A Brief History On June 9, 1959, the United States Navy launched the USS George Washington, the first ballistic missile submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles. We used that occasion to publish the article “10 Weapons Milestones (Modern Systems that Changed the Game)” in which we named 10 of the most interesting and important advances in weaponry of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Today we list 10 more of those weapons and or weapons systems, and we branch out to include the 21st Century and Olden times as well. (Lightsabers not included!) Digging Deeper 1. Lasers (a Directed Energy Weapon),…
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A Brief History On June 8, 2018, another great dystopian future film premiers across the United States when Hotel Artemis opens. We had the opportunity to review the film and found it to be entertaining, though not exactly uplifting. Starring Jodie Foster as “The Nurse,” the “hotel” is actually a secret hospital for well heeled outlaws to receive emergency medical treatment. Jeff Goldblum adds star power as the main bad guy, known colorfully as the much feared “Wolf King.” Writer/Director Drew Pearce lends the film noir his own brand of cynical view of society (he also wrote the screen plays…
A Brief History On June 6, 1944, the character played by Robert Mitchum in the movie The Longest Day (1960), Brigadier General Norman Cota, makes a stirring announcement to his men who are under heavy enemy fire and terrified of moving forward: “Only two kinds of people are gonna stay on this beach — those that are already dead and those that are gonna die. Now get off your butts! You guys are the Fightin’ 29th!” It turns out Norman Cota was a real US Army General (eventually Major General) and he really did rally his men of the 29th…
A Brief History On June 5, 1944, the British RAF plastered the Normandy coast of France with 5,000 tons of bombs dropped by over 1,000 bombers in preparation for the D-Day landings the next day. The bombing failed to destroy the German defenses, and the further bombing of the German “Atlantic Wall” after midnight on D-Day (June 6, 1944) by 2,000 allied bombers also failed to achieve any particular benefit, especially due to cloudy conditions and bombers being extra cautious to avoid dropping bombs on Allied troops taking part in the landings, causing the bombs to fall too far inland…
A Brief History On June 4, 1855, Major Henry C. Wayne got on board the USS Supply in New York Harbor and headed to the Mediterranean Sea to procure camels (29 of the Dromedary or one-hump variety and 2 of the Bactrian or two-hump kind) for use by the US Army in the Western United States. In 1848, Wayne had conducted a more detailed follow-up study to the 1836 report submitted to the Army by Major George Crossman who had recommended the US Army acquire camels as pack animals for hot weather environments. These reports and recommendations went nowhere until…