A Brief History On December 18, 1995, a Lockheed L-188 Electra airliner driven by four large turboprop engines crashed in Angola, leaving 141 of the 144 people aboard dead. First flown in 1957 and entering service in 1959, the Electra was the first big turboprop powered airliner made in the USA. Digging Deeper While turboprop aircraft may look like the old fashioned prop planes of the past powered by internal combustion engines, the turboprop variety uses basically a jet engine or turbine engine to provide power, using a lower cost fuel and a lighter weight engine, allowing for lower take…
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A Brief History On December 17, 1957, the United States successfully launched their first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The SM -65 Atlas became operational in September of 1959, closely following the Soviet R-7 Semyorka that had become operational in February of that year. Digging Deeper With the advent of these ICBMs, either the US or USSR could launch an unstoppable fleet of nuclear bombs at each other anywhere on the Earth. The stunning numbers of nuclear tipped missiles and nuclear warheads fielded by the two main Cold War powers included a maximum of 32,000 nuclear…
A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 31st. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On December 31, 192 AD, Roman Emperor Commodus was assassinated by his own inner circle, setting the stage for The Year of the Five Emperors in 193. On December 31, 192, Roman Emperor Commodus was assassinated, one of many Roman emperors that met an untimely end. On December 31, 1695, a tax on windows went into effect in England, which resulted in many people…
A Brief History On December 31, 2023, we take a look back on those notable people that died this year. Due to the limited nature of a “short” video or article, we have to omit many fine folks and only list the losses we feel the most. Feel free to mention anyone you believe needs mention. (This list is as of December 29th and will be updated after January 1st.) Digging Deeper Burt Bacharach, composer, age 94. Bob Barker, Price is Right TV host, age 99. Maryanne Trump Barry, Federal judge and sister of Donald Trump, age 86. Jeff Beck,…
A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 30th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On December 30, 1813, during the War of 1812, arson-happy British troops set the small city of Buffalo, New York ablaze as a means of punishing the upstart Americans. On December 30, 1970, former heavyweight boxing champion Charles L. “Sonny” Liston lay dead on the bedroom floor of his Las Vegas home. On December 30, 1977, serial killer Ted Bundy escaped from jail and…