A Brief History On May 15, 2010, Australian 16 year old Jessica Watson completed a non-stop and solo unassisted sail voyage around the world, the youngest person to achieve this feat. Digging Deeper Watson piloted a 33.6 foot sailboat on her trip of seven months that covered nearly 20,000 nautical miles. She is just one of many people that achieved great feats before turning 18 years old, some of whom include: American Marjorie Gestring became the youngest Olympic Gold Medalist in 1936 when she won the 3-meter diving event at the age of 13. Eight Olympic champions have been age…
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A Brief History On May 13, 1950, the first Formula One World Championship race was held in England. That race was won by Italian driver Giuseppe Farina driving an Alfa Romeo with an average speed of 146.3 KPH. Formula One, or F1, is perhaps the premier auto racing form, using single person cars with open wheels that use wings fore and aft to provide downforce. Digging Deeper Depending on the source, F1 cars can achieve speeds up to 256 MPH, but about 35 MPH less in a race. By comparison, an Indy car racer posted a four-lap average of 234.2…
A Brief History On May 9, 1941, German submarine U-110 was forced to the surface by a British corvette and a destroyer that were escorting a convoy attacked by the sub. U-110 had been a successful attack submarine, but on this day, depth charges forced the boat to the surface. Digging Deeper Damaged and in danger of sinking, the captain ordered the sub abandoned and scuttled, but in their haste to get off the sub that was also under fire from the British, the crew failed to scuttle the sub. U-110 was not sinking, so the British kept German sailors…
A Brief History On May 8, 2019, a British teenager became the first patient to receive bacteriophage therapy to treat an antibiotic resistant infection. The use of bacteriophages, which are viruses that attack bacteria cells, to treat bacterial infections was an idea that went back many decades but was superseded by the widespread use of antibiotic drugs. Digging Deeper Those same antibiotics, while highly successful, have caused mutations in bacteria that make those pathogens resistant to the antibiotics and difficult to treat with normal methods. The use of genetically altered bacteriophages results in fewer side effects and less chance of…
A Brief History On May 2, 1982, Britain’s nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror fired torpedoes at the Argentine Navy’s World War II era cruiser, ARA General Belgrano, rapidly sinking the big ship and killing 323 of her crew of 1,095. Digging Deeper General Belgrano was the former USS Phoenix, 608 feet long and 62 feet wide, with a displacement of over 12,000 tons. Armed with 15 X 6 inch guns and 8 X 5 inch guns, she was one of the biggest and baddest warships in any third world navy. General Belgrano has the distinction of being the only ship sunk…
