A Brief History On December 23, 2002, the first known air to air battle between a manned fighter plane and an unmanned aerial drone took place in the sky above Iraq, when an Iraqi MiG-25 fighter jet shot down an American General Atomics MQ-1 Predator. Digging Deeper Far from the manned fighter merely taking out the drone, the high technology dogfight was a real air to air combat, with the drone armed with and firing an air-to-air missile at the Iraqi fighter. Luckily for the Iraqi pilot, the drone’s Stinger missile was allegedly confused by the heat signature of the…
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A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 23rd. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On December 23, 962, Christian forces under Byzantine commander Nikephoros II Phokas stormed into the city of Aleppo in the Levant, earning the future Byzantine Emperor the title “Pale Death of the Saracens.” On December 23, 1938, a commercial fisherman pulled in a “living fossil” in his net off the coast of Africa, a creature believed to be extinct since the time…
A Brief History On December 23, 2013, Mikhail Kalashnikov, Soviet designer of the AK-47 assault rifle and its entire family of spin-off products, died at the age of 94 in Izhevsk, Russia. Before his death, he wrote to the Russian Orthodox Church about his personal doubts about having designed guns that killed so many people. In fact, about 100 million of his guns have been made, more than any other design. Is Kalashnikov the “greatest firearms designer? We list a few others to compare him with. Digging Deeper Samuel Colt, who perfected the revolver, and of him is said, “God…
A Brief History On December 23, 2022, we at History and Headlines would like to wish all our great viewers and subscribers a hearty and happy Festivus! Digging Deeper So what is Festivus? It is a secular pseudo-holiday first introduced on the Seinfeld television sitcom back in 1997, supposedly to compete with religious and other winter holidays. No presents are needed and no religious affiliation is attached, and celebrants are welcome to make up their own rules, though there are a few general guidelines. Some of the staples of Festivus include “The Festivus Pole” and some sort of snacks and…
A Brief History On December 23, 1997, the Seinfeld television comedy show introduced us to a new, secular holiday to be celebrated during the winter season, avoiding the religious friction of Hanukkah vs. Christmas vs. Saturnalia vs. Winter Solstice and the racially charged Kwanzaa. (Note: Kwanzaa was invented by a creep that was convicted of kidnapping and torturing 2 African American women.) December 23 is the day designated for the celebration of Festivus (For The Rest of Us!!!) Digging Deeper The brainchild of Seinfeld writer Dan O’Keefe, the idea of Festivus is to provide a “holiday” without any pressures to…