Browsing: February 24

A Brief History On February 24, 2007, Japan launched a spy satellite into orbit, presumably to help keep track of threats to Japan from their neighbors China and North Korea.  Maybe Russia, too.  Since the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in the “Space Race” in the late 1950’s and 1960’s, several other nations have joined the club of nations with the ability to launch rockets into outer space.  Used for weather monitoring, Earth mapping, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), research, communications (radio, telephone, television, digital), exploring other planets and even beyond, and spying on other countries, space programs have…

A Brief History On February 24, 1942, an “order in council” was passed by the Canadian government that authorized the internment of all persons of Japanese ancestry in Canada. (On the same day, the United States passed a measure under the “War Powers Act” to also intern Japanese Americans. See our article, “Forced Internment of Japanese During World War II”) The internment order followed a series of other measures taken against Japanese people in Canada, including the seizing of Japanese owned fishing boats, interrogations, curfews and general harassment and discrimination. Incredibly, some of these measures stayed in effect until 1949!…

A Brief History On February 24, 1942, the government passed a law under the “War Measures Act” allowing the government to relocate and intern citizens of Japanese origin.  The government that enacted this law was the Canadian federal government!  The sorry history of the United States treating its own Japanese citizens in such a hysterical and racist manner is far more well documented and familiar to Americans, and little attention is paid to the fact our genial neighbors to the North did the same thing. Digging Deeper On February 24, 1983, the United States Congress Special Commission passed a resolution…

A Brief History On February 24, 1989, 9 of the 337 passengers on United Flight 811 exited the flight early to their untimely deaths. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find the giant Boeing 747 airliner heading for Sydney, Australia, having originated in San Francisco. The giant airplane was only about 16 minutes into its flight after takeoff from its stopover in Honolulu and at about 22,000 feet when a cargo door suddenly and violently popped open! The door was of the kind that swings outward when opened and was secured with electronic latches, possibly the source of the failure.  As the…

A Brief History On February 24, 1942, less than 3 months after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the city of Los Angeles seemed to be under attack from a mysterious flying object.  Digging Deeper Later claimed by the government to have been a false alarm, something had to have caused numerous air raid alerts to go off and give anti-aircraft gunners something to shoot at.  Shoot they did, and a furious firefight ensued with .50 caliber machine guns and 3-inch artillery shells, about 1,400 rounds of which exploded over the city,  showering it with metal fragments. General Marshall later speculated that unknown persons…