Browsing: September 30

A Brief History On September 30, 2004, the AIM-54 Phoenix air to air missile was retired from service with the US Navy, having been the prime air to air weapon of the F-14 Tomcat swing wing fighter plane, the king of naval aviation from 1974 to 2006.  With Mach 5 speed and 100 nautical mile range, the Phoenix could be targeted at as many as 6 targets at a time, making the Tomcat the first fighter in aviation history that could shoot down an entire flight of enemy planes at one time!  Oddly enough, the AIM-54 is still in service…

A Brief History On September 30, 1915, the aviation world achieved a milestone of sorts when the first incident of a combat airplane being shot down by ground fire took place over Serbia.  A flight of 3 German Farman 2 man airplanes attacked the Military Technical Institute in the Serbian town of Kragujevac, dropping 45 small bombs on the Serbians.  Serbia had their own surprise waiting, with one of the world’s first anti-aircraft artillery units based on the ground defending that location.  A lucky shot from a Serbian cannon achieved a direct hit on one of the Farmans and shot…

A Brief History On September 30, 1927, the greatest slugger of all time in Baseball History on the greatest team of all time in Baseball History hit his record breaking 60th home run of the season, a record that would stand until broken by Roger Maris of the same New York Yankees in 1961. Digging Deeper George Herman Ruth is arguably the best baseball player of all time, exceptional as a pitcher but probably the greatest hitter ever.  His frequency of home runs (a homer every 11.76 at bats) for a career was the all-time best until Mark McGwire (a…

A Brief History On September 30, 1982, six unsuspecting people took Tylenol brand acetaminophen capsules that had been filled with potassium cyanide, killing those unfortunates nearly instantly. A seventh person later died by the same unknown perpetrator and copy-cat crimes killed a few more. Digging Deeper The Chicago area was rocked when a 12 year old girl from Elk Grove Village, Illinois died after taking a tampered with capsule, and later a man from Arlington Heights, Illinois died the same way, this time at the local hospital. Tragically, the man’s brother and sister in law also died after consuming capsules…

A Brief History On September 30, 1935, the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River was dedicated, completing one of America’s greatest engineering and construction feats.  Despite the immense fame of the dam and the thousands of people that visit it each year, there seems to be some misinformation about the great structure.  Here we list 10 Things You Might Not Know About Hoover Dam, no significance to the order of the list. Digging Deeper 10.  Due to anti-terrorism concerns, tours no longer include most of the interior of the structure.  The public is no longer welcome to tour any sensitive…