A Brief History On August 19, 1940, the B-25 Mitchell was flown for the first time. Although its service life did not extend as long as many other airplanes, this medium bomber was adapted for a huge variety of uses and configurations, making it one of the most versatile aircraft ever. We started a previous article about versatile aircraft with the first flight of the B-25, and today we take a look at another group of incredibly versatile aircraft that have made their mark in aviation history. As always, we invite you to nominate those aircraft you believe belong on…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Daniel Zar is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.
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A Brief History On August 17, 2017, the great Catalonian city of Barcelona, Spain was the scene of a mass murder perpetrated by Islamic extremist terrorists, and firearms were not the primary weapon that killed 16 innocent victims. The primary weapon used in the terror attacks was the motor vehicle as driven into pedestrians, a deadly weapon in the wrong hands. Digging Deeper This outrage was committed by a terrorist group of 8 Islamic extremists and conducted in Barcelona, a major city of 1.6 million people, with a metropolitan area population of over 5 million. (Note: The author has been…
A Brief History On August 14, 1480, during the protracted Battle of Otranto in Southern Italy, a siege of the city between the Ottoman Turks and the Italian defenders of their homeland, the Ottomans, who of course were of the Islamic faith, took 800 Christian Italians hostage and gave them a choice, convert to Islam or be executed. The Italian Christians chose not to renounce their faith, and in turn beheaded by the Ottomans. Sadly, this terrible incident is but one of many in which one side or the other has attempted to use force upon other people to cause…
A Brief History On August 12, 1676, John Alderman, known as a “Praying Indian” because he was a Native American converted to Christianity, shot and killed Chief Metacomet of the Wampanoag people, thus ending the conflict known as King Phillip’s War. Digging Deeper King Phillip’s War, known also by a bewildering array of other names, including Metacom’s War, The First Indian War, Metacomet’s War, Pometacomet’s Rebellion, and Metacom’s Rebellion, was a conflict that lasted from June 20, 1675 until the death of Metacomet in 1676, although some fighting continued in the Northern areas of British colonies until April of 1678. …
A Brief History On August 10, 1978, three members of a family died in a fiery crash when their Ford Pinto was rear-ended. The bolts on the differential were positioned in such a manner that in the case of a rear-end collision, the bolts would pierce the gas tank. Ford had known about the problem but chose not to correct it, electing to pay off lawsuits instead. We used this unfortunate incident to highlight those terrible flaws and features in cars and non-commercial trucks in our previous article, “10 Worst Car Features and Flaws Ever!” and today we add another…