Browsing: February 1

A Brief History On February 1, 1950, the first successful night landing of jet aircraft onto an aircraft carrier occurred when the US Navy landed an octet of Grumman F9F Panthers onto the deck of the USS Valley Forge. Digging Deeper Jet aircraft first flew in 1939, when the Heinkel He-178 took to the air.  By the end of World War II, Britain and the US had joined Germany in producing operational jet fighters, but aircraft carrier technology of the day made the use of jets on carriers problematic. The jets generally had higher landing speeds and higher stall speeds…

A Brief History On February 1, 1946, Norway’s Trygve Lie was selected as the first ever Secretary General of the United Nations, beginning a long line of names to head the UN that are tricky to pronounce in English. Digging Deeper Succeeding Mr. Lie, a questionable name for a diplomat, was the even harder to pronounce Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden.  Next up to the plate was a diplomat with a succinct first name consisting of only a single letter, U Thant of Burma, now Myanmar. After U came the more pedestrian sounding Kurt Waldheim, although this man has been rumored…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on February 1st.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On February 1, 1796, the British government changed the capital of Upper Canada from Newark to York. On February 1, 1901, Clark Gable was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and would go on to movie greatness earning the nickname, “The King of Hollywood.” On February 1, 1941, the inaugural horse racing meet at Golden Gate Fields was held in Berkeley, California, United States.…

A Brief History On February 1, 1901, Clark Gable was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and would go on to movie greatness earning the nickname, “The King of Hollywood.”  Despite winning 2 Best Actor Academy Awards and being nominated for another pair, Gable was listed as only the 6th greatest American-born male movie star by the American Film Institute in 1999. Digging Deeper The stars listed ahead of Gable are: Humphrey Bogart, with 1 Academy Award and 3 nominations. James Stewart, with 1 Academy Award and 5 nominations. Marlon Brando, with 2 Academy Awards and 8 nominations. Fred Astaire, with 1…

A Brief History On February 1, 1998, Lillian E. Fishburne became the first African American woman promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral (2 stars) in the United States Navy.  In keeping with the spirit of Black History Month (every February) and expanding on our previous articles celebrating African American achievements, we take this opportunity to cite even more impressive achievements by African Americans, not just “firsts,” but other great accomplishments as well.  (And see our recent article dated January 18, 2021), “Historic African American Firsts”) Who would you add to this list? Digging Deeper Lillian E. Fishburne, 1st African…