Browsing: Society

A Brief History On September 11, 1826, Captain William Morgan was arrested in Batavia, New York, supposedly on a charge of failing to pay a debt.  The real reason for his arrest was that the ex-Freemason had threatened to publish an expose type book, The Mysteries of Free Masonry, a less than flattering description of the secret society.  His subsequent disappearance and presumed murder led to a groundswell of opinion against Freemasons in the United States. Digging Deeper In fact, the increase in anti-Masonic feeling in the US continued to rise to the point where on September 11, 1830, the…

A Brief History On September 9, 2015, a new record was broken!  On this historic date, Queen Elizabeth II (r. 1952-present) became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.  The preceding line was our opening line in our 2016 article commemorating the achievement by Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, on becoming the longest reigning monarch in British history.  Today we take a look at some of the travails the Royal Family has gone through under her reign. Digging Deeper For starters, during her reign she has lost the sovereignty over many realms, losing her title as Queen of Pakistan, Queen of Ceylon,…

A Brief History On September 4, 1944, the British 11th Armoured Division, part of the larger armies on the European continent commanded by Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery, liberated the Belgian city of Antwerp, one more city liberated of the German oppressors by the victorious Allies, many of whom were ably led by the dashing Monty.  Meanwhile, in the Pacific Theater of Operations, the Allied effort against Japan was split between Fleet Admiral Nimitz and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.  MacArthur had been humiliated by being ousted from the Philippines in early 1942, but was well on the way…

A Brief History On September 2, 1807, the British Royal Navy and Army bombarded the port city of Copenhagen, Denmark, using fire bombs and phosphorus incendiary rockets in order to prevent neutral Denmark from deciding to align with Napoleonic France and turn over the use of its war fleet to the French and their allies.  This preemptive attack against a neutral country not at war with Britain is not an isolated event, but a calculated preemptive attack Britain has demonstrated the willingness to engage in over the course of history. Digging Deeper Emperor of the French, Napoleon I, had taken…

A Brief History On August 31, 1965, fans of super-different airplanes could add another oddity to their list when the Aero Spacelines Super Guppy made its first flight.  A bulbous looking whale of an airplane, the Super Guppy was the successor to the Pregnant Guppy, an equally goofy looking giant cargo plane.  Today we take a look at some of these quite real and intended for practical use airplanes, not jokes or intentionally comical, but serious aircraft built with a serious purpose.  Some of these airplanes were experimental, others saw active service.  As always, give us your nominations of planes…