Browsing: Vehicles

A Brief History On March 4, 2020, Nik Wallenda of the famous acrobat and daredevil family, became the first person to walk on a wire above the crater of the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.  Not to be outdone, his wife, Erendira, performed an aerial routine above the smoking crater! Digging Deeper The Wallenda family is famous for many of their death-defying firsts, with Nik personally holding 11 Guinness World Records, including being the first to walk across Niagara Falls on a high wire. Other daredevils have achieved epic firsts, including: Annie Edson Taylor, the first to survive going over Niagara…

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A Brief History On February 25, 1933, the USS Ranger was launched at Newport News, Virginia, as the first American aircraft carrier built for the purpose of carrying aircraft.  Smaller than later aircraft carrier types, Ranger nonetheless operated effectively throughout World War II, providing important naval air power, mostly in the Atlantic. Digging Deeper The fourth US ship designated as an aircraft carrier, Ranger followed ships converted from a collier and the unfinished hulls of two battlecruisers.  Lexington and Saratoga were more than 100 feet longer than Ranger, and Langley much smaller. Ranger was impressive for its day, 769 feet…

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A Brief History On February 23, 1945, with World War II in Europe rapidly approaching its end, the RAF targeted the German town of Pforzheim in a massive bombing raid that killed almost a third of the residents and destroyed 83% of its buildings, including virtually its entire city center.  The reason for leveling this German city?  The jewelry and watch making industry located there! Digging Deeper The RAF sent 367 Avro Lancaster heavy bombers and 13 Mosquito medium bombers to lead the way, dropping the usual mix of high explosive and incendiary bombs to blow up and burn the…

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A Brief History On February 20, 1959, the government of Canada cancelled the Avro Arrow supersonic jet fighter program, creating conjecture and controversy that continues to this day.  Within two months of the cancellation, the government ordered all plans, tools, and all five existing prototypes to be destroyed. Digging Deeper Designed to fly at Mach 2 and at 53,000 feet, the Arrow would have been cutting edge technology to protect Canada.  Avro was the third largest company in Canada, one of the 100 largest in the world, but the Arrow fiasco basically ruined the company, and it went out of…

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A Brief History On February 3, 1998, a bizarre aircraft accident occurred on the ski slopes of Italy when a USMC EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare jet flew below allowable altitude and cut the cable to a cable car carrying skiers. Digging Deeper The cable car was carrying an operator and 19 passengers, all of whom were killed as the car fell 300 feet from the severed cable.  The pilot and navigator of the jet were uninjured, and the damaged jet made a safe landing. The accident happened in the Dolomite mountains at Cavalese, and of course, the Italian public and…

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