The Eggnog Riot of 1826 and Other Signs of Christmas

All over the Christian world, it is Christmas Eve.

Christmas seems to be everywhere, from a religious display at our local shopping mall....

to decorated trees at the same mall....

to a lovely tree in a mall store....

and even a bag from a store near Syracuse, New York (although I have no idea what canned corn has to do with Christmas.)

But none of these are as exciting as the Christmas Eve Eggnog Riot of 1826.  (If you have about nine minutes, you can watch the above video, although there is a long ad at the beginning - and sort of, at the last three minutes.)

Basically, after alcohol was banned from West Point (an Army military academy in upstate New York), the cadets took matters into their own hands on Christmas Eve of 1826, with somewhat predictable (to us in the future) results.

This riot story would have been so perfect for my Sunday Civil War posts I used to do between 2011 and 2015, as two men who ended up in high positions in the Confederacy less than 40 years later took part in this riot.  Just think, if they had been expelled, as some other cadets were, history may have changed.......

If you observe Christmas, have a wonderful Christmas Eve.

And here's a little coming attraction for tomorrow.