Browsing: March

A Brief History On March 6, 1975, entranced Americans were glued to their television sets to watch the first mass public showing of the infamous “Zapruder Film” that depicted the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.  According to US Government reports, a single gunman acting alone, Lee Harvey Oswald, used a World War II surplus Italian bolt action rifle that he bought mail order.  The 6.5×52mm caliber Carcano Model 91/38 cost Oswald only $19.95 (plus shipping) and it even included an attached riflescope!  Today we take a look at 10 guns that will live in infamy. …

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 4, 1970, the French submarine, Eurydice, apparently blew up violently while underwater off the coast of Cape Camarat in the Mediterranean Sea.  As you can imagine, all 57 hands were lost.  When the boat (submarines are called “boats” instead of ships, regardless of their size) was discovered several weeks later, only pieces were found spread over a large area.  No cause of the explosion was ever determined, a not uncommon fate of submarines and the sailors that operate them.  Today we will touch on several incidents that should give anyone contemplating a life as a…

A Brief History In 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, the Congress of the United States of America passed a resolution which designated the month of March as Women’s History Month.  As with Black History Month, which also originated in the United States, Women’s History Month has continued to be celebrated ever since it began and has similarly spread to various other countries around the world. Digging Deeper Below is a video timeline/playlist of women’s history: As we have seen in our timeline of women’s history, women have played many fascinating and critical roles in the story of…

A Brief History On March 3, 1951, music history was made when the first song deemed to be “rock and roll” was recorded.  Called “Rocket 88,” the lively song was recorded by Chess Records at Sam Phillip’s studio in Memphis and is credited to Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats who were actually Ike Turners’s band, the Kings of Rhythm.  In fact, the song was written by Brenston and Turner, though Turner was not originally credited.  As we know, the Rock and Roll genre of music has taken off ever since then, especially with the gyrations of Elvis Presley bringing…