Browsing: Vehicles

A Brief History On June 25, 1997, an unmanned Russian spacecraft called Progress-M blundered into the Russian manned Mir space station.  Despite considerable damage, no lives were lost, and the space station continued its mission. Digging Deeper Launched in 1986, Mir was a Soviet space venture that was built up through 1996, and eventually abandoned and burned up on reentry to the Earth’s atmosphere in 2001.  Manned by a crew of 3, Mir was the largest human built satellite of the Earth until the International Space Station was built starting in 1998.  Holding space records eventually beaten by the ISS,…

A Brief History On June 22, 1918, a passenger train carrying US military troops plowed into the rear end of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train that had stopped on the tracks for repairs.  Sadly, 86 of the over 250 circus people died and 127 were injured, making the Hammond Circus Train Wreck one of the worst in US railroad history. Digging Deeper The name of the wreck derives from the location, near Hammond, Indiana.  The driver of the troop train had fallen asleep and missed at least two warnings about the stopped train ahead.  Luckily, the relatively fragile wooden circus cars…

A Brief History On June 19, 1960, the first auto race under the NASCAR banner was run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.  NASCAR is the premier stock-car racing circuit in the US and the world, as its official name, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, implies. Digging Deeper While Europe was the venue of many prestigious stock-car races early in the 20th Century, the US took the lead on the sport with the emergence of Daytona Beach as a mecca for fast drivers.  While originally using actual production model cars, hence the name of the sport, in…

A Brief History On June 16, 1811, the remaining crew of an American armed fur trading ship purposely blew the ship up after it had been overrun by Native Americans near Vancouver Island. Digging Deeper The wilds of Western North America were dangerous in 1811, and the Tonquin, a 3 masted ship about 94 feet long was armed with 22 guns.  Owned by fur tycoon, John Jacob Astor, Tonquin had been in the Pacific seeking to trade with Native Americans for furs. After establishing Fort Astoria in Oregon, Tonquin sailed for Vancouver Island where a dispute with Tla-o-qui-aht people resulted…

A Brief History On June 14, 1962, the European Space Research Organisation was founded in Paris, later to become the European Space Agency, now with 22 member countries.  While most focus is on the US and the Soviet/Russian space programs vis a vis the “Space Race,” other nations have joined in the endeavor to explore and exploit space. Digging Deeper As of April of 2023, only Russia, the US, and China have launched humans into space via their own vehicles, while the American private firm, SpaceX has joined the human space travel club. Along with Russia, the US, and China,…