Browsing: Military

A Brief History On September 11, 1919, the US Marine Corps invaded Honduras, a country that is probably the inspiration for the term, “Banana Republic.”  Invading Honduras to protect the interest of American plantation-oriented fruit corporations, the US sent military troops there many times, including 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924, and 1925! Digging Deeper Other than the famous invasions of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other more publicized wars, the US has conducted many military invasions, incursions and raids on foreign shores often overlooked by schools teaching American history. Some other American invasions not counting “peacekeeping…

A Brief History On September 6, 1939, the Battle of Barking Creek in the skies over England became an historic event for Britain’s RAF, the first loss of an RAF fighter plane and fighter pilot during World War II.  Unfortunately, this “combat” was a mistake, as radar operators misidentified the blips on their screen as enemy aircraft when in fact those menacing blips flying toward the English coast were actually RAF Hurricane fighters. Digging Deeper Spitfire fighters scrambled to intercept the supposed enemy and promptly shot down a pair of the incoming Hurricanes, killing one of the unfortunate pilots.  Such…

A Brief History On September 1, 1939, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man famous as the “father of the atomic bomb,” along with his student, Hartland Snyder, using the physics of the day, published a definitive proof of how black holes could develop. Digging Deeper The scientific paper known as the Oppenheimer–Snyder model relied on earlier work by Albert Einstein, especially vis a vis the Schwarzschild metric concerning gravitational forces involved in the collapse of stars leading to black holes. Educated at Harvard, Christ’s College and Cambridge, Oppenheimer became a professor at Berkely in 1936.  His contributions to the field of…

A Brief History On August 29, 1958, the United States Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado, opened, joining the US Military Academy, the US Naval Academy, and the US Coast Guard Academy as the premier officer producing schools of the US military. Digging Deeper Established in 1954, the Air Force Academy produces graduates with a Bachelor’s degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.  About 1200 new cadets enter each year, with attrition leaving an average of about 4300 cadets in residence. Located at an elevation of 7,250 feet above sea level, USAFA cadets claim…

A Brief History On July 29, 1862, female Confederate spy, Belle Boyd, was arrested by Union forces with the assistance of famed private detective Allan Pinkerton.  Arrested at least six times for spying, and despite warning that she could be executed, Boyd was never executed or given long prison sentences. Digging Deeper A native of Virginia, Boyd ran afoul of Union troops when they found Confederate flags in her home.  A Union soldier insulted Boyd’s mother, resulting in Boyd shooting and killing the soldier. Found not guilty of murder, Boyd went on to a career of spying, being caught and…