A Brief History On January 7, 1960, the United States first successfully test launched the Polaris Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) from their launching facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Polaris would be the first missile deployed in the world that could be launched from a submerged submarine and carry a nuclear warhead, changing the game of nuclear brinkmanship forever. Digging Deeper In July of 1960 the first successful launch of a Polaris missile from a submerged USS Washington missile submarine led to the arming of 41 US submarines with 16 Polaris missiles each, with each missile carrying a single…
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A Brief History On January 6, 1941, much of the world was enmeshed in World War II, with only the United States among the great powers not yet at war. Many US citizens wanted to keep it that way, and sentiment was largely against any involvement in the affairs of Europe where Hitler and Nazi Germany along with Italy were at war with Western democracies such as France and Britain, and Asia where Japan was fighting in China. Digging Deeper US President Franklin Roosevelt publicly echoed the party line of non-involvement with the war, but he personally wanted to help…
A Brief History On January 5, 1956, producers and editors of the major Hollywood motion picture, Alexander the Great, starring Richard Burton in the title role, were hard at work preparing the movie for its March 22, 1956 release, cutting its running time from over 3 hours to 135 minutes. Digging Deeper The film is of course about the great Macedonian King and conqueror who ruled an enormous empire carved out of the Middle East and Mediterranean by his own leadership between 336 and 323 BCE. During his reign, Alexander defeated the great Persian Empire and all others that stood in…
A Brief History Every year has champions in various sports and leagues, but certain sporting events just stand out above the rest to capture the attention of the media and fans. Here are our nominations for the Top 10 Sports Stories of 2015. Digging Deeper 10. Notable Sports Deaths. Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra (90, 3 time MVP and 13 World Series titles), Harlem Globetrotter legend Meadowlark Lemon (83), Hockey player Dickie Moore (84, twice NHL scoring champ, 5 Stanley Cups in a row), 12 time NBA All Star and Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes (87), ABA 2 time…
A Brief History On January 3, 1521, Roman Catholic (Augustinian) priest and reformer Martin Luther was ex-communicated from the church by Pope Leo X. 440 years later, on January 3, 1962, Pope John XXIII ex-communicated Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, an avowed communist and therefore an atheist. Digging Deeper The reasons for each of these men to be ex-communicated from the church are obvious, since Luther went against church dogma and policy and ignored numerous warnings to desist in his heretical teachings. Luther made the unforgivable sin of going against church policy of selling indulgences, a money making scheme by which…