Browsing: Society

A Brief History On December 12, 1941, American forces were still reeling from the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor when Philippine-American pilot Jesus Villamor led a flight of Boeing P-26 “Peashooter” fighter planes against superior Japanese aircraft that were raiding Batanga Airfield. Digging Deeper Superb Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter planes were escorting G3M Nell bombers.  The Philippine-American force had only a handful of greatly outclassed P-26s.  Despite the odds, Villamor managed to shoot down 2 Zeros while his men shot down an additional Zero and a Nell, an incredible feat considering the differences in the quality of airplanes involved. The…

A Brief History On December 11, 1941, dictators Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy made an enormous blunder, perhaps one that cost them the World War II, when they declared war on the United States. Digging Deeper (Summary  and translation of the above video: Hitler speaks to the Reichstag and, in the presence of the Italian and Japanese ambassadors, declares war on the U.S., calling American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) a war agitator and a hypocrite.) The declaration came just 3 days after the U.S. had declared war on Japan the day after having been attacked at Pearl Harbor. (Of…

A Brief History On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed on the streets of New York City by a crazed fan.  Lennon, a former Beatle, was also a well-known advocate for world peace and had been vocal about his anti-war stance.  Many musicians, be they rock n’ roll musicians or even folk singers, use their music as a means of protest and to communicate their feelings about hot and controversial topics such as politics, war, racism, sexism, etc.  Here 10 protest songs are listed.  These were not all necessarily big hits or particularly effective, but they were all spectacular on…

A Brief History On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a devastating surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base and the Hickam Field Airbase on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.  Digging Deeper American Naval and Army forces were caught by surprise that fateful sunny Sunday morning and paid a terrible price for their lack of vigilance.  All the American battleships were either sunk or disabled.  Of the 390 American warplanes, 188 were destroyed and 159 damaged.  Over 2,400 Americans died.  The Japanese were met with some token anti-aircraft fire and air-to-air interception, but the results were scant.  One…

A Brief History On December 6, 1952, Vladimir Nabakov finished his novel Lolita.  With a subject matter concerning a mature man and a young girl in a love affair, it was no surprise that prudes would find the subject “unfit” for public dissemination.  The Soviets and the Nazis banned and burned many books that were not in line with their concepts; the Chinese go so far as to also censor the internet.  Here 10 reviled written works that someone at one point in time or another wanted to ban are listed.  Digging Deeper 10. Mein Kampf (Adolf Hitler). Although the…