Benjamin Franklin published his “Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One” in the The Public Advertiser in London. Although Franklin intended the “Rules” as a satire, the widely-read article proved to be remarkably prescient. The British Government within a year enacted “The Intolerable Acts” which implemented many of the “Rules” Franklin had warned against thus starting the process that ended up reducing the British Empire from a Great Empire to a Small One.

Source: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-20-02-0213

Of course today America is properly focused on remembrance of our recent tragedy of 9/11.