Browsing: Military

A Brief History On August 29, 1949, nuclear scientists in the Soviet Union (USSR) successfully tested their first atomic bomb, an implosion type device they called “First Lightning.”   Although the Soviet atom bomb program had started during World War II, the United States in coordination with scientists from Canada and the United Kingdom was the first nuclear power, testing the first atom bombs and dropping 2 of them on Japan in 1945. Digging Deeper The implosion type device is the type used in the Nagasaki bomb called “Fat Man.”  Greatly simplified, it consists of a hollow sphere of Plutonium surrounded…

A Brief History On August 24, 410, the city of Rome fell to foreign invaders for the first time in 800 years.  Although no longer the capital of the Roman Empire (that had moved to Ravenna in 402), Rome was still the symbol of the Roman culture and world. Digging Deeper Rome had suffered the indignity of a previous sack in 387 BC (or 390 BC  depending on dating system used) at the hands of the Gauls (from France).  The defeated Romans were forced to pay a ransom to get the Gauls to leave. In 410 AD, the invaders were…

A Brief History On August 25, 1945, American Army Intelligence officer, Captain John Birch, was killed by communist revolutionaries in China a mere 10 days after the end of World War II.  Birch is seen by many, especially hard corps right wing anti-communists, as the first martyr or victim of the Cold War between the totalitarian communist states and the democratic capitalistic nations (largely East vs. West). Digging Deeper Birch was the son of Christian missionaries and was born in India in 1918.  Highly intelligent, hard working, and a dedicated patriot, Birch graduated Magna cum laude from Mercer University in…

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…

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…