On this day in history.....
Summary: A participant discusses various historical events, focusing on aviation milestones, military history, and technological achievements. Topics include the anniversary of the Marine Corps, the introduction of the F-16 fighter, and significant moments involving historical figures like Max Immelmann and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Additional details highlight the innovation of the Browning machine gun and global communications breakthroughs. The discourse blends historical anecdotes with instances of technological and military advancements.
This is for all of us, and anything goes! We can post historic events, or personal anecdotes or weird weather events, whatever we like!
And I'll start with today being July 17th. In my personal history, on this day in 1978, I hit a sand patch while on my bike, skidded and broke my right elbow along with road rashing my face badly! It hurt, A LOT! But there's always a silver lining, right? When school started , everybody wanted to carry my books and such because I had a whole 6 minutes between classes to navigate the stairs, lol!
wri-8727
·6 days ago · EditedOn this day, September 1st, 1914, after the events in Europe, the United States Army organized its first tactical air unit, the First Aero Squadron at North Island Air Field, San Diego Calif.
16 officers, 77 enlisted men, and 8 airplanes
As an aside the brown boot Army aviators shared North Island with the Navy who wore black shoes. The Naval aviators soon changed to brown shoes since the dust, (unlike coal dust), made it hard to maintain a polish.
Even to this day Naval aviators wear brown shoes.
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·2 weeks agoOn this day, August 23rd, 1954, the first of two Lockheed C-130s flew from the Lockheed Air Terminal at Burbank, California, to Edwards Air Force Base.
C-130 runnin down the strip
https://youtu.be/SU2S5tRikaw?si=D5vTWC8hrny9_sgU
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·3 weeks ago · EditedOn this day, August 17th, in 1978 the F-16 Fighting Falcon was introduced. A development of the Lightweight Fighter program the F-16 replaced the F-111 Aradvark and the F-4 Phantom, (respectively nicknamed the Iron Pig and the Double Ugly)
The F-16 is probably the most iconic fighter aircraft since the legendary P-51 Mustang.
--
The tribute car:
the iconic & legendary DMC-12 DeLorean
wri-8727
·3 weeks ago · EditedOn August 16th, 1978 John DeLorean made a deal with Margaret Thatcher ...
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/aug/16/delorean-car-sports-belfast
Seemed like a good idea at the time, a factory built right on the dividing line of The Troubles with two doors at opposite ends of the building. One door for Protestants and one for Catholics, and it worked; healing much animosity (to DeLorean's credit) except that John then crossed Margaret and was then busted for cocaine; though later aquitted, though, by strange coincidence, also on August 16th. Let that be a lesson.
Also another strange coincidence was DeLorean collaborator and Lotus Motors cash strapped owner Colin - simplify, then add lightness - Chapman disappearance during John's troubles.
wri-8727
·Aug 8, 2026 at 6:35 PM · EditedOn this day in 45 B.C.,
Tully finished 'De finibus bonorum et malorum', (On the ends of good and evil)
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The Lorem Ipsum mystery solved on eBay?
https://youtu.be/kL1PDqzqhM4?si=L6zzEEV_u3Wm-CcW
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·1 month ago · Edited31 July 1923: The Browning .50-caliber machine gun patent was filed
— Gun That Won the War -
"If the German Air Force had the Browning .50 caliber, the Battle of Britain would have turned out differently" - ‘Hap’ Arnold
Also on this day in 1944 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry went missing in action.
In 1998 Saint-Ex's silver identity bracelet was found south of Marseilles.
The finder, Habib Benamor, said: “I told myself, you’re dreaming, because the sea is very big and a bracelet is very small.”
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·1 month ago · EditedOn this day the Marine Corps was re-established:
"The U.S. Marine Corps was formally reestablished on July 11, 1798, following its original formation as the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775. This reestablishment was due to the need for a naval infantry force amid ongoing conflicts" - AI
https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2026/02/01/history/span-classbrnwsbreaking-news-spana-daring-night-in-tripoli-stephen-decaturs-1804-raid-on-the-uss-philadelphia/10038.html
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·2 months ago · EditedOn this day the first around the world telegraph message was sent traveling east-to-west from New York over the Atlantic cable to England; then across the Continent and to Hong-Kong; then to Manila and over the American Pacific cable to San Francisco; and finally over land back to New York.
https://bullyhistory.com/the-1st-around-the-world-telegram
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·2 months agoOn this day in 1930 Henry Royce was knighted for service to British aviation
The 1929 Schneider Cup winner Supermarine S.6
https://www.nytimes.com/1929/08/13/archives/new-british-plane-for-cup-race-shown-supermarine-craft-embodying.html
https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a33627250/1929-schneider-cup-history/
Rolls-Royce Battle of Britain memorial stained glass window
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·2 months agoOn this day in 1916 Max Immelmann a World War I flying ace who became the first aviator to win the prestigious Pour le Mérite honor (the Blue Max) was shot down over Northern France
Flying a Fokker the air cooled adaptation of the British Maxim gun used as a synchronized cowling gun was a game changer that only the Germans had making the Fokker the first purpose built fighter aircraft.
So Max with his Maxim gun and Blue Max around his neck, (later used to identify his remains along with his monogramed handkerchief RIP), was the German hero whose every move was reported by the newspapers and then later was weirdly exploited by the Third Reich who 12 years after his death cremated his remains and placed his urn in Dresden’s Tolkewitz cemetery complete with a tomb and a monument.
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·3 months agoOn June 7, 1928, Chrysler produced the first Plymouth car, the Model Q, to compete with Ford and Chevy.
While searching for a name though when someone suggested Plymouth Walter P. Chrysler turned it down. Said Plymouth sounded too puritanical. After all it was Roaring Twenties.
But Joe Frazer spoke up and said that Plymouth was a household name amongst the American farmers, (numbering 30 million and one of Chrysler's most prospective markets.)
Name recognition was important to the progressive/mechanized farmers figured Walter Chrysler, who hoped the progressives were ready to advance to the steel bodied, hydraulic braked, 45 horsepower Plymouths who'd do sixty.
Walt was right, Plymouth did out sell Ford and Chevy in the decade following the stock market crash of '29.
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·3 months agoOn this day in 1431 the young shepherdess Jeanne d’Arc after being taken prisoner by the Burgundians at Compiègne and sold to the English at Rouen was taken by order of the Cardinal of Winchester to be burnt three times at Place du Vieux-Marche then Pucelle's ashes were thrown into the Seine under the Mathilde bridge ensuring that no relic remained.
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·3 months agoOn this day in 1865 the ITU was born in Paris to sort out a few telegraphy problems
Two Telegraph operators in the border office at Strasbourg. One French and one German. When the French operator received a message from say, Paris, he wrote the text down and handed it across to the German operator who sent it again on its way.
Another problem, or rather concern, the International Telegraph Union addressed was since the advent of telegraphy over 50 revolutions had broke out all over Europe and some felt, to an extent, the telegraph responsible.
Summarizing the achievement of the conference, Drouyn de Lhuys said:
We have met here as a veritable Peace Congress. Although it is true that war is frequently caused by a mere misunderstanding, is it not a fact that the destruction of one of the causes makes it easier for nations to exchange ideas, and brings within their reach this prodigious means of communication, this electric wire which conveys thoughts through space at lightning speed, providing a speedy and unbroken link for the scattered members of the human race?
Salon de l’Horloge, Quai d’Orsay, Paris
Those in attendance
Austrian Empire
Grand Duchy of Baden
Kingdom of Bavaria
Kingdom of Belgium
Kingdom of Denmark
Kingdom of Spain
French Empire
Kingdom of Greece
Free City of Hamburg
Kingdom of Hannover
Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Kingdom of Portugal
Kingdom of Prussia
Russian Empire
Kingdom of Saxony
United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
Swiss Confederation
Ottoman Empire
Kingdom of Württemberg
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·3 months agoOn this day in 1926 the an American flag and a Norwegian were dropped at the North Pole.
After their trip over the top of the world the crew took a boat to Seattle since the Norge was pretty beat up due to ice chunks hitting the propellers.
Roald Amundsen, the last Viking, arriving in Seattle wearing his Alaskan prospector outfit.
https://www.historylink.org/File/21170
Later that year Amundsen toured the country giving speaking engagement to raise funds and while in Frago had two molars extracted which the dentist kept since Roald Amundsen was a household name. Unfortunately Amundsen was lost the next year so the dentist donated the molars to Concordia College being they were Roald Amundsen only mortal remains.
https://www.concordiacollege.edu/news/details/world-s-greatest-explorer-leaves-mark-at-concordia/
Roald Amundsen
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·4 months agoOn this day in 1904 Charles Rolls and Henry Royce formed an unlikely partnership.
Rolls while at Cambridge was nicked-named ‘Dirty Rolls’ and ‘Petrolls’ for tinkering with cars. Rolls set-up one of the first car dealerships in Britain, selling foreign cars.
Royce was apprenticed at 14 to Great Northern Railway Works which led to tinkering about with cars also, in fact by 1903 Royce built his first petrol engine and in 1904 he drove his Royce 10hp motor car into town.
Then Rolls met Royce and agreed to sell the Royce motor car under the name of Rolls-Royce.
But while Rolls and Royce were busy building and selling Rolls-Royce motor cars Claude Johnson, known as the hyphen in Rolls-Royce, was busy promoting the brand - ‘The six-cylinder Rolls-Royce – not one of the best, but the Best Car in the World.’
The first Silver Ghost, so named by Claude Johnson in 1907.
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·4 months agoOn this day in 1937 the China Clipper landed at Hong Kong after a six day trip from San Francisco. This was the first commercial transpacific flight.
Onboard was seven revenue passengers, 2,500 pounds of freight, including 100,000 letters and newspapers.
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·4 months agoOn this day General Motors decided to stop production of their 82 year old brand - Pontiac
quote - "The Last Pontiac: Originally in an Avis airport rental fleet in Boise, Idaho, after 11 months, it was auctioned to a Pontiac dealership in Colorado. But it was soon back on the auction block heading to another Pontiac dealer in Kansas. That’s where an 82-year-young woman bought the fleet white G6. Nobody knew its historic significance.
For years, the woman drove her G6. Once the museum found her, it got in touch with her daughter. But the woman was not going to let her Pontiac go. Pursuing her for months, she finally gave in and sold it to a friend of the museum, who donated it. Something no one knew about until the donation was all of the assembly plant workers’ signatures hiding under the trunk lining."
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·4 months agoOn this day NASA dropped Apollo 13's third stage booster on the Moon
Mare Cognitum: "Sea that has become known". The impact of the booster had the energy of eleven and a half tons of TNT and rang the Moon like a bell, (reported by Apollo 12's Seismic station distanced 74 nautical miles away), for four hours.
In mythology Apollo is a god of light, rational thought and healing but also a punishing force if angered bringing sudden disasters his silver arrow.
ATTN NASA: maybe you shouldn't dropped stuff on the moon
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·4 months agoOn this day in 1865 J.L. Chamberlain wrote a letter to his sister.
--
April 13th 1865.
My dear Sae,
I am glad I was not tempted to leave the army this Spring. I would not for a fortune have missed the experiences of the last two weeks. It seems like two years, so many, + such important events have taken place, within that time. Father said in his last letter to me that "the glory of battles was over." But if he had seen some of these we have had of late, in which we captured the enemy by thousands + carried their positions by a dash, and at last at Appomattox Court House received the surrender of Genl Lee + his whole army he would think differently...
...It was a scene worthy of a pilgrimage, yesterday, when the old "Third Brigade" of the 1st Div. was drawn up to receive the surrender of the Rebel arms. My Brigade you know consists of 9 Regts. the remnant of the old 5th Corps, veterans of thirty battles. They number about six thousand men all told- on the right was old Massachusetts with the remnants of her 9th, 18th, 22d + 32d. Then Maine, her 1st, 2d, + 20th- Michigan 1st, 4th, + 16th- Pennsylvania- with the sturdy relics of her 82d, 83d, 91st, 118th, + 155th.- with my staff + the old flag- the red maltese cross on a white field with blue border. I took post on the right at 5 a.m., + received first Maj. Gen Gordon with his corps—Stonewall Jackson's—then Longstreet's corps. with Hoods Andersons & Pickett's old Divisions—men we had faced a score of times + almost recognized by face. [Picket's] [Pickett's] splendid Div. only stacked 53 muskets + not a single stand of colors—we had so completely used them up at 5 Forks. Last came Hill's Corp.—by Divisions—Hill himself being killed.[1] We received them with the honors due to troops—at a shoulder—in silence. They came to a shoulder on passing my flag + preserved perfect order. When the head of their column reached our left, they halted face toward our line + close to it—say 4 or 5 yards-- + stacked their arms + piled their colors. Poor fellows. I pitied them from the bottom of my heart. Those arms had been well handled + flags bravely borne.
15,000 stand of arms + 72 flags were stacked before my line. I saw + conversed with nearly all the Rebel Generals, + shall have more things to tell you of by + by...
--
Courageous General Chamberlain
15 years later he once again donned his old Civil War uniform and singlehandedly quelled another civil war brewing in Maine.
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·4 months agoOn April 9, 1937 24-year-old Iinuma Masaaki landed at Croydon Airport in a Mitsubishi Ki-15 Karigane after a four day trip.
The first Japanese flight to Europe made Iinuma a national hero. Unfortunately, Iinuma dazed after hearing the news of Pearl Harbor walked into a spinning propeller. His death was officially reported as a military casualty.
All that remains of the 'Kamikaze' is a souvenir taken by an American GI and returned in 2021
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·5 months agoFifty years ago today Apple Computer Company was formally organized
Recent auction results
Steve Wozniak's Apple Rainbow Glasses $47,000
Steve Jobs Personally-Owned Bow Ties (12) $113,580
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·5 months agoToday in 1867, after the close of the American Civil War, Czar Alexandre II, (a cordial friend of Lincoln), sold America Alaska for a pittance in order to keep it out of the hands of Britain, Russia's enemy, (see Charge of the Light Brigade).
Well now Putin's trying to sell the same cow twice claiming it was a hundred year lease. I'm guessing mebbe Vladimir's short of cash?
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·5 months agoOn this day fifty years ago Allied General Bernard ‘Monty’ Montgomery passed away.
When asked to name the three generals he admired... ‘The other two would be Alexander the Great and Napoleon.’
Unbeatable and unbearable said Churchill
At Staff College one student was sentenced to sit next to Monty at breakfast for a week, and as the college magazine posed: “If it takes ten truck loads of 9.2” Mk V star India pattern to stop one bath on the second floor of the staff college from leaking, How many haynets with full echelons will be required to stop Monty burbling at breakfast.'
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·5 months agoOn the day in history in 2006 the USS Iowa was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.
The Iowa was the lead ship of her class, the last class of battleships built by the US, the best built anywhere, and built in Brooklyn...
Ironically, she ended up in LA, (like the Brooklyn Dodgers;)
Of all of the Iowa class battlewagons, (USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, USS Missouri, and USS Wisconsin), none have been scrapped.
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·6 months agoOn this day in 1965: A U.S. Navy Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King helicopter named Dawdling Dromedary took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in San Diego, California and flew non-stop, without refueling, to land aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt off Mayport, Florida 17 hours later. A 10 knot tailwind helped.
shirleys809304:
Quieter Then A Rolls Royce
LTD stood for limited but Ford lawyers would never admit it because Chrysler held the copyright on name Limited
LTD was the car built for loyal Ford owners who wanted something with all the bells and whistles without buying a Mercury or Lincoln. It was eventually replaced by the Crown Victoria.
wri-8727
·6 months agoConceived of in 1976, first flight in 1977, and certified in March of 1978, the Cessna Citation II was dangled for the Young upwardly mobile professional.
Tribute vehicle (other then the Chevy Citation) would be the Ford LDT II
Built on the now discontinued Ford Gran Torino platform Ford threw it's hat in the YUPPIE ring by bringing back the old doctors car revisited (the LDT) and told Mustang Sally to take a ride.
roccotacodad54
·6 months agoMarch 5th 1770 the Boston massacre. Brisish soldiers firing on colonist protesters.
shirleys809304
·6 months agoMy older brother fell in love with the LTD. Handled wonderfully on those gravel roads and the ride was smooth as silk.
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·6 months agoOn this day in 1516 Mary Tudor was born
 
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Queen-Mary-I/
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·6 months ago15 February 1961, 09:05 UTC a Boeing 707 enroute from Idlewild Airport, New York to Brussels as SABENA Flight SN548 under the command of Captain Ludovic Marie Antoine Lambrechts and Captain Jean Roy crashed into an open field 1.9 miles northeast of Brussels and all 61 passengers and 11 crew members and 1 person on the ground were killed, including the entire U.S. Figure Skating Association team, their families, coaches, judges and officials
 
. . It has been said that we should never put off telling someone that we love them, for we might not get another chance.
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·6 months agoOn this day in T.A. 3019:
The Fellowship of the Ring rests in Lothlórien.
And on this day in A.D. 1864:
Mr. Lincoln Has His Picture Taken.
 
 
casprrr
·7 months agoThe Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011 occurred 15 years ago today. I live in Riverside, IA, and certainly remember this one!
https://www.weather.gov/dvn/groundhog_blizzard
The storm begins.
 
 No snowblower. It took several hours and a number of breaks to clear my driveway.
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·7 months agoIn the month February 1942 it was decided we needed a road to Alaska
Work started that March 1942
Military traffic was rolling by November 1942
 
By June 1943 bus service was available
 
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·7 months agoOn this day in 1926 Lieutenant John Macready attempted to take back the absolute height record he had originally taken in 1921 but lost two years later to the French. Mechanical failure caused Lieutenant John Macready to miss his mark by 800 feet
Yet Lieutenant John Macready hit the mark when he designed the famous Ray-Ban Aviators
An American icon since WWII
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1937 RAY BAN WW2 AVIATOR B&L 1/10 12KGF 1st GENERATION SUNGLASSES Beautiful 😎
$1,399.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/223968220005
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·7 months agoOn this day in 1932 Claude Gray Jr. "The Tall Texan" (6'5") was born.
Here's an short interview with Claude at 89 with a few of his old songs and one of his new ones, 'Music'.
https://youtu.be/pvSSHWi-poQ?si=6UyLikTfof7szpE2
Claude Gray had an interesting connection to Willy Nelson through the song 'Family Bible'.
""Family Bible" is a song written by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. Nelson began writing the song in 1957, while he enjoyed success as a disc jockey in KVAN, in Vancouver, Washington. After being denied a raise by the station, he moved to Houston, Texas. Due to financial issues he sold the song to Paul Buskirk. Upon purchasing the song, Buskirk took it to singer Claude Gray. Gray's recording of the song reached number seven on Billboard's Hot Country Singles. Fueled by the success of the record, Nelson moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he enjoyed recognition for writing the song. It became part of Nelson's live performance set, and he recorded it for the first time himself for his 1971 album Yesterday's Wine."
Family Bible (song) - Wikipedia
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·7 months agoMacintosh introduction January 24th 1984 Flint Center of the Performing Art, Cupertino
https://youtu.be/xQCgM7i-h8g?si=HbPk9NjvjtKd-Z6e
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·7 months agoIn 1908 the washing machine and the flying machine went public both creating societal change
 
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·7 months agoOn this day in 1917 Woodrow Wilson purchased the Danish West Indies for 25 million in gold coin in order to protect the Panama Canal from Kaiser Wilhelm.
 
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·7 months agoOn this day in 1935 The Latécoère 521 powered by six Hispano-Suiza V-12 engines was launched at Biscarrosse Seaplane Base
More of an airship then a plane yet the ability to land on water was surely a comfort to the 72 passengers flying her to the West Indies
The Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris - Laté 521
 
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·7 months agoOn this day in 1793 The First Manned Flight In America - Landed in Deptford NJ
Launched from Philadelphia Jean-Pierre François Blanchard was carrying a letter from President George Washington to be delivered to the owner of whomever house was nearest to the landing site making this not only the first manned flight but the first Airmail delivery.
The OG Philadelphia Flyer
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·8 months agoSix Degrees of Kevin Bacon*
In January of 1994 Kevin Bacon made the following statement: "he, (Kevin Bacon), had worked with everybody in Hollywood or someone who's worked with them."
*It is a little known fact that any actor or actress can be linked back to Kevin Bacon.**
**Little known in '94, well known now:)
--
Source
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.movies/c/-qNue6RwTn8
onlinecentral
·8 months agoThousands of protesters descended on Washington, DC. on January 6, 2021.
140 Police were assaulted with fists, flag poles, stun guns, pepper and bear spray.
Four people died on January 6th. Kevin Gleeson had a heart attack in the crowd, Roseanne Boyland was crushed by the crowd, Benjamin Philips stroked out and Ashli Babbitt was shot by Capitol Police.
Officer Brian Sicknick died the next day because they doused him with lethal amounts pepper and bear spray. Vigorous 45 year old cops don't otherwise have strokes.
The Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham shows were pushing the narrative that the rioters were BLM or Antifa disguised as MAGA on the evening of January 6th.
Four years of image searches and research occurred. Citizen investigators, online sedition hunters, ran image searches on the web and helped the DOJ identify hundreds of J6 rioters. Of the 1,500 identified, none have been plain clothes FBI agents, BLM or Antifa. All were MAGA.
About 450 rioters were found guilty of assaulting police.
Most of the defendants took a plea deal when shown still photos and videos of themselves.
There were 63 days between election day and the riot. Why didn't the Republican controlled Senate conduct an inquiry into alleged election irregularities? Were they afraid the result would be a swing and a miss?
You can run a web search for this. Donald Trump Speech on Election Fraud Claims Transcript Dec 2, 2020 "It’s name is Dominion, with the turn of a dial or the change of a chip, you could press a button for Trump and the vote goes to Biden." Why didn't Donald Trump bring Dominion and Smartmatic machines on TV and have his computer guru demonstrate how to flip votes for the American public? That would have gotten him a reinstatement, right?
Why didn't FOX bring Dominion and Smartmatic machines on TV and have their guru do the demonstration instead of paying the $787.5 million defamation settlement?
Why didn't the Republican controlled Congress of Kevin McCarthy and Mike Johnson conduct an inquiry in 2023-2024 into alleged election irregularities? Were they afraid the result would be a swing and a miss?
Why didn't the Republican controlled Congress of Mike Johnson conduct an inquiry in 2025 into the 270 plain clothes FBI Agents? Why didn't FBI Director Kash Patel investigate this or release the records? Why hasn't Pam Bondi committed to prosecuting these offenders? Are they afraid the result would be a swing and a miss?
The group that financed the 2,000 Mules movie admitted they can't prove anything.
You can run a web search for this.
‘True The Vote’ Tells Judge It Doesn’t Have Evidence For ‘Ballot Mules’ Conspiracy Theory
True The Vote “TTV has no such documents in its possession, custody, or control.â€
We now know the identity of the person who left undetonated pipe bombs at both the DNC and RNC buildings. His political affiliation is not especially MAGA or Leftist. He is on the autism spectrum and his motivation is unclear. MAGA can no longer blame him for the riot the next day.
No credible evidence of a stolen election has been presented five years later. Because everyone was pardoned, there has not been accountability for the criminal behavior.
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·8 months agoOn this day in 1956 while returning to Philadelphia from a test flight the Piasecki H-16 Turbo Transporter crashed near Swedesboro, New Jersey ending the H-16 project.
"Going Vertical: Piasecki's Machine"
https://youtu.be/IahN4m4LMK0?si=v2lzf_srCPvAP_FB
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·8 months agoOn this day in 1957 the Brooklyn Dodgers were the first MLB team to buy their own airliner.
Their first team plane was a DC-3, (won in a crap game from Eastern Airlines president Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker.) When it came time to get a bigger plane, (the railroad age was ending and it's a long way to LA), once again the Dodgers management turned to Rickenbacker who had just ordered 20 new Conairs plus 1 for the Dodgers ($70,000.)
Longtime Dodgers pilot Bump Holman, (in the dark suit.)
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·8 months agoOn this day in 1935 pilot /poet Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger comte de Saint Exupéry (Saint-Ex for short) took off from Paris in a race to Sà i Gòn, French Indo-China
Saint-Ex in his Caudron C.630 Simoun (Sandstorm)
The next day Saint-Ex crash landed in the Sahara desert where he met the little prince 
“Sitting in the flickering light of the candles on this kerchief of sand, on this village square, we
waited in the night. We were waiting for the rescuing dawn – or for the Moors. Something,
I know not what, lent this night a savor of Christmas. We told stories, we joked, we sang songs.
In the air there was that slight fever that reigns over a gaily prepared feast. And yet we were
infinitely poor. Wind, sand, and stars. The austerity of Trappists. But on this badly lighted cloth,
a handful of men who possessed nothing in the world but their memories were sharing invisible riches. â€
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·8 months agoOn this day in 1922 dainippon_teikoku_kaigun
HÅshÅ was commissioned. The world's first purpose built aircraft carrier.
Beating that other island nation by a couple of years
HMS Hermes (95) 1924
 
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·8 months agoAbout 6,200 Sabres were built in the US before production ended in December 1956 making the North American F-85 Sabre the most-produced US fighter-jet ever
 
The next year on 20 December 1957 the first Boeing 707 took-off from Renton Washington and remained in continuous production until 1977 with more than 1,000 aircraft produced making it one of the most influential jets ever
 
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·8 months agoOn this day in 1963 Charles Elwood Yeager made his fourth attempt at setting the altitude record in a Lockheed F-104A-10-LO Starfighter
 
Memorialized in the film 'The Right Stuff'
Chuck Yeager's 100,000 Foot Zoom Rocket Plane Crash
https://youtu.be/lY23_WBE4Pg?si=AQsY6UY3DtXbbRDd
roccotacodad54
·8 months agoOn this day in history Martin Luther King accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. December 10, 1964 in Oslo Norway.
In a time of much division and confusion his message was something I was taught at an early age.
My father was a WWII vet and afterward a high steel worker. He taught me that all that matters is what a man is made of, inside. The outside doesn't matter, it's what's inside that matters. His life depended on it several times in his life.
He taught me to be proud to work and keep company with men of courage and good character regardless of their race or religious beliefs.
Something I'll always admire him for, instilling that in my work and life ethic.
A belief that seems to have fallen out of favor with all too many............................
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·9 months agoOn this day in 1973 the draft ended.
General Hal Moore: the man tasked with building the new all volunteer army.
It was such a shame to see George W Bush, (under Paul Wolfowitz), throw it all away.
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·9 months agoIn December of 1976 the US Army adopted the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk as the replacement for the Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey)
 
In 1981 Bill Murray, et al, paid tribute to the UH-60 with a 1976 EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle (GMC Motorhome)
 
Similarly, Mr. T paid tribute to the UH-1 with an '83 GMC Vandura
 
 
The mind boggles:)
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·9 months agoGlenn L. Martin started production in Maryland of the quick response nuclear capable B-57 Canberra in November of 1951 (under licence of English Electric)
A clean straight forward design with twin tubiler jet engines integrated into the wings reflected in the twin rocket bumps on the hood of the classic '57 Chevy
Yeager flew a 'Cranberry' in Vietnam and NASA still uses a couple few of them to sniff for nuclear testing (among other high altitude things)
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·9 months agoThe Northrop Grumman “RQ-4†Global Hawk is a uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) deployed in November 2001 as the eye in the sky in the Global War on Terror (GWOT).
The US Air Force has attempted to retire the Global Hawk over satellite systems and emerging space-based autonomous systems but Congress said no, citing the Global Hawk’s use in humanitarian assessment, disaster mapping, and maritime search and rescue.
Addendum: tribute vehicle 2001 - 2021 Freightliner Sprinter
 
 
wri-8727
·9 months agoOn this day in 1920 Queensland and Northern Territories Aerial Services, Ltd., Qantas, was founded operating air mail services linking railheads in western Queensland.
 
Founders Paul Joseph McGinness, D.F.C., D.C.M., and Wilmot Hudson Fysh, D.F.C
Taken while serving in the Australian Flying Corps in Palestine c.1918.
wri-8727
·9 months ago“at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we will remember them.â€
 
 
 
 
wri-8727
·10 months agoOn this day in History 249 years ago the Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded. The 7th of 21 along El Camino Real and known for the returning swallows on St Josephs day, (when a priest saw a shopkeeper knocking down swallow nests he told the swallows that there was room for them at the Juan Capistrano).
Well, old Juan Capistrano was abit down in those hard years of The Great Depression but got lucky in 1939 when Leon René, while recovering from tuberculosis in his California garage heard on the radio about the swallows return while impatiently waiting for his breakfast, jotted down a song. The song that ultimately ended up saving Mission Juan Capistrano, (Leon's piano enshrined is there).
Learn more about how the way to a man heart is through his stomach here:
https://tammanyfamily.blogspot.com/2021/08/rockin-robin-written-by-local.html
2/3rds of the way down 
richard1rst
·10 months agoOn this day in history my mother had a severe headache. A month later, the headache now gone, well ------ here I am.
wri-8727
·10 months agoThis poem describes in accurate detail the charge of the Aust. Light Horse, WW1, 31st. Oct. 1917
 
THE CHARGE AT BEERSHEBA
They sat in the dust, the tall, gaunt young men, the no-nonsense men from Australia,
They sat by their giant and thirsty good steeds without sword or lance or regalia.
Across the plain there, just three miles or more, were cannon, machine-gun and rifle,
And dealing out death to the mounted young men would be only a few minutes’ trifle.
So they thought, these hardened and old-fashioned men for whom war was the customary life,
Day after day down the centuries long, since they fought with the club and the knife.
But a new man was out there across the dry sands – he could meet any hardship with humour,
And the men of the Old World knew nothing of him, and they thought it must be but a rumour
That troops from an unknown and far Southern Land could storm to Gallipoli’s height
And all but devour the untakeable hill to win the unwinable fight.
Oh they hated the war, the men from the South – in each breast beat the heart of a rover
As they dreamed of their friendly Wide Brown Land in peace, mutt’ring “Let’s get this bloody thing over!â€
Their horses were restive and dry with the heat: they’d been far too long without water,
To the soldiers they were more than just mounts: they were mates,
and for mates the Light Horse would face slaughter.
“To hell with their numbers! To hell with their guns! It’s too hot here to flamin’ well think!
“And beggar their desert,†said Digger, “Let’s go! Our horses will die without drink!â€
Harry Chauvel summed up the position: his men were all rested and ready –
Victoria’s Fourth and New South Wales’ Twelfth, determined, courageous and steady
The chiefs on the hill were now forced to decide – the light would be presently gone!
Balaclava itself was a much shorter dash, and some said, “It cannot be done.â€
But General Grant took another good look at strong horses and great-hearted men:
“I feel they can do it, Harry,†he said – Said Harry, “Let’s jump to it, then.â€
Across the wide plain nestled Abraham’s Wells, and before them the hell and the strife,
But Lawson and Hyman set off at the trot, at the head of men careless of life.
Their tempers were up, they were sick of the war, the Old World with its blunder and error,
But never before, in its story so long, had it seen such a thundering terror –
The guns opened up and the shrapnel flew wide, but the horsemen were too far away.
In the enemy hearts a most awful fear grew, and they knew they’d remember this day.
Half way across! Now the gallop was on! The men from each side of the Murray
On their High Snowy Walers thundering close! In the trenches all panic and flurry.
“They’ll stop and dismount!†came an officer’s shout, “They can’t fight like a fine cavalry,
“So stay at your posts in your trenches all safe, and just pick off this poor infantry.â€
“They’ll tire and halt, they can’t gallop so far! No horsemen can take these defences.
“They’re out in the open, all weaponless, too. They can’t fight ’til they get to our trenches.â€
But a weapon they had that the Turk couldn’t know, and it lay in the strength and the speed
Of the finest horseflesh that the world ever saw – the mighty Australian bush steed.
“We’re under the guns!†a Light Horseman cried out as his heartbeat went double the pace,
And his mount galloped faster, determined and strong – Oh never was run such a race!
“They’re still coming! They’re mad! But we’ll stop them all yet, this menace be suddenly gone!â€
Then the dying sun flashed on each fixed bayonet! And the horses rushed awesomely on!
A riot of fear now, down in the trench. The Light Horsemen saw flashing the lights
As the rifles spat fury right over their heads – they’d forgotten to lower their sights!
Now into the trenches the Light Horsemen plunged, their bayonets and bullets worked well.
The enemy strong demoralised now by the men who’d come at them through hell.
Beersheba was won! The whole war was cut short, and the feathered brown hat shone in glory.
When the pens write of war now they tell of the charge that cannot be left from the story.
But the Walers were left, and sent riders in tears as they boarded the ships to come home,
Left to see out their days in Palestine’s sands, no more on their Snowies to roam.
Ah! The dust of the battle has settled long since – or has it? The warfare’s not done
Where tyranny tramps and greed has dug in: so the struggle for justice goes on.
And this Land in the South can still teach the world, can still have the spotlighted part,
But we must keep the flag of the Light Horse unfurled, and their courage keep strong in our heart.
By Fr John O’Neill, Parish Priest of St John Vianney Parish, Doonside.
***
The last calvary charge, that
changed the world, yet modernity
always repays good with evil
shirleys809304
·9 months ago1969 ~ Janis Joplin was accused of vulgar and indecent language in Tampa, Florida.
1969 ~ Wendy's Hamburgers, founded by Dave Thomas, opens in Columbus, Ohio.
onlinecentral
·10 months agoToday in History
October 29, 1929
'Black Tuesday' descended on the New York Stock Exchange. Stock prices collapsed amid panicked selling and thousands of investors were wiped out, triggering the Great Depression.
richard1rst
·10 months agoHate to break it to you but Google gave you the wrong information. The market crashed on Monday the 28th giving rise to the sobriquet Black Monday. While the event was quite traumatic it by itself did not cause the depression. It was simply the last turn of the screw which with several other events that had already put the event in motion.
https://www.history.com/articles/great-depression-causes
wri-8727
·10 months ago 
October 24, 1969:
Misty-11, an Air Force F-100F experienced engine failure due to antiaircraft fire. A MAYDAY was broadcast and the two crewmen ejected at low altitude and parachuted down into the mountainous Laotian jungle terrain.
https://cgaviationhistory.org/sar/a-selfless-calling/
wri-8727
·10 months agoOn this day in 2012 Super Storm Sandy was forming in the Gulf of America
 
In the aftermath SUNY Maritime College offered the vessel TS Empire State VI to billet Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers.
 
 
wri-8727
·10 months agoOne this day in 1906 the Zeppelin LZ 3 first flew,.
Making it the first truly successful Zeppelin.
Ferdinand von Zeppelin first became interested in ballooning during a Civil War visit to the U.S. where he took a ride
Orville Wright once told the Count his dirigibles, (from the Latin for "steerable"), were like steam locomotives compared to his Wright Flyers; a point later proven true when 75 of the German Navy's 91 Zeppelins were shot down in WWI.
 
wri-8727
·11 months agoOn this day in 1936 the Yorktown Class USS Enterprise (CV-6) was launched. She was the seventh U.S. Navy vessel of that name and the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy (and also the most decorated ship in the U.S. Navy during WW2).
Hellcat on Enterprise flight deck
The ship's bell now resides on the campus of the US Naval Academy.
wri-8727
·11 months agoOn this day in 1964 was the first flight of the XB-70 Valkyrie
 
A high altitude supersonic bomber turned testbed after the shoot down of Gray Powers' U-2 over Russian
 
I guess the Valkyrie's fitting legacy is the 1959 Cadillac El Dorado
 
wri-8727
·11 months agoOne this day in history Howard
Hughes piloted his H-1A Racer
Beating the French by 40mph
Using new 100 octane fuel he
squeezed out an extra 300hp
 , "The Hughes H-1 racer was a major milestone aircraft on the road to such radial engine-powered World War II fighters as the American Grumman F6F Hellcat and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, the Japanese Mitsubishi Type 0 (Zero), and the German Focke-WuIf FW 190."
http://claspgarage.blogspot.com/2014/02/hughes-h-1-racer.html
wri-8727
·1 year agoOn this day in 1939 London mayor Herbert Morrison said to Prime Minster Chamberlain’s aide, Sir Horace Wilson “Look, ’Orace, go in there and tell Neville this from me: If I don’t get the order to evacuate the children from London this morning, I’m going to give it myself – and tell the papers why I’m doing it. ’Ow will ’is nibs like that?â€
 Imperial War Museums link
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-evacuated-children-of-the-second-world-war
Interesting side note: an Idaho senator started the whole 'phony war' conspiracy theory and the Brits, (after correcting the spelling), fell for it.
--
Addendum: quote- "You've heard about the Phoney War, right? In 1939 the “Lion of the Senate†William E. Borah of Idaho used the term, according to a Sept. 18 New York Times dispatch:..."
https://edroso.substack.com/p/dispatches-from-the-phoney-war
wri-8727
·1 year ago20 years ago tropical storm Katrina
was forming in The Gulf of America.
The Coast Guard, Wal-Mart & the Cajun Navy saved the day.
-- 
https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/local/louisiana/2015/08/31/cajun-navy-haunted-inspired-katrina-memories/71283996/
https://news.usni.org/2015/08/31/10-years-after-hurricane-katrina-the-sea-service-response
https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2005/09/07/wal-mart-responds-to-katrina-with-massive-relief-effort/26172508007/
.
wri-8727
·1 year ago90 years ago today record setting aviator Wiley Post and beloved literary Will Rogers lost their lives at Point Barrow, Alaska.
 Last Farewell
The story on Wiley's plane
wri-8727
·1 year agoOn August 13th 1914 First Royal Flying Corps Squadrons landed near Amiens France. The first to land was Lieutenant Hubert Dunsterville Harvey-Kelly, D.S.O in a unarmed B.E.2.
By April 1917 things had got so bad that April was named "Bloody April" (and Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen earned his nickname too.)
Harvey-Kelly's personal effects (some returned, upon his death, by Germany)
It was also the month America entered the war and by September 1917, seeing what the future held, the Army activated The Spruce Production Division and air wars became a real thing.
My grandfather was over-there serving as an aeroplane mechanic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Production_Division
Addendum: Anime Boys' Tribute_Snoopy vs. The Red Baron
https://youtu.be/rMBfKT9RMGs?si=cPK1XpKAw2xiBpek
wri-8727
·1 year agoHenry Martin (or Lofty Tall Ship)
The ballad is based on a family that lived during the reign of Henry VIII. A Scottish officer, Sir Andrew Barton, was attacked by the Portuguese. Letters of marque were then issued to two of his sons. The brothers, not finding sufficient Portuguese ships, began harassing English merchants. King Henry VIII commissioned the Earl of Surrey to end their piracy. He was given two vessels which he put under the command of his sons, Sir Thomas and Sir Edward Howard. They attacked Barton’s ships, The Lion and the Union, and captured them. They returned triumphant on August 2, 1511.
http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_henrymartin.htm
wri-8727
·1 year agoOn July 27, 1914 Austria-Hungary
officially declared war on Serbia
--
Richard van Pelt succinctly reported the rapidly emerging war:
THE EUROPEAN IMBROGLIO AND THE CAUSES THAT LED UP TO IT MAY BE BLOODIEST STRUGGLE WORLD HAS EVER WITNESSED
wri-8727
·1 year agoOn this day in 1933 Wiley Post, flying his spruce aeroplane, (in the sub-stratosphere), got lost looking for Novosibirsk, Russia...
"July 18: Due to bad weather, Post makes two unscheduled landings trying to find his way to Novosibirsk. According to Fay Gillis, Post’s Russian-language translator, the aviator asked two farmers for directions: “One said Novosibirsk was 300 kilometers westward, and the other maintained positively that Novosibirsk was 1,400 kilometers east. They finally agreed that Novosibirsk was east and not west, but they did not reconcile their difference as to distance.†Post omits the two stops in his newspaper report."
#8 Looking for Novosibirsk
https://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2013/wileypost/#map
 
selsa84
·1 year agoMarlon Brando passed on June 30 of 2004. THE HORROR THE HORROR... That part in Apocalypse Now always gives me chills. What a great part for him.
evry1nositswindy
·1 year ago6/30/2005
On this date in my history, I brought our newborn adopted daughter home from the NICU at one week old. She weighed a little over 4 pounds. Sassy then...sassy now!
wri-8727
·1 year agoIt's 00.00 NDT in Newfoundland,
So it's Dominion Day in Canada!
https://youtu.be/K5DyS5KUWUs?si=zv3TazNEAaqoZKDZ
wri-8727
·1 year ago5th June, at 23:16, the beginning of The Longest Day
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/heroes-of-pegasus-bridge-who-also-liberated-a-bar-1693512.html
Bénouville Bridge, named "Pegasus Bridge" after he insignia of the British 6th airborne division, a Pegasus.
 
A cool Canadian example
wri-8727
·1 year agoOn this day in history Sir Christopher
Frank Carandini Lee was born in 1922
Lee, always the natty dresser portrays
Francisco Scaramanga /w King Midas
wri-8727
·1 year agoThe Second World War Victory in Europe
Bandages in Bastogne
https://www.youtube.com/live/uHkRb1ikCYo?si=7fAHFnez87UNsZll
In our house Dad applied all bandages. No Band-Aids in his kit only a reel of adhesive tape and a roll of gaze
https://donmooreswartales.com/2011/04/20/larry-earle/
lira-5290
OP2 years agoIn 1989, Taylor Swift was born!
shirleys809304
·1 year ago1903 ~ First flight of the Wright Brothers
1989 ~ First episode of the Simpsons
1770 ~ Ludvig van Beethoven was born
shirleys809304
·1 year agoOn this day in history, The Enabling Act of 1933, grants Adolph Hitler dictatorial powers in Germany. Hitler was awarded the legal right to issue laws even if in breach of the German Constitution. 🤔
selsa84
·1 year agoGood ole Tay Tay.
lira-5290
OP2 years agoOn this day in 1956, CBS aired " The Wizard of Oz" for the first time on national television!
tiny_tailor
·2 years agoA dark day in history, and a still grieving nation. 60 years ago....
shirleys809304
·2 years ago.....and I remember that day...it changed this kid's perspective on a few things. What a blow.
lira-5290
OP2 years agoOctober 24th, 1929, the great stock market crash/Depression began in reality.
lira-5290
OP2 years agoOn this day in history in 1984, "Let's go crazy" by Prince and the Revolution came out and immediately hit #1 on the charts.
windhaze
·2 years agoOn this day in history - 2007 Foo Fighters went to No. 1 on the UK album chart with Echoes Silence Patience & Grace, their second UK No. 1 album.
The album also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album and was also awarded the Brit Award of Best International Album.
elheron-grande
·2 years agoOn this day, 14 Oct 1066, the Battle of Hastings was fought and won by the invaders of Britannia. Yep, Willie Duke of Normandee became Willie King of Angleland after this huge win at Hastings.
Heron remembers this date. In high school on the day prior to the big History Test Heron answered this question in class discussion. Heron has never forgotten that day. The History teacher awarded Heron with an 'A+' (and also Heron received an A on the written test the next day).
Some dates just stick in the mind (such as 7 December 1941).
By the way, History was Heron's most favorite academic subject in H.S.
Wood shop was Heron's most favorite class in vocational H.S.
lira-5290
OP2 years agoOn this day in 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte began his exile on St. Helena.
Sorry gang, that's the only thing in my head for october 15th, lol!