A Brief History On August 29, 1915, US Navy salvage crews raised the submarine, F-4, from the seabed off Honolulu where she had sunk with all hands on March 25, 1915, the first USN sub lost and another in a long list of Naval “Oops Moments.” Digging Deeper Tiny by today’s standards, the F-4 was only 142 feet and 7 inches long with a beam of 15 feet, with a crew of only 21 on the day she sank.  Her original name had been USS Skate, although it was changed before her launch. Interesting trivia regarding her salvage is that…

A Brief History On June 16, 2023, Warner Brothers and DC Studios released yet another big budget superhero movie, in this case, The Flash.  Obviously, part of the DC Extended Universe that includes notable superheroes such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, the $220 million budget film was expected to a blockbuster. Digging Deeper Alas, so far the box office has reaped a disappointing $268.5 million, not enough, at least yet, to make a profit let alone approach lofty expectations that Marvel and DC movies generate.  Losses are expected to approach $200 million.  So what went wrong? Starting with the…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 28th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 28, 489, the king of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric, defeated the forces under Odoacer, King of Italy, at the Battle of Isonzo, thus opening the route into the heart of Italy. On August 28, 632, Fatimah bint Muhammad, the youngest and possibly the only daughter of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, beloved by Muhammad and by Muslims throughout the world, died under…

A Brief History On August 28, 1973, Stockholm, Sweden police arrested two bank robbers after a five day standoff in which the robbers held four people as hostages.  Incredibly, the hostages seemed to take sides with the robbers, a psychological effect later named “Stockholm Syndrome.” Digging Deeper The perpetrator of the crime, Jan-Erik Olsson, was a convicted criminal that had absconded while on furlough from prison.  A veteran of prior armed robberies, Olsson was armed with a sub-machinegun during the robbery. When police arrived at the scene, Olsson took hostages, and the standoff began.  Police brought Olsson’s friend from prison…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 27th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 27, 1859, Colonel Edwin Drake of the Seneca Oil Company drilled a successful oil well just outside Titusville, Pennsylvania, the discovery of the first commercially viable oil well. On August 27, 1859, oil was discovered in Pennsylvania, an event we used to list “10 Momentous Discoveries.” On August 27, 1915, a member of the clergy tried to assassinate another member…