The Marquis de la Fayette was born today in 1757. Dashing, brave, romantic and with the obligatory white horse, he fought for the Americans during the War of Independence. The really smooth move came from Colonel C E Stanton when his troops arrived in Paris in 1917. He visited the great man's tomb and said, 'Lafayette, we are here!'
Just brilliant!
In other news ...
There was a glitch in the computer network in Paris today in 1989 when 41,000 people guilty of traffic violations like illegal parking and speeding, received letters charging them with extortion, prostitution and murder.
The Ministry of Justice at once apologized and sent all 41,000 to the guillotine on the grounds that there's no smoke without fire.
