A Brief History On August 27, 1859, Colonel Edwin Drake of the Seneca Oil Company drilled a successful oil well just outside Titusville, Pennsylvania, the discovery of the first commercially viable oil well. An oil rush developed in Pennsylvania, and uses for natural petroleum products were invented left and right, with kerosene distilled from crude oil becoming the replacement for increasingly expensive whale oil for lamps. Throughout history discoveries have been made that changed the course of human events either locally or across the globe. Some of these discoveries captured the imagination of the public rather than changing lifestyles or…
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A Brief History On August 6, 1917, future actor, composer, and singer Robert Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mitchum would live nearly to age 80 despite being a heavy smoker his entire adult life, with lung cancer and emphysema eventually doing him in. In honor of one of my favorite actors of all time and in a plea to all cigarette smokers out there to quit this life shortening habit, we list 10 Songs with the Word Cigarette(s) in the Lyrics. There are a bajillion of them, including several by Frank Sinatra, The Kinks, Blue Oyster Cult, the Cranberries,…
A Brief History On August 2, 1943, US Navy torpedo boat PT-109 commanded by a young John F. Kennedy was rammed by a Japanese destroyer, cutting the boat in half and sinking it. Lt. Kennedy later became President Kennedy in January of 1961. Although we have pointed out the lily-livered chicken hawks that either dodged the draft or merely failed to enlist in the military, today we honor those politicians that also served in the US Armed Forces. (See our May 22 article 10 Celebrities that Fought in a War and our March 24 article 10 “Patriots” that Dodged the…
A Brief History On July 29, 1973, British race car driver Roger Williamson met his death when his Formula 1race car crashed at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands. The 25 year old 2 time British Formula 3 champion was trapped under his flipped car, not seriously hurt from the crash, but was burned to death as the car was engulfed in flames. We wrote about that crash in our July 29 article, “10 Famous Car Wrecks”. Today we look at another 5 famous/infamous car crashes that you may find interesting. Digging Deeper 1. Tiger Woods, November…
A Brief History On July 28, 1935, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress made its initial flight. Called the Flying Fortress because of its unprecedented heavy armament of 12 (later13) .50 caliber machine guns, this mighty bomber would be eclipsed by other planes in future years. Here we list 10 of the Most Heavily Armed Warplanes, meaning armed with machine guns and cannons. (No significance to the order listed.) Obviously, World War II was the golden age of gun armament, with modern fighters using missiles as primary armament. Still, some modern planes have impressive guns nonetheless. Digging Deeper 1. Convair B-36 Peacemaker…