Joseph Kittinger’s number to beat
Is one-hundred-and-two thousand feet
From that distance he fell
Landing quite safe and well
Though the plummet was certainly fleet

Event: Joseph Kittinger sets the record for highest, fastest, and longest skydive
Year: 1960
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Excelsior

Caesar’s troops were sure feeling the blues
For they lacked supplies, numbers, and shoes
Pompey went for the kill
But as he charged downhill
He learned that they had nothing to lose

Event: Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar defeats Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) at Pharsalus in the last battle between the two former triumvirs
Year: 48 BC
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pharsalus

Using not prob and stats but one’s hand
Just as the Constitution had planned
Since the first sum (4 mil)
Every ten years we still
Try to count all the folks in the land

Event: The first U.S. Census is conducted
Year: 1790
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Census

Though the war to an end had been brought
There were still battles left to be fought
An E.O. was released:
“In the army, at least
A man’s color don’t matter one jot!”

Event: Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces
Year: 1948
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9981

Lucy Mott had it catch in her throat
She could not believe what Lizzie wrote
“This bit has got to go!”
Frederick Douglass said, “No
Women must demand their right to vote”

Event: Opening of the Seneca Falls Convention, an early convention in the fight for women’s rights (notable for its Declaration of Sentiments, which, among many other things, called for women’s suffrage)
Year: 1848
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Falls_Convention

Steven Dahl had a quite clever scheme
To take down the whole Disco regime
Fans with records took aim
The outfield turned to flame
Let’s just say: ’twas a little . . . extreme

Event: “Disco Demolition Night”: a promotion gets out of hand and fans storm the field, leading the Chicago White Sox to forfeit the game to the Detroit Tigers, the last game forfeited in this way in the American League
Year: 1979
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Cent_Beer_Night

Why did the apple fall from the tree?
Things at rest tend to stay there, you see
A force drew it that way
(As F=ma)
Apple pushed head; head pushed equally

Event: Publication by Isaac Newton of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
Year: 1687
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematica

“Oh it’s taken me years now to hone
Meant to bridge gap ‘tween flute and trombone
Though it looks like a brass
As a woodwind ’twill pass
I shall call it: the Saxo-ma-phone!”

Event: Adolphe Sax patents the saxophone
Year: 1846
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxophone

Far away from the fierce battle plain
In a temple he would meet his bane
A disloyal cohort
Chose to cut his life short
Brought a premature end to his reign

Event: The “Incident at Honnō-ji”: The warlord Oda Nobunaga is attacked by his traitorous retainer Akechi Mitsuhide and forced to commit suicide at Honnō-ji Temple
Year: 1582
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_at_Honn%C5%8D-ji

Charles’ engine did not quite get done
(Though ’twas proved that it could well have run)
Six-point-five score years passed
Seeming not at all fast
But computers had still just begun

Events: Charles Babbage proposes a “difference engine” in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society; UNIVAC I, the first commercial computer produced in the United States, is dedicated
Years: 1822; 1951
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_engine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC_I