A Brief History On September 2, 1984, Sydney, Australia was the scene of a major shoot-out between rival motorcycle gangs Bandidos and Comancheros. Contrary to the popular opinion that mass shootings only occur in the US, a total of 7 people were killed and 12 were wounded in the incident known as the “Milperra massacre.” Digging Deeper Apparently the answer to our question is that, “Yes, other countries do have motorcycle gangs.” Our previous article, Mass Shooting…in Canada??? tells the story of another such motorcycle gang related mass shooting, this time in Canada. In fact, Wikipedia has an article about…
Browsing: Vehicles
Read More
A Brief History On August 27, 2006, Comair Flight 5191, a connecting flight from Lexington, Kentucky to Atlanta, Georgia, crashed, killing all aboard the aircraft except a single survivor. Not only is the “sole survivor” fact amazing, but it was the man that was piloting the plane during the crash! (See some of our many articles about aviation and aircraft by clicking this link.) Digging Deeper The Bombardier CRJ-100 twin jet airliner that can carry 50 passengers plus an aircrew, crashed when it was attempting take off from the wrong runway, flying from runway #26 when the tower had assigned…
A Brief History On August 21, 1897, Ransom Eli Olds founded the car company that bore his name, Oldsmobile. Oldsmobile was in business for 107 years, making powerful, comfortable and smooth riding cars, but alas they have gone extinct, like many other car companies. Today we ask you, “What car company do you miss the most?” Digging Deeper We list a few for you to choose from, or name your own nominee: American Motors, Checker, DeLorean, Geo, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Packard, Plymouth, Pontiac, Rambler, Saturn, Studebaker, Triumph Motor Company, and Yugo. Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which of these…
A Brief History On August 16, 1940, Flight Lieutenant Nicolson of the British Royal Air Force flew his Hawker Hurricane fighter into history during combat over England against the German Luftwaffe when he continued to fight an aerial battle despite his plane being on fire from 4 cannon shells and multiple machine gun bullets striking it from an enemy Me-110. Only after shooting down the enemy fighter despite being wounded and suffering severe burns, did Nicolson bail out, and was later awarded the Victoria Cross. Digging Deeper Air to air combat is a demanding and tricky business, and one of…
A Brief History On August 1, 1620, the British ship, Speedwell, sailed from Delfshaven along with the Mayflower to bring separatists known as Pilgrims to the New World. Alas, the Speedwell was not seaworthy and after several attempts the ship was abandoned as a transport to America and Mayflower made the voyage into history alone. Digging Deeper Speedwell was originally named Swiftsure and was built in 1577, making her a relatively old vessel at the time of the proposed voyage to America. Decommissioned by the British navy in 1605, her name was changed, and she became a commercial vessel. Her…