Browsing: Military

A Brief History On September 1, 1983, a Soviet Sukhoi Su-15 scrambled to intercept an airplane that had violated Soviet airspace over the Kamchatka Peninsula.  Suspecting the jet liner was actually a U.S. spy plane, the Soviet fighter fired 2 air-to-air missiles, easily shooting down the lumbering commercial airliner that was flying from New York City to Seoul, Korea via Anchorage, Alaska. Digging Deeper Soviet officials at first denied involvement in the shootdown.  Then they claimed the fighter had first called the airliner on the radio before firing warning shots with tracer ammunition.  Years later, when the Soviet Union dissolved, more complete information…

A Brief History On September 4, 1886, after almost 30 years of raiding Mexican and white settlers and battling the U.S. Army, Apache war leader Geronimo finally surrendered in Arizona to U.S. Army General Nelson Miles. Digging Deeper Geronimo’s actual Apache name means “One who yawns.”  After his wife, children and mother were killed by Mexican soldiers in 1858, it seems he did little yawning and much fighting, leading raids against both Mexican and American settlers and soldiers.  Although Geronimo’s hatred was mainly directed at the Mexicans, his raids of theft and murder of Americans had the U.S. Army chasing him and his…

A Brief History On August 30, 1813, a force of about 1,000 warriors of a faction of the Creek Nation Native Americans known as the “Red Sticks” attacked Fort Mims in Alabama, killing almost all its defenders and many civilians as well.  What later became known as the Fort Mims Massacre was the worst slaughter of white settlers by Native Americans in the South and probably the second worst overall. (Only the 1791 Fort Recovery Massacre in Ohio known as St. Clair’s Defeat may have been worse.) Digging Deeper As explained above, the Red Sticks were a faction of the Creek.  Many Creek had assimilated with the white…

A Brief History On August 29, 1350, the English naval fleet under King Edward III defeated the Castilian fleet at the Battle of Winchelsea in the English Channel after the Castilian fleet had previously attacked and captured English trade ships.  Although not establishing naval dominance over the Spanish for good, this battle showed that the English took naval threats seriously and would meet the enemy head on to protect its ships and coastlines.  The Battle of Winchelsea precursed what would become a massive English victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588. Digging Deeper As mentioned in the introduction, the Battle of…

A Brief History On August 27, 1928, countries that were bitter enemies in World War I signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact to renounce war as a means to resolve disputes and conflicts between nations.  Within a year’s time, a total of 62 countries had signed. Digging Deeper To put 62 countries in perspective for the times, the 1928 Winter Olympics had 25 countries participating and the Summer Olympics 46. This particular treaty was named after Frank Kellogg, U.S. Secretary of State, and Aristide Briand, the French Foreign Minster.  Kellogg received the 1929 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in establishing the pact.  (History and Headlines Note:  The name “Kellogg”…