Browsing: Military

A Brief History On March 14, 1982, an 11 kilogram bomb went off at the office of the African National Congress in London, England.  The explosion that occurred at 9 am local time, did not kill anyone, but the considerable blast smashed windows as far as 400 meters away.  Obviously, the human damage could have been much worse.  ANC voluntary worker, Vernet Mbatha, a caretaker, was the only person injured.  He had been sleeping in an apartment above the offices. Digging Deeper The ANC is currently the governing political party of the Republic of South Africa, a country that was…

A Brief History On March 10, 1952, Fulgencio Batista, a former military sergeant in the Cuban Army and former President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, led a successful coup against the democratically elected government of the island nation of Cuba, installing himself as “President,” or more accurately as dictator.  Batista remained in charge of Cuba with the support of the United States until the Fidel Castro led revolution aided by revolutionary hero Che Guevera ousted the would be king in 1959.  Castro later declared himself and his regime to be communist after 2 years of contentious relations with the…

A Brief History On March 6, 1975, entranced Americans were glued to their television sets to watch the first mass public showing of the infamous “Zapruder Film” that depicted the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.  According to US Government reports, a single gunman acting alone, Lee Harvey Oswald, used a World War II surplus Italian bolt action rifle that he bought mail order.  The 6.5×52mm caliber Carcano Model 91/38 cost Oswald only $19.95 (plus shipping) and it even included an attached riflescope!  Today we take a look at 10 guns that will live in infamy. …

A Brief History On March 4, 1970, the French submarine, Eurydice, apparently blew up violently while underwater off the coast of Cape Camarat in the Mediterranean Sea.  As you can imagine, all 57 hands were lost.  When the boat (submarines are called “boats” instead of ships, regardless of their size) was discovered several weeks later, only pieces were found spread over a large area.  No cause of the explosion was ever determined, a not uncommon fate of submarines and the sailors that operate them.  Today we will touch on several incidents that should give anyone contemplating a life as a…

A Brief History On March 1, 2014, a mass stabbing occurred at Kunming, Yunnan, China in the railway station, a bloody affair that left 35 people dead and another 143 wounded.  The perpetrators were a group of 8 Xinjiang separatists, according to analysis of evidence including an East Turkestan flag found at the scene and Uyghur Muslims were involved. Digging Deeper The group of 6 men and 2 women were linked by the Chinese authorities to the separatist movement of Xinjiang, an autonomous region of China in the far Northwest portion of the country largely peopled by ethnic Turkic people…