Klemenz Wenzel, Prince von Metternich of Austria is often credited as the maestro of the so called “Concert of Europe” – an era of unprecedented European peace in the first half of the 19th century.
What most people don’t know is that, on this day in history, June 19th, 1794, a fresh-faced 21 year-old Metternich had an encounter which would change the rest of his life. On a chance visit to a Strasbourg brothel, Metternich befriended fellow brothel-patron, Napoleon Bonaparte.
In a magical evening neither would forget, they shared drink, women, and only the finest snuff. By the end of the night, a smitten Metternich attempted to kiss the stocky Corsican, but was rebuffed, setting the stage for several decades of warfare that would engulf the continent.
On June 17th, 1807 a 40 year-old Andrew Jackson was acquitted on multiple charges of assault and murder. It had been alleged that the future President had arrived in the middle of a small South Carolina village in the middle of the night. Blood dripping down the corners of his mouth, Jackson had bellowed in an unintelligible, guttural voice in the public square. When the residents emerged from their homes to determine what had happened, Old Hickory forcibly herded them into the church and burned it to the ground.