Browsing: January 18

A Brief History On January 18, 2018, we are one day away from the national release of the new heist movie, Den of Thieves, starring Gerard Butler as the unconventional detective matching wits with the diabolically sophisticated gang of thieves out to pull off the heist of the century. Digging Deeper In the finest tradition of classic heist films such as The Italian Job, Ocean’s 11, Heat, Heist, The Score, Inside Man and Tower Heist, Den of Thieves earns a place amongst all these great heist movies with all the main ingredients: twists and turns, characters dripping with personality, plenty…

A Brief History On January 18, 2018, as we do every January 18th, we celebrate Winnie-the-Pooh Day, our favorite children’s books character and animated star.  Of course, we celebrate Christopher Robin and all of his and Pooh’s friends as well.  Why January 18th?  Because the creator of Pooh and friends was AA Milne, born on January 18, 1882.  A playwright and World War I veteran, Milne first wrote about Winnie in 1926 (an earlier version, Edward the Bear in 1924), a combination of his writing and illustrations by EH Shepard, work that changed Milne’s life and the lives of countless…

A Brief History On January 18, 2005, Airbus, the European maker of jetliners, unveiled its flagship jetliner, the A380, the largest passenger plane ever built.  How big is it?  The A380 has over 40% more available floor space than a Boeing 747! Digging Deeper After the big jet’s unveiling at Toulouse, France, it made its first flight in April of 2005.  By October 25, 2007, the A380 entered active service with Singapore Airlines and is currently used by Singapore, Lufthansa, Emirates, Air France, British Airways, Thai Airways, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, China Southern Airways, Etihad Airways, Malaysia, and Qantas Airways. …

A Brief History On January 18, 1911, Eugene Ely, a pilot who worked for Glenn Curtiss, a pioneer in the U.S. aviation industry, became the first person to successfully land an airplane on the deck of a ship.   He did so when he landed a Curtiss “pusher,” a biplane with a rear-facing engine and propeller, on a specially-constructed platform over the deck of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania. Digging Deeper This very first “carrier” landing was also significant in aviation history for being the first landing to be arrested by tail hook.  History and Headlines Note: The annual party and bash for U.S.…

A Brief History On January 18, 1967, self-confessed “Boston Strangler” Albert DeSalvo was convicted of several rapes and related crimes, but not of murder. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find no one was actually convicted of the murder of the 13 victims of the “Boston Strangler” although DeSalvo had confessed. Due to some inconsistencies in his details of the murders and in analysis of the manner of each murder, there is much disagreement about whether or not DeSalvo really was the murderer he said he was, with some researchers claiming there must have been more than one killer. Raping and…