Browsing: Society

A Brief History On October 27, 2017, tensions between the United States and North Korea put a cloud of possible nuclear conflict facing the American people.  Meanwhile, 2017 has been a year of unprecedented major wildfires, hurricanes, and who knows what the last couple months of the year can bring?  The potential for natural or man-made disaster that results in a time of no police, no government services, no utilities, no food, no water, and no civil behavior by fellow survivors is higher than at any time since the Cold War.  As we have seen in Louisiana in the aftermath…

A Brief History On October 26, 1943, what could have been a fantastic advantage in the German air war against Allied bombers in World War II first took to the air, with the first flight of the Dornier Do 335 Pfeil (Arrow).   A two engine heavy fighter, the Pfeil was powered by propeller driving engines in the front and the back of the fuselage, a push-pull arrangement unlike any other World War II fighter plane.  Alas, for the German Air Force (Luftwaffe)  delays in obtaining sufficient engine production and clumsy German bureaucracy meant only 37 of the sleek and fast…

A Brief History On October 25, 1944, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler of the German Third Reich ordered a crackdown against the youth culture anti-Nazi government resistance group known as “Edelweisspiraten,” or “Edelweiss Pirates.”  This group of teenagers had dodged mandatory induction into the Hitler Youth organization and worked to help others hide from government authorities, whether those avoiding service in the Hitler Youth, draft dodgers, or army deserters.  A German produced film, Edelweiss Pirates, detailed the exploits of these resisters in 2004. Digging Deeper Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was an early associate of Adolf Hitler and was with Hitler for the…

A Brief History On October 24, 1957, the US Air Force combined the proposals of three companies to develop a rocket powered spaceplane that was to perform multiple military roles, including bombing, reconnaissance, and research.  Plans included a timeline of planning until 1963, first flights conducted as glide tests with powered test flights to follow in 1964.  The plan was for an unmanned glide missile to be fielded in 1968 and a fully operational manned system by 1974. Digging Deeper Intended to be sent into space atop a rocket and return to Earth on a glide and land like an…

A Brief History On October 23, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln, defender of the Union of the United States, illegally suspended the rule of Habeas Corpus, the Constitutional protection of Americans against being held in confinement without charges and due process.  Lincoln has been made into an American legend and icon, an idol mostly deserving of high praise, but he was not necessarily what people think he was, or what schools teach children about him.  Here we list 10 things either contrary to the Lincoln myth, or interesting facts that you might not be aware of. Digging Deeper 1. Suspension of Habeas…