A Brief History On May 26, 1951, Sally Ride was born in Los Angeles, California. She would grow up to earn BA, BS, MS and PhD diplomas from Stanford University, and in June of 1983 became the first American woman to take a ride into space, via the Space Shuttle Challenger. Digging Deeper Ride became the third woman space explorer, having been preceded into space by Soviet cosmonauts Belarusian Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Russian Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982. Since the flights of these history making women, women have made over 75 space flights by at least 70 women. In…
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A Brief History On May 24, 1962, an American Atlas LV-3B rocket blasted off, carrying astronaut Scott Carpenter in his Project Mercury space capsule he had named Aurora 7, the 6th manned space flight in history. Digging Deeper Manned space flight began in April of 1961 when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made his historic trip into orbit, and a month later the Americans launched astronaut Alan Shepard into space, although on a sub-orbital flight. Project Mercury was the NASA answer to the Soviet Vostok manned space capsule, and each Mercury capsule contained a single astronaut. Designed by Belize born engineer…
A Brief History On May 18, 1896, the Supreme Court of the US ruled that “separate but equal” was a legal doctrine for segregating Caucasian Americans from Americans of sub-Saharan African descent, especially regarding school children. The case known as Plessy v. Ferguson is frequently referred to as the most egregious error in judgement ever made by the Supreme Court. Oddly enough, the case has never been overturned, except regarding the classroom. Digging Deeper Some other cases that have attracted the ire of Supreme Court critics include Dred Scott v. Sandford of 1857 claiming that American citizenship did not extend…
A Brief History On May 16, 2023, Americans celebrate National Barbecue Day, something that means different things in different parts of the country. Digging Deeper In Kansas City, barbecue is beef or pork, or even chicken, that is slow roasted with a sauce of tomato and molasses base. Memphis barbecue is normally a dry rub that is cooked long and low, with a smoky finish. Texas barbecue is usually beef slow cooked in a smoker, with a dry rub for seasoning leaving a smoky taste. Carolina barbecue uses pork basted with a vinegar and ketchup type sauce, and slow cooked…
A Brief History On May 13, 2023, Americans can celebrate the annual National Train Day, a day invented by Amtrak back in 2008, but cancelled for 2016 due to budget cuts! Digging Deeper Have you heard of any other “National” Days that have been eliminated? Trains have had it rough in recent decades and even in recent weeks. On February 3, 2023, a train carrying tanker cars of Vinyl Chloride derailed at East Palestine, Ohio and created an environmental disaster and political controversy. Trains helped build the United States and much of the world, with a peak of railroad employees…