A Brief History On June 8, 1966, while test flying the monstrously expensive XB-70 Valkyrie, the U.S. Air Force managed to knock the Mach 3 bomber from the sky when an F-104 “chase” plane got a little too close and bumped into it, resulting in the crash of both aircraft and the death of two pilots and severe injury to another. The XB-70 had cost about $750 million to develop and build, quite a fortune in those days. Military history is rife with such blunders, miscalculations and general screw ups. Here we list 10 such incidents in no particular order.…
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A Brief History On June 1, 1939, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, a plane designed by the German aeronautical engineer Kurt Tank, made its first flight and would go on to bedevil the Allies throughout the rest of World War II. With upgrades throughout its service life, the “Butcher Bird” (or Shrike) as it was known due to its heavy firepower, would remain on the leading edge of piston-engine performance. Digging Deeper With its introduction to combat over the English Channel and France in 1941, the Fw 190 became an obvious game changer, requiring Allied designers to upgrade existing Spitfires and come up with…
A Brief History On May 25, 1521, the famous imperial general assembly known as the Diet of Worms was concluded by the Edict of Worms, an order by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V that declared the Protestant reformer Martin Luther an outlaw. Worms, Germany is not the only place with a name that sounds “funny” in English, and here we list 10 such places. Stay tuned for sequel lists as there are many more! Digging Deeper 10. Worms, Germany. Through the years, this city of 80,000 people has been the scene of many “diets.” Not gatherings where slimy annelids were feasted on,…
A Brief History On April 6, 1941, German forces commenced the invasions of Greece and Yugoslavia. The Second World War was a conflict that left tens of millions dead, perhaps even as many as 60-80 million. Being such a monumental historical event, many motion pictures have been made about the war, and in a follow up to our previous article on the “10 Best World War II Movies,” here we list 10 of the worst ever. If we hurt your feelings by listing some of your favorites in the “worst” list, please know that we actually like some of these as well. There are so…
A Brief History On April 1, 1939, Phil Niekro, Hall of Fame pitcher and winner of 318 major league games, was born. Together with his brother, Joe, these 2 Polish-American baseball players won more games than any other brother combination in major league history. Many other Polish-Americans have also gone on to greatness in major league baseball, and here we list some of the best or most well known (no disrespect to all the others). Digging Deeper 12. Richie Zisk, 1971 – 1983. A reliable 12-year player, Zisk once had 100 RBIs in a season and in another season had…