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…
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…
A Brief History On August 10, 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War history observed the first battle between modern steel battleships in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. (A minor battle had taken place a few months prior that lasted only 20 minutes that trapped the Russians at Port Arthur.) Digging Deeper The Battle of the Yellow Sea took place between what is referred to as Pre-Dreadnought type battleships, which were being built during this time. Still, the all steel Pre-Dreadnoughts were heavily armed with a main battery of 12 inch guns that could shoot to an unprecedented range of 8…
A Brief History On August 8, 1946, the Convair B-36 Peacemaker nuclear bomber made its first flight. Later referred to as the “Billion Dollar Boondoggle” by the program’s opponents, the B-36 competed with the US Navy’s super carrier program for limited tax dollars. Digging Deeper The first bomber in the world able to carry a nuclear payload right from the start, the massive bomber also had the widest wingspan (230 feet) of any bomber in history and the most (10) engines of any mass produced airplane. When the 6 mighty 3800 horsepower (apiece!) piston powered radial engines proved inadequate for…