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Tomorrow is Battle of Vertières Day, a public holiday in the Republic of Haiti on November 18th each year. This holiday commemorates a decisive victory over the French in the Battle of Vertières 1803.

France had established a colony on the island of Hispaniola in 1625 and created sugar and coffee plantations, which used a vast number of African slaves. The slaves lived under terrible conditions and they would eventually rebel in the late 18th century leading to the Haitian Revolution.

The Battle of Vertières was the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, making Haiti the first-ever nation to successfully gain independence through a slave revolt. The battle was fought on November 18th 1803 between forces made up mainly of former slaves led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Napoleon’s French expeditionary forces under the command of General Rochambeau.

Napoléon Bonaparte had come to power in 1799 and this was his first major defeat. France then withdrew its remaining 7,000 troops from the island and Napoleon abandoned any ambitions to a North American empire. The defeat of the French had ramifications far beyond Haiti and the Caribbean, with the war having gone so badly, Napoleon sold Louisiana (New France) to the United States for $15 million dollars, in the Louisiana Purchase.

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Bada Bing!!

They told me I’d never be any good at poetry because I’m dyslexic, but so far I’ve made two jugs and a vase!

I’m not proud of the person I become when I see a bowl of stuffing.

Him: If we stayed alone in a dark room for an hour, what would you do? Her: I’d look for a light switch.

Balloons are so weird. Happy birthday. Here’s a plastic sack of my breath.

I wish Taylor Swift was in love with a climate scientist.

Overheard at grocery store: Paper or plastic, sir? Doesn’t matter. I’m bisacksual.

The earliest Carol singers can be found on the Bayeux tapestry. They were soldiers from Western France. They were known as the Brittany Spears.

The inventor of the doorbell did not own a dog.

It isn’t officially Thanksgiving dinner until someone says “I’m not doing this shit again next year”.

Jesus invited prostitutes to dine with him and he’s the light of the world. I do it and ‘I’m making Thanksgiving awkward’.

Apart from “life is short”, what other lines do you use before making bad decisions?

Did you know that a candle flame smells like burnt nose hair?

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Today is the birthday, in 1942, of Bob Gaudio, The Royal Teens, (1958 US No.3 single ‘Short Shorts). The Four Seasons, who had the 1960s hits ‘Sherry’, ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’, ‘Walk Like a Man’, and the 1976 UK & US No.1 single ‘December 1963, (Oh What A Night’). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG1JnZ-eOHg