Browsing: Society

A Brief History On July 3, 1969, the Soviet Union’s dreams of a moon rocket went up in smoke and fire on the launch pad as the largest explosion of any rocket in history.  The Soviet N1 rocket booster was a giant rocket meant to carry objects or people beyond Earth orbit, basically to the moon.  Its first stage is the most powerful single stage of any rocket ever made, and that includes the American counterpart, the Saturn V. Digging Deeper The 5 stage monster N1 rockets were 344 feet tall and almost 56 feet in diameter.  Weighing in at…

A Brief History On July 3, 1940, the Royal Navy (on purpose) pounded a French fleet moored at the Algerian port of Mers-el-Kebir, sinking three French battleships.  Usually when we discuss “friendly fire” we are talking about same side or allied forces accidentally targeting other friendly forces, or technical problems that result in one side’s own weapons striking their own people or equipment. Digging Deeper In this case, the attack was quite deliberate, as France had been overrun by the Nazi juggernaut and the desperate British feared the powerful French fleet would be turned over to Germany for their own…

A Brief History On July 3, 1988, the guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes defended itself against an attacking Iranian fighter bomber by firing two ship to air missiles.  The “attacking” jet was struck and shot down, but it turned out to be Iran Air Flight 655, an Airbus 300 carrying 290 people (civilians).  Sometimes when naval men make mistakes, people die.  Sometimes, the mistake is extremely expensive, or just highly embarrassing.  Here we list 10 of those moments when the naval brass would love to have a “do over.”   Digging Deeper 10. RAF Sinks Cap Arcona, et al, 1945. In spite of…

A Brief History On July 2, 1777, Vermont became the first territory in what had just (kind of) become the United States to abolish slavery.  Several other significant Civil Rights related events happened on July 2nd, and we list some of them here. Digging Deeper 1776: Continental Congress voted to declare Independence from Britain.  (The actual document we know as the Declaration of Independence was voted on July 4, 1776.)  Independence from Britain actually hurt the cause of Civil Rights as Britain abolished slavery in 1833, over 30 years before it was abolished in the United States. 1777: Vermont Abolishes…

A Brief History On July 1, 1863, the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania began, perhaps the most important battle of the US Civil War.  Many historians have considered it the battle that the war hinged on, especially as it was the “high water mark” of the Confederate invasion of the North.  We list here some of the most important, most critical battles in our nation’s history, battles that the very existence of the country depended on.  Since the only wars that our existence hinged on were the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War II, by our definition only those…