Browsing: February 18

A Brief History On February 18, 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army began a carefully planned massacre of ethnic Chinese men in the conquered territories of Singapore and Malaya, an effort to eliminate what the Japanese perceived to be “hostile elements.”  As many as 100,000 Chinese men were executed in a purge called Sook Ching by the Chinese.  Soldiers carrying out the deadly deeds were supervised by the Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police. Digging Deeper The Japanese saw the Chinese as their main enemy in Asia and called the purge of ethnic Chinese “Kakyō Shukusei”  or  “purging of Overseas Chinese” in…

A Brief History On February 18, 1930, as previously chronicled in our article “First Cow Milked in the Sky!” we told of the first cow to fly in a fixed wing airplane, which also happened to be the first cow milked while flying in an airplane. (We still do not know why!) We use this momentous milestone in the history of Mankind and Cattlekind to regale our readers with 10 Amazing Facts About Cows. Digging Deeper 1. Why do cows wear bells? Because their horns don’t work! (This one is obviously a joke, so laugh and go to the next…

A Brief History On February 18, 2001, a nation of racing car fans was stunned when the biggest current star of NASCAR stock car racing, Dale Earnhardt, died in a high speed crash into a wall at the Daytona 500, the premier race of NASCAR. Digging Deeper Known as “The Intimidator” for his aggressive racing style, Earnhardt was born Ralph Dale Earnhardt (later Sr.) in 1951.  Winner of the 1998 Daytona 500 and tied with Richard Petty with a record 7 Winston Cup Championships in 1994 (later tied in 2016).  Dale Sr. also  added 4 IROC Championships to his list…

A Brief History On February 18, 1954, Los Angeles, California hosted the establishment of a new religion, a controversial organization some refer to as a cult. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find The Church of Scientology founded in December of 1953 and its first church opened two months later in Los Angeles. Founder L. Ron Hubbard (more formally, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard) was a science-fiction writer and a self-help proponent of his system he called Dianetics.  Hubbard’s best known science-fiction story is Battlefield Earth which was also made into a movie by the same name in 2000, starring church member John…

A Brief History On February 18, 1930, Elm Farm Ollie (Also known as “Nellie Jay,” “Sunnymede Ollie,” and “Sky Queen.” Say, why does a cow need aliases???) made aviation history as the first cow to fly in a fixed wing airplane.  Since non-fixed wing aircraft include either helicopters or autogyros, we wonder if any cows flew in those first.  Just saying… Digging Deeper Not only did Elm Farm Ollie make the first bovine flight, but she also became the first cow to be milked while flying in an airplane.  (Who seriously keeps track of this stuff?  The FAA, Federal Animal Aviation?) …