Browsing: August

A Brief History On August 17, 1943, the U.S. 8th Air Force, the main American unit of heavy bombers stationed in England, launched 376 B-17 bombers against Schweinfurt and Regensburg in Germany, a raid that came to symbolize the dangers of unescorted bombing. Digging Deeper The ambitious plan was to attack Regensburg with 146 and Schweinfurt with 230 B-17s.  The bombers were only escorted part of the way because the British Spitfires and American P-47 Thunderbolt fighters lacked the ability to cover the range.  The escorting Spitfires could only accompany the bombers as far Antwerp, and the Thunderbolts could barely reach the far…

A Brief History On August 16, 1944, the Nazis flew the prototype of the Ju-287 for the first time.  Manufactured by the German aircraft company Junkers, it was a 4-engine, jet-powered bomber whose forward-swept wings made it radically different from any other airplane in existence at the time. Digging Deeper With a turbojet engine on each side of its nose, and another under each wing, the Ju-287 flew to speeds of almost 350 mph, which was fast but still not fast enough. Originally it was supposed to have been equipped with even more powerful jet engines, but developmental difficulties meant that Junkers had to go with what was available, the Jumo…

A Brief History On August 16, 1812, General William Hull of the U.S. Army surrendered Fort Detroit to an inferior English force.  American forces numbered about 2,100, while the combined English and Native American forces only numbered just over 1,300.  Hull was court-martialed, convicted and sentenced to death.  Luckily President Madison gave him a reprieve.  History is full of military blunders and dunderheads, and here we list 10 (in no particular order) of those unfortunate men who found themselves in a position to prove just what lousy tacticians they were.   Digging Deeper 10.  William Hull, U.S. Army. As described above, Hull…

A Brief History On August 15, 2014, The Expendables 3 released theatrically.  The film stars Ultimate Fighters Randy Couture and Rhonda Rousey, two real-life badasses!  Long-time readers of TopTenz.net are likely already familiar with “Top 10 Most Famous Actors Who Served in the Military,” but in addition to action stars with military experience, several action stars featured in The Expendables and similar franchises have real life professional fighting experience and with winning records to boot.  This list covers twelve such action film stars who are or were legitimate badasses in real life and as such did not merely play at being tough.  This list…

A Brief History On August 15, 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born.  He would later go on to be known for many things but not his tights!  Much has been written about Napoleon, but somehow this piece of clothing was always deemed too insignificant for historians to mention.  Since multiple men have made their mark on the world while wearing tights, this article will be dedicated to this particular type of leg gear – a first of its kind! Digging Deeper 10. Lazare Carnot Lazare Carnot was a French solider during the French Revolution.  He was appointed by the Committee of…