A Brief History On July 17, 1791, hero of the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier (you can see why he is usually just called “Lafayette”) led the French National Guard against a riotous mob of around 10,000 angry French revolutionaries, gunning down about 50 of the rebels in the action. (The mob had started throwing stones and then shooting at the soldiers.) Digging Deeper Lafayette returned to France a hero after aiding George Washington and the Americans in defeating the British during the American Revolution, only to find France torn between loyal…
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A Brief History On July 17, 1944, US P-38 fighter bombers dropped napalm bombs on a German Army fuel depot near St. Lo in Normandy, France, one of the earliest uses of napalm. Napalm a mixture of gasoline and a thickening agent (several formulas) is used as a flame weapon that stubbornly sticks to anything it comes in contact with, greatly increasing its lethality against humans and effectiveness in catching things on fire. Digging Deeper One of the iconic products closely associated with the US by the rest of the world, napalm was developed secretly in 1942 during World War…
A Brief History On July 16, 1862 and July 16, 1882, we commemorate the birthdays of 2 significant African-American women, Ida B. Wells (who first developed statistics on lynching in the US) and Violette Neatley Anderson (the first African-American woman to practice law before the United States Supreme Court). In honor of these historic Black American Women, today we choose to highlight the accomplishments of Seven Great Black American Men, people that young Americans can look up to, especially African-American youths. The order listed has no significance. Digging Deeper 7. Booker T. Washington. A multi-faceted man as an educator, author,…
A Brief History On July 16, 1945, Manhattan Project scientists held their breath as the clock ticked down to the first man-made nuclear blast in history. Digging Deeper Over a period of almost six years from its feeble first steps (3 years as a project in earnest), through 130,000 people working on the project and $2 billion taxpayer dollars the finest scientists in the world had developed methods of enriching uranium to a state where its nucleus could be split and creating plutonium, the two materials needed for the two different types of atomic weapons being considered. The uranium device would be…
A Brief History On July 16, 1862, David Farragut was appointed a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, the first officer to hold that rank. Being a 2 ocean nation, the US has needed a great 2 ocean Navy to protect the country and look after our interests. Along the way, many great sailors and others have furthered the capabilities of the US Navy and added to its rich history. Here we list 10 of those examples, of the hundreds or even thousands that could be listed (no significance to the order listed). ( Note: Although the US Marine…