A Brief History On June 2, 1763, as part of a general Indian (as in Native American) uprising known as Pontiac’s Rebellion, Chippewa warriors captured Fort Michiimackinac what is now present day Mackinaw City, by storming the fort. How did they get in? By playing lacrosse and pretending to chase the ball into the fort and taking the defenders by surprise. Digging Deeper Throughout history, military minds have used trickery to fool their enemies, sometimes with great success. An ancient example would be the Greeks using a giant wooden horse secretly filled with Greek warriors left at the gates of…
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A Brief History On June 1, 1813, the commander of the USS Chesapeake, James Lawrence, lay dying, and uttered the immortal words, “Don’t give up the ship!” Inspiring words are not always enough, for the Chesapeake was captured in that battle and was re-rigged as the HMS Chesapeake. We list 10 of the greatest military quotations, whether they achieved their intended result or not. (We cannot claim they are the 10 greatest, because of course that is strictly a matter of opinion.) Digging Deeper 10. James Lawrence, “Don’t give up the ship!” As described above, the last order by Capt.…
A Brief History On May 29, 1940, the F-4U Corsair made its first flight. The Corsair would go on to great success in its combat career, shooting down 11 Japanese airplanes for every Corsair shot down. Here we list the 10 best fighter airplanes of all time, from World War I to today. As always, we welcome your opinions as to what other fighters deserve mention. Digging Deeper 10. Vought F4U Corsair, 1942. Built from 1942 to 1953, a longer production run than any other piston engine American fighter, 12,571 of these great planes were built. Some were still flying…
A Brief History On May 29, 1940, the F4U Corsair made its first flight, an event that spurred us to offer a list of the “10 Greatest Fighter Planes” on May 29, 2014. This year we counter that with listing 10 of the most under-appreciated, under-rated fighter planes of all time, planes that served well but did not get much press or credit for their contribution, or are often mentioned with caveats about being obsolete or with some deficiency or another. Here we attempt to list the best of that lot. Digging Deeper 10. Mikoyan and Gurevich MiG-17. A follow…
A Brief History On May 29, 2004, President George W. Bush dedicated the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial is between the Washington and Lincoln memorials, east of the Reflecting Pool. Digging Deeper The memorial is located on the former site of the Rainbow Pool, and covers 7.4 acres. The memorial incorporates a fountain, 2 arches (one marked “Atlantic” and the other marked “Pacific”) and 56 granite pillars (17 feet tall) inscribed with the name of each of the 48 states that existed at the time of the war plus Alaska (territory), Hawaii…