Browsing: May 13

A Brief History On May 13, 1950, the first Formula One World Championship race was held in England.  That race was won by Italian driver Giuseppe Farina driving an Alfa Romeo with an average speed of 146.3 KPH.  Formula One, or F1, is perhaps the premier auto racing form, using single person cars with open wheels that use wings fore and aft to provide downforce. Digging Deeper Depending on the source, F1 cars can achieve speeds up to 256 MPH, but about 35 MPH less in a race.  By comparison, an Indy car racer posted a four-lap average of 234.2…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 13th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 13, 1862, a black African-American slave, Robert Smalls, serving as a ship’s pilot on the CSS Planter, a Confederate armed steamship, managed to steal the ship and turn it over to US Navy forces outside Charleston, South Carolina. On May 13, 1950, the first Formula One World Championship race was held in England. On May 13, 1958, George de Mestral of Switzerland…

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…

A Brief History On May 13, 2019, we celebrate National Apple Pie Day, the most American of desserts.  Right?  Wrong!  While Apple Pie in its many iterations is indeed loved by Americans, including This One, Apple Pie is not an American invention at all.  Still, Apple Pie is just so darn good that having a National Apple Pie Day makes good sense anyway. Digging Deeper As American as apple pie? NOT! Since the only apples native to North America are crabapples, Americans did not even have the apples for apple pie until trees could be grown from seed brought from…

A Brief History On May 13, 1981, Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish member of the Grey Wolves (ultranationalist Turkish neo-fascist organization), attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II by shooting the pontiff four times with a 9mm Browning semi-automatic pistol. The Pope survived and eventually forgave the attempted assassin. So far this incident was nearly tragic, but not all that exceptional, at least until John Paul II revealed the long held information about the “Third Secret of Fátima” in June of 2000, telling the world that the assassination attempt had been the third prophesy foretold by three Portuguese children in…