Browsing: Military

A Brief History On August 24, 1949, one of the most significant military alliances of modern times went into effect as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization became a Cold War reality.  Spearheaded by the United States as a coalition against possible invasion of European countries by the Soviet Union, our former ally during World War II, this Western alliance included 12 original countries pledging mutual support in the event of a Soviet or other attack. Today, the number of participating nations has ballooned to 28, including historical enemies such as Greece and Turkey and many former Soviet Bloc Eastern European…

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A Brief History We previously told you about the AC-130 Spectre, the highest evolution of the cargo plane converted to gunship, in use from Viet Nam through today.  Here we look at ground attack aircraft throughout history and list what may be 10 of the greatest examples of that type of airplane.  The order listed is roughly our idea of “best,” although that is quite subjective and open for debate.  Please feel free to make the case for your favorite ground attack plane and the order you would list these fearsome aircraft. (Honorable mention to the Hawker Siddley, later McDonnel-Douglas, AV-8…

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A Brief History On August 18, 1945, Indonesia, now the world’s 4th most populous country (and the largest island nation) inaugurated Sukarno as the nation’s first president.  Indonesia had just received their independence the day before this historic event. Digging Deeper Indonesia had been a colony of the Netherlands since 1800, after a two hundred year period of gradual hegemony.  A source of natural resources such as oil, nutmeg, cloves, tin, copper and gold, Indonesia was a prize highly valued by industrialized nations, a fact that led the Japanese to invade and conquer the islands during World War II.  The…

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A Brief History On August 16, 1945, the last Emperor in China, Puyi of Manchuria, was captured by the Soviet Army.  Puyi, also known as Henry Puyi, was the last Qing Emperor of China from 1908 to 1912, deposed while still a child (born 1906) by the Xinhai Revolution of 1912.  The former Xuantong Emperor lived quietly until the Japanese occupation of Manchuria (Manchukuo) in 1932. Digging Deeper The Japanese made Puyi their puppet ruler of Manchukuo, and in 1934 declared him Emperor Datong, the Kangde Emperor of Manchukuo.  This regime lasted only until the end of Japanese occupation in…

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A Brief History On August 16, 1942, while on routine anti-submarine patrol, the 2 man crew of US Navy Blimp L-8 disappeared without a trace.  The unmanned blimp drifted about aimlessly until crash landing in Daly City, California.  No trace of the crew or reason for their disappearance has ever been found. Digging Deeper (Note: An unrelated disaster, the 1964 Republican National Convention was held in the modern city limits of Daly City, although History usually refers to the convention as being held in San Francisco.  Barry Goldwater was nominated for President, and went on to lose by a record…

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