Browsing: Inventions

A Brief History On May 31, 1942, the Japanese Imperial Navy commenced an attack on the harbor (harbour for you British types) at Sydney, Australia, using three Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines.  With a 2-man crew and armed with a pair of torpedoes, the little subs had the potential to create tremendous damage to any ship afloat.  Japan was not the only country to employ midget submarines during World War II, and midget subs were just one of many truly innovative attempts to adapt weapons for special purposes during that war that spawned so much in the way of technological progress.  Today…

Read More

A Brief History On May 24, 2002, emissaries of the United States and Russia signed a treaty to reduce each country’s nuclear arsenal to between 1700 and 2200 warheads.  Called the “Moscow Treaty,” the official name of the pact was much longer, “Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT),” another step in a long line of treaties and agreements to limit nuclear weapons between the premier wielders of such devices. See our other articles concerning nuclear weapons! Digging Deeper Going into effect on June 1, 2003, the Moscow Treaty was meant…

Read More

A Brief History On May 10, 1946, at the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico the US Army made the first successful launch of a German designed V-2 rocket, the same sort of weapon the Germans had used to terrorize England and Holland during World War II.  V-2 technology was not the only German inspired technology to be eagerly scooped and later used by the Allies after World War II, and today we take a look at some of those items (keeping the list short and therefore not all encompassing).  As always, feel free to nominate such items as…

Read More

A Brief History On May 3, 1952, the Kentucky Derby, probably the most famous and prestigious horse racing event in the United States, was first broadcast on television.  Today, we take a look at when significant events first made their television debut.  As always, feel free to nominate an event or events you believe belong on this list. Digging Deeper First Sporting Event, 1936 For this particular historic first, it is fitting that the Olympics takes the honors of being first.  In this case, we refer to the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany.  Since there were no privately…

Read More

A Brief History On March 29, 1911, the Colt M1911 .45 ACP caliber semi-automatic pistol became the standard pistol of the US Army.  We used this historical event for our impetus to write previous articles about firearms, and today we use this red letter day in firearms history to explore some of the individual arms (pistols and rifles/shotguns) that are extra-adaptable due to their ability to fire more than one particular cartridge.  During the 2020-2021global pandemic, many gun owners have felt the need to consider guns and ammo for possible apocalyptic scenarios, making today’s topic quite apropos.  Feel free to…

Read More