A Brief History On August 6, 1996, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States announced that a piece of a meteorite believed to have originated on Mars known as Allan Hills 84001 contained traces of extraterrestrial life. Digging Deeper The meteorite, found in the Allan Hills in Antarctica back in 1984, contained fossils of bacteria, which implies that such life had existed on Mars when the chunk of rock broke off and made its journey to Earth. Of course, the world took this news with enormous interest, and even President Clinton dedicated a speech about the discovery. …
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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…
A Brief History On July 31, 1970, the British Royal Navy experienced one of the darkest days in their long and glorious history, Black Tot Day. On that day, the RN ended its long tradition of giving each sailor at sea a drink of rum. Digging Deeper While you may not personally miss this bygone practice, we ask, “What do you miss the most?” Some possible answers could be: (for Catholics) The Latin Mass School Dress and Grooming Codes Drive-in Movies Decent Meals and Service on Airliners Polaroid Cameras Phone Booths The Milkman Vinyl Records Sears Catalog Cheap Gasoline Hot…
A Brief History On July 30, 2003, the last of the “old style” Volkswagen Beetles rolled off the assembly line in Puebla, Mexico, ending the longest and most prolific manufacturing streak of any car platform ever made. Digging Deeper While Toyota fans will claim the Corolla as the most manufactured car model with 40 million units turned out, it must be noted that our beloved Beetle was built on the same basic platform throughout its 65 year run while the Corolla was often changed into a completely different car, merely retaining the name. A whopping 21,529,464 of these cute and…
A Brief History On July 29, 1973, British race car driver Roger Williamson met his death when his Formula 1 race car crashed at the Dutch Grand Prix. Digging Deeper Many other famous and infamous people have died in car wrecks, and we ask you to tell us which wreck you believe is the most famous, giving you a list of some of the notable wrecks to choose from: General George Patton, 1945 24 Hours at LeMans Race, 1955 (84 people died!) James Dean, actor, 1955 Jayne Mansfield, actress, 1967 Ted Kennedy, Senator, Chappaquiddick, 1969 Harry Chapin, singer, 1981 Princess…