Discourse in Time

*** BREAKING NEWS *** (August 25,1896) The Anglo-Zanzibar War, the shortest war in history, was fought today! The war began at 9:02 East Africa Time (EAT) and ended at 9:40, taking all of 38 minutes.

By contrast, the longest official war was the Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War which began in 1651 (Since it's now 1896, how do we know that it lasted 335 years!?!). While some dispute whether the war ever existed, it was a bloodless war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.

BREAKING NEWS! July 4th,1826 BREAKING NEWS!!

Today, founding fathers and friends turned rivals, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other.

Though partners in the revolutionary cause, Adams, a Federalist, and Jefferson, leader of the Anti-Federalist Republicans had a falling out while Jefferson was serving as Adams' Vice President. Their ideological rift caused Jefferson to resign after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts to plot his successful campaign against Adams for the presidency. Following a bitter campaign, the two men ceased contact until Adams re-initiated contact in 1812. The friendship was restored until their shared dying day. Adam's last words were "Thomas Jefferson still survives," unaware that the Sage of Monticello had passed just hours before.

BREAKING NEWS!!--1937--BREAKING NEWS!!

Today, July 2nd, 1937, Amelia Earhart disappeared near Howland Island in the center of the Pacific Ocean. Earhart was flying a Lockheed airplane and was attempting to fly around the world. U.S. Commerce Department staff was waiting on the island with supplies and fuel. They were in touch with Earhart who communicated that she was lost with “… one-half hour fuel and no landfall.” Several ships, including the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca were in position to assist Earhart through this difficult area, but there was no sign of her. Her Lockheed aircraft, nor her navigator Frederick Noonan have been found.