Browsing: July 16

A Brief History On July 16, 1945, Manhattan Project scientists held their breath as the clock ticked down to the first man-made nuclear blast in history. Digging Deeper Over a period of almost six years from its feeble first steps (3 years as a project in earnest), through 130,000 people working on the project and $2 billion taxpayer dollars the finest scientists in the world had developed methods of enriching uranium to a state where its nucleus could be split and creating plutonium, the two materials needed for the two different types of atomic weapons being considered. The uranium device would be…

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A Brief History On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  This spacecraft would take 3 American astronauts to the Moon, landing 2 on its surface and return all 3 safely to Earth, less than a decade after the first manned space flight.  The US and Americans have achieved many great things, and here we list 10 of them.  Not all significant inventions or achievements are necessarily for humanitarian purposes, some of them are for war.  Some, like DDT and the polio vaccines saved millions of lives.  We list 10 that we think you…

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A Brief History On July 16, 1862, David Farragut was appointed a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, the first officer to hold that rank.  Being a 2 ocean nation, the US has needed a great 2 ocean Navy to protect the country and look after our interests.  Along the way, many great sailors and others have furthered the capabilities of the US Navy and added to its rich history.  Here we list 10 of those examples, of the hundreds or even thousands that could be listed (no significance to the order listed).  ( Note: Although the US Marine…

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A Brief History On July 16, 1439, the Parliament of King Henry VI of England issued a proclamation banning kissing. Digging Deeper This ban of something we now think of as being so personal was in response to yet another outbreak of plague. This particular plague was probably not the bubonic plague which caused an epidemic known as the Black Death in which entire populations were wiped out. In those years, the word “plague” was a general term used to describe any infectious malady that spread rampantly. So, was the Government getting involved in the personal matter of affection between…

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