A Brief History On October 7, 1940, the Director of the Far East Section of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Lt. Cmdr. Arthur McCollum, sent an infamous memo up his chain of command that seems to recommend the United States provoke Japan into attacking US forces, thus allowing the US an excuse to enter World War II (WWII) in spite of President Franklin Roosevelt’s promise to stay out of the war. Digging Deeper McCollum was responsible for reading and interpreting the decoded intercepts of Japanese secret radio traffic and for monitoring the political and military situation in the Far East.…
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A Brief History In December 530 BC, a few hundred years after the life and death of the historical inspiration for the legendary Asian Queen Semiramis, another amazing Ancient Asian queen reigned. This sixth-century woman, Tomyris (whose name means “brave”), led her armies to victory against the forces of the First Persian Empire then ruled by Cyrus the Great. Despite Cyrus’s previous military successes over the course of decades, Tomyris finally succeeded where others had failed by defeating the Persians and killing Cyrus, although historical accounts about the exact details of Cyrus’s death vary. Digging Deeper By 530 B.C., Cyrus…
A Brief History On October 5, 1795, the man that would be the subject of more books than any other human being in history (except Jesus Christ), Napoleon Bonaparte, made his entrance on the French political stage and into prominence when he put down a rebellion against the National Convention in Paris with what he called “a whiff of grapeshot.” Digging Deeper Napoleon, a general in the French Army without a command, had been recruited by Paul Barras, one of the leaders of the Revolutionary government (Executive leader of the Directory from 1795-`799). The rebels numbered about 20,000 and posed…
A Brief History On October 3 and 4 of 1993, US Army Special Forces known as Task Force Ranger fought Somali militia men in a frantic battle memorialized in the book (1999) and movie (2001) titled Black Hawk Down. Also known as the First Battle of Mogadishu (obviously more battles were fought there), this action resulted in 18 American soldiers killed and 73 wounded, as well as the death of a Malaysian and a Pakistani soldier allied with the US forces, and 9 of those allied soldiers wounded. This clash was the bloodiest battle US troops participated in since the…
A Brief History On September 27, 1956, US Air Force test pilot, Capt. Milburn Apt, flew into history when he piloted his Bell X-2 rocket powered experimental airplane to a speed of 2094 mph, the first man to fly at or over Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). Digging Deeper Capt. Apt would not live to enjoy his record flight of Mach 3.2, as moments later the rocket plane tumbled out of control, causing Apt to eject. Ejection took place with the pilot inside his encapsulated cockpit, and it was necessary for the pilot to leave the capsule…
