings — Today In History!
I was a History major (K’89) and I have quite the repository of trivia (useful and useless) taking up space in my brain. Plus, I just yesterday came across the Today In History page at LiveScience.com. So, it seemed like it could be an interesting source of a daily post for me to highlight and comment on one of the historical tidbits. Interesting enough for me to actually do each day, and interesting enough for you to actually read it each day — a win-win proposition! 
With that preface out of the way, here’s today’s tidbit…
On Jan. 17, 1945, Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsaw during World War II.
Territorial Comment: I merely offer to you the irony of any part of the former Warsaw Pact being “liberated” by the Soviets. The only thing the Soviets ever “liberated” folks from was their freedom…
-ghp
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