British forces burned the White House and the Capitol during their invasion of Washington DC.
Which raises the question: Why isn't this glorious event celebrated (and occasionally repeated) to this day?
(Intriguingly, this is also the date in A.D. 79 on which Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. By all accounts, Pompeii was a pretty corrupt and racy place. Do the gods and the British know something we don't?)
