A Brief History On July 6, 1947, the aptly named AK-47 assault rifle went into production. After undergoing military trials in the Soviet Union, it was accepted for general use by the Red Army in 1949. Today, the AK-47 is still in production in many nations, and about 1 out of every 5 firearms in the world is an AK-47 or a closely related weapon. Production is 75 million rifles and counting, with AK family of related weapons accounting for another 25 million rifles, carbines, pistols and machine guns, including semi-automatic civilian models. Digging Deeper To put the enormous impact…
Browsing: July
A Brief History On July 4th, Americans celebrate their Independence Day, a holiday that signifies their freedom. During the month of June 2015, Americans experienced a host of developments in the expansion of this freedom. In any case, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, the times sure were a-changin’ in June 2015! Digging Deeper June 2015 included events, incidents and policy changes that the older generation among us probably did not expect to see take place in their lifetime. To begin, early in the month, Olympic medalist Bruce Jenner, a father of six, changed his name to “Caitlyn” and began referring to himself with feminine pronouns. While he cross…
A Brief History On July 9, 1540, the marriage between Henry VIII and his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, was annulled. Digging Deeper Annulled on the basis of non-consummation of the marriage, the real reason Henry wanted the divorce was because he found Anne unattractive, if not revolting. Yes, it sounds very harsh, but it was probably a bit of an exaggeration as Henry had to get his point across to morally win his case. How could he possibly be expected to make love to a woman who did not turn him on? Well, he should have asked his forefathers who…
A Brief History On July 31, 1970, the British Royal Navy experienced one of the darkest days in their long and glorious history, Black Tot Day. This episode was the last day the Royal Navy would follow the long tradition of supplying a daily drink of rum to their sailors. Many military and civilian traditions have fallen by the wayside, some with good riddance, some longingly missed. Many of these traditions were written down as official policy, and others were just things people usually did. Some ended with a clear cut finale, and others faded away. Here we list 10 of…
A Brief History On July 30, 1864, Union forces exploded 8,000 pounds of black powder in a tunnel underneath Confederate trenches at Petersburg, Virginia, creating a crater 170 feet long and 120 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. The unorganized rush of Union troops into the crater resulted in Union failure, with Federal troops suffering well over double the casualties inflicted on the Confederate troops. The Battle of the Crater as this action was called is an example of an unconventional military idea that did not work. Back on May 15, 2014 History and Headlines featured a list of 10 Weapons and Weapons…