Browsing: February

A Brief History On February 8, 1837, the United States Senate elected Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky as the incoming Vice President of the United States, the only time in US history that the Senate was required to make such an election due to the failure of any Vice Presidential candidate to garner enough Electoral votes to get elected.  The 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which went into effect starting with the Presidential election of 1804, is the basis for the Senate being tasked with electing a Vice President in the absence of a majority Electoral College votes for a…

A Brief History On February 7, 1863, the waters off New Zealand witnessed the worst maritime disaster in that country’s history when the Royal Navy corvette, HMS Orpheus went aground and sank while trying to enter Manukau Harbour, leaving 189 of the 259 man crew dead.  We have discussed numerous naval and maritime “oops moments” in which blunders have sunk or heavily damaged ships, often with the cost of many lives. Digging Deeper The Orpheus was fitted out as a “full rigged ship,” although she also had a steam engine that powered a single screw drive (propeller).  Classed as a…

A Brief History On February 6, 1998, Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. was renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.  Many major airports around the country and around the world are named for a real person, and today we look at 10 of those people and the airports they are named after.  (Many of the really big airports in the world are named after a place rather than a person.)  What airports would you add to this list? Digging Deeper Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C. Formerly just called Washington National Airport, this is the airfield that serves most…

A Brief History On February 5, 1918, American US Army soldier Stephen W. Thompson while flying as a machine gunner in a French airplane shot down a German aircraft, the first ever air to air combat victory by an American member of the US Military.  Previous incidents of Americans shooting down enemy airplanes and balloons during World War I came as those Americans were NOT part of the US military, but were fighting as part of a foreign military, such as the volunteers that flew for the Lafayette Escadrille. Digging Deeper In 1917, as the US was about to enter…

A Brief History On February 4, 2020, we have had a couple days to digest the array of highly expensive television ads pertaining to Super Bowl LIV (played and aired on February 2, 2020).  Among those television commercials were a few in particular that really seem out of place with a sporting event geared toward entertainment.  We take a look at these ill-considered ads…  (Note:  If you are wondering what sort of Super Bowl ads we actually approve of, think about Dachshunds wearing hot dog outfits running toward Ketchup and Mustard and Relish.  Or cute horse and dog Budweiser commercials. …