Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On February 10, 2007, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President in the 2008 Presidential election.  Born in 1961, Obama was only 45 years old when he made his announcement.  He would go on to win the Democratic nomination and then win the US Presidential election, sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 2009 at the age of 47.  Compared to our current President, age 73 at this time and potentially 74 years old if he is sworn in for a second term in January of…

A Brief History On February 9, 1941, during World War II, a giant naval artillery shell dropped on the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa, Italy (usually just called The Genoa Cathedral) failed to explode, sparing the church from destruction.  Fired by the British battleship HMS Malaya, the 15 inch armor piercing projectile was mistakenly fired at the wrong target, and incredibly, the shell remains in place to this day!  Today we take a look at some instances when a bomb or other explosive failed to either detonate at all or detonate without achieving its intended purpose of destruction.  As…

A Brief History On February 8, 1837, the United States Senate elected Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky as the incoming Vice President of the United States, the only time in US history that the Senate was required to make such an election due to the failure of any Vice Presidential candidate to garner enough Electoral votes to get elected.  The 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which went into effect starting with the Presidential election of 1804, is the basis for the Senate being tasked with electing a Vice President in the absence of a majority Electoral College votes for a…

A Brief History On February 7, 1863, the waters off New Zealand witnessed the worst maritime disaster in that country’s history when the Royal Navy corvette, HMS Orpheus went aground and sank while trying to enter Manukau Harbour, leaving 189 of the 259 man crew dead.  We have discussed numerous naval and maritime “oops moments” in which blunders have sunk or heavily damaged ships, often with the cost of many lives. Digging Deeper The Orpheus was fitted out as a “full rigged ship,” although she also had a steam engine that powered a single screw drive (propeller).  Classed as a…

A Brief History On February 6, 1998, Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. was renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.  Many major airports around the country and around the world are named for a real person, and today we look at 10 of those people and the airports they are named after.  (Many of the really big airports in the world are named after a place rather than a person.)  What airports would you add to this list? Digging Deeper Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C. Formerly just called Washington National Airport, this is the airfield that serves most…