A Brief History On May 14, 1943, the Australian hospital ship AHS Centaur was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese Imperial Navy submarine I-177.  Sadly, 268 of the 332 crew and civilians aboard along with 63 of the 65 Australian Army personnel aboard the ship died. Digging Deeper Centaur was clearly marked in accordance with International Red Cross protocol, painted white and showing large red crosses on the hull. She was also fully illuminated when attacked. Built in Scotland in 1924, Centaur was originally a combination refrigerated cargo and passenger liner that was turned over to the Australian military in 1943…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 13th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 13, 1862, a black African-American slave, Robert Smalls, serving as a ship’s pilot on the CSS Planter, a Confederate armed steamship, managed to steal the ship and turn it over to US Navy forces outside Charleston, South Carolina. On May 13, 1950, the first Formula One World Championship race was held in England. On May 13, 1958, George de Mestral of Switzerland…

A Brief History On May 13, 2023, Americans can celebrate the annual National Train Day, a day invented by Amtrak back in 2008, but cancelled for 2016 due to budget cuts! Digging Deeper Have you heard of any other “National” Days that have been eliminated?  Trains have had it rough in recent decades and even in recent weeks.  On February 3, 2023, a train carrying tanker cars of Vinyl Chloride derailed at East Palestine, Ohio and created an environmental disaster and political controversy. Trains helped build the United States and much of the world, with a peak of railroad employees…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 12th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 12, 1593, History shows us a good example of the problems that develop when Church and State are not separate. On May 12, 1864, as part of the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse (Virginia) Union and Confederate forces fought in the “Bloody Angle” resulting in thousands of casualties on both sides, just part of what was by far the bloodiest and…

A Brief History On May 12, 1965, the Soviet space craft, Luna 5, an unmanned spaceship designed to become the first ever Earth launched craft to make a controlled landing on the surface of the Moon, instead crashed when its retro-rockets failed to ignite. Digging Deeper Soviet space agency attempts to land a spacecraft on the Moon had previously failed, both at launch and at landing.  After US President John F. Kennedy had boldly claimed the US would land a man on the Moon and safely return him to Earth before the decade was over, the US and the USSR…