Browsing: March 5

A Brief History On March 5, 1872, George Westinghouse patented the air brake, a system for use with railroad trains.  Prior to his invention, the brakes on trains had to be operated by a brakeman individually turning a large brake wheel on each car.  With the Westinghouse system, the engineer could have all the cars in his train brake at the same time, allowing for safer train travel and longer trains.  Air brakes also revolutionized the trucking industry, as prior to their adoption the use of trucks in mountainous terrain was rather dangerous.  Like many other unsung inventions, air brakes…

A Brief History On March 5, 1496, in the wake of the tremendous news about the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World, King Henry VII of England granted “letters patent” to John Cabot, an Italian sailor and adventurer, along with his sons, to explore the world on behalf of the English Crown.  As Columbus was an Italian (Genoese) working for the King and Queen of Spain, so too was Cabot, an Italian originally from The Kingdom of Naples, employed by a foreign power.  Cabot became (probably) the first European since perhaps the Vikings in the 11th Century to…

A Brief History On March 5, 1770, British soldiers opened fire on a group of unarmed American protesters, killing 5 (either 3 or 4 immediately, one dying later), an event referred to as The Boston Massacre, sometimes called the first shots fired in the American Revolutionary War. The first American gunned down was Crispus Attucks, a freeman of African and Native American descent. Digging Deeper Described in contemporary documents as a “mulattoe,” Attucks was of mixed race, definitely of African and Wampanoag descent, possibly with White mixed in. It is not known if he was a runaway slave, or if…

A Brief History On March 5, 1936, the fighter airplane that has been called the most beautiful plane of all time made its first flight.  The Supermarine Spitfire British single engine single seat fighter would go on to be refined in time for World War II where constant updates allowed it to reign supreme, as quite possibly the finest fighter plane of World War II. Digging Deeper Introduced into active service in 1938, Spitfires served until 1961 with the Irish Air Corps, after having served not only the British RAF, but also 35 other air forces, including the United States…

A Brief History On March 5, 1770, in an incident then known as “The Incident on King Street” British soldiers gunned down 5 American patriots and wounded another 6.  The British Army soldiers had been stationed in Boston to protect British authorities believed to be in danger from rebellious Americans upset with arbitrary laws passed by the British Parliament. Digging Deeper In 1768 the British Chief Customs Officer asked Colonial Secretary, Lord Hillsborough, to send the soldiers to Massachusetts for the protection of government officials due to unrest over tariffs and other laws perceived as unfair by the colonists.  Heavy…