A Brief History On March 19, 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps activated the famed African-American aviation unit known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Digging Deeper Consisting of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Medium Bombardment Group, the connection with Tuskegee University’s involvement with the Civilian Pilot Training Program is how the units got their colloquial name. Also known as “Red Tails” or “Red Tail Angels” due to the markings on their planes, the Tuskegee Airmen were pioneers in aviation, as prior to their formation the U.S. military had not allowed pilots of African descent to fly military planes. In…
Browsing: Science & Technology
A Brief History On March 17, 1947, the North American B-45 Tornado, a fine but often forgotten plane, made its first flight and was fielded for duty a year later, becoming the first U.S. jet-powered nuclear bomber. Digging Deeper Alarmed by the development and deployment of the Arado 234 jet bomber by Nazi Germany, the U.S. scrambled to produce a jet bomber of its own. The Germans had already fielded the Me 262 twin-engine jet fighter that was clearly superior to any fighter in the world, and the Arado 234 could fly above and faster than any Allied fighter in the bombing or…
A Brief History On March 15, 1939, German ambitions and lies combined with lack of British resolve pushed Europe to the brink of war when Germany occupied what was left of Czechoslovakia. After this duplicitous move, Britain and France could no longer stand by and allow Germany to encroach on any more territory. Whereas Germany had been ominously building up its armed forces, Britain and France had done nothing, but now they were forced to scramble to design and build appropriate arms for the coming conflict. Digging Deeper Events unfolded too fast for France to develop any wonder weapons to rank among the best of…
A Brief History On March 12, 1894, Coca-Cola, the preeminent soft drink on the planet, was first bottled and sold in Vicksburg, Mississippi by Joseph Beidenharn, a soda fountain operator who owned a candy store. Previously sold by its creator the pharmacist John Pemberton who lived in Atlanta, Georgia and others under various formulas and names since 1886, it was Beidenharn who first bottled Coca-Cola. A few years later, the first Coca-Cola bottling plant for mass production was founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Digging Deeper At first made with alcohol, the drink was marketed as an elixir or medicine that could cure…
A Brief History On March 11, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act that allowed him to let American factories become “The Arsenal of Democracy” and equip the country’s Allies with American-built war materials. Digging Deeper This could be done on an enormous scale since U.S. wartime production was unhindered by fighting within its own borders and because all raw materials could be easily obtained (unlike in Germany and Japan). Among the major weapon systems provided to the Allies, mainly the Soviet Union, was one of the most under-appreciated fighter aircraft of World War II, the Bell P-39 Airacobra. Sleek and lethal looking, this plane certainly…