Browsing: Science & Technology

A Brief History On September 17, 1939, only a couple weeks after World War II in Europe began, the German U-boat, U-29, sunk the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous with two of the three torpedoes fired striking the unlucky carrier.  Courageous sank with 519 of her crew going down, becoming the first aircraft carrier ever sunk by a submarine.  Here we list all the aircraft carriers ever sunk in combat by submarines, a dangerous prey as carriers are inevitably well protected by escorting ships.  Note that no aircraft carrier has been sunk in combat from any source since the end…

A Brief History On September 16, 1961, Hurricane Esther became the target of the United States National Research Project to drop Silver Iodide into an active hurricane in an attempt to reduce the magnitude of the storm.  When eight cylinders were dropped into the eyewall of the storm near Puerto Rico, a 10% drop in windspeed was noted, giving rise to Project Stormfury. (The dropping of Silver Iodide crystals was tried from 1962 to 1983 until ended because it really did not work.)  Today in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, we will tell you at least 10…

A Brief History On September 7, 1776, American revolutionary Ezra Lee attempted to use a submarine called the Turtle in combat.  The hand powered little one man sub did not perform as expected, and Lee was unable to attach his offensive explosive charge to a British warship.  Twice in the past we have used this example and the B-32 Dominator to make a list of 10 Underperforming Weapons and 5 More Underperforming Weapons. Today we take this opportunity to list another 5 weapons that disappointed the people meant to use them. Digging Deeper 1. M-4 Sherman Tank, 1942. When the American Army…

A Brief History On August 27, 1859, Colonel Edwin Drake of the Seneca Oil Company drilled a successful oil well just outside Titusville, Pennsylvania, the discovery of the first commercially viable oil well.  An oil rush developed in Pennsylvania, and uses for natural petroleum products were invented left and right, with kerosene distilled from crude oil becoming the replacement for increasingly expensive whale oil for lamps.  Throughout history discoveries have been made that changed the course of human events either locally or across the globe.  Some of these discoveries captured the imagination of the public rather than changing lifestyles or…

A Brief History On August 26, 1346, at the Battle of Crecy, the English longbow reigned supreme, and ever since the longbow has been closely associated with England.  Here we list 10 such weapons that are famous for representing the country that either invented or perfected the weapon.  Some countries are quickly identified with more than one iconic weapon. Digging Deeper 1. Longbow, England. At Crecy and at Agincourt (1415) the English Longbow reigned supreme and made its mark as the quintessential English weapon.  An effective range of 250 yards and the ability to pierce armor at close range allowed the…