Browsing: July 25

A Brief History On July 25, 2010, the web media non-profit organization, WikiLeaks, released a trove of American secret documents regarding the War in Afghanistan, commonly referred to as “The Afghan War Diary” or “Afghan War documents leak.” Digging Deeper Although WikiLeaks somehow got their hands on 91,000 classified documents, only 71,000 have been released, allegedly out of consideration for the person or persons that leaked the documents to WikiLeaks who claimed to want to limit damage to US security. While people that leak classified information are liable for severe criminal penalties, there seems to be no shortage of leakers…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on July 25th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On July 25, 1593, Henry IV, King of France, converted from Calvinism back to the Catholicism of his birth. On July 25, 1609, the excellently named British ship, Sea Venture, encountered serious storms while crossing the Atlantic Ocean en route to Virginia, and was purposely run ashore to prevent loss of the ship and passengers. On July 25, 1722, a war started…

A Brief History On July 25, 1984, Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya exited her Salyut 7 space capsule while in orbit, thus becoming the first woman to ever engage in an EVA, or “extravehicular activity” in space.  Most of us usually call such activity a “spacewalk.” Digging Deeper The US has had 56 women in space, and the world has now sent into space about 75 ladies.  The Soviets were the real pioneers with women in space with Valentina Tereshkova becoming the first woman space traveler in 1963.  The Soviets did not send another woman into orbit until 1982, with the…

A Brief History On July 25, 1722, a war started in Maine later referred to as “Dummer’s War,” among other names. Digging Deeper We have previously discussed some of the goofy names given to various conflicts, and today’s entry is one so appropriately named that we just could not resist!  Of course we speak of “Dummer’s War,” a conflict between New England European settlers and their Mohawk allies against the Wabanaki Confederacy of Native American tribes aligned with the French settlers of North America between 1722 and 1725 in the contested region between Maine and Nova Scotia, Canada.  The war…

A Brief History On July 25, 1909, French pilot Louis Bleriot made the first ever heavier than air powered flight across the English Channel in his Type XI monoplane, beating out several rival aviators that were competing for their place in history and also a nice prize of £1000 offered by The Daily Mail, a British newspaper.  Today we take a look at 10 notable airplane flights that have earned the airplane and its pilot and designer a place in aviation history.  Our list is one of interesting flights, not necessarily the most important or a “first.”  You are always…