A Brief History On February 23, 2017, news outlets were awash with stories and video of an incident that took place Tuesday, February 21, 2017 in Anaheim, California (home of Disneyland).  An off duty Los Angeles police officer residing in Anaheim had been having trouble with local youngsters (teens) trespassing in his yard on their way to and from school, when a confrontation broke out when the officer yelled at the kids and the kids, one in particular, made the mistake of mouthing off back at the officer. Digging Deeper Normally it is not against the law to be disrespectful,…

A Brief History On February 23, 2008, a US Air Force B-2 “Spirit” bomber crashed while attempting a take-off on the runway at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.  The stealth jet bomber was totally destroyed, but the 2 man crew safely ejected.  The B-2 bomber is far and away the most expensive airplane ever built, costing somewhere between $1 billion and $2.1 billion apiece, depending on how you account for the price per aircraft. Digging Deeper The most modern bomber in the world, and the only large “stealth” aircraft, the Northrup Grumman B-2 is not all that new, having…

A Brief (And we mean Brief!) History On February 22, 1983, the Eugene O’Neill Theater (230 West 49th St., New York, although considered a “Broadway” theater) was the scene of perhaps the biggest fiasco in the History of Broadway Plays, the opening and closing night of the Arthur Bicknell play, Moose Murders. Digging Deeper Not only did this miserable play only have the one night, its very name has become the archetype for lousy plays, those which open and close after only one show.  Moose Murders is the low standard by which crumby plays are compared.  Frank Rich, Broadway critic…

A Brief History On February 21, 1945, while supporting the US invasion of Iwo Jima in the Pacific, the US aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) was struck by 3 Japanese suicide planes known as Kamikaze.  Not only did Saratoga survive those devastating hits, she was also hit by 5 aerial bombs, and suffered extensive damage, 123 men dead and 192 wounded.  Thirty-six of her 70 aircraft were destroyed, and the battle was not yet over! Digging Deeper Only 2 hours later, the Japanese returned for another attack on the stricken ship, and Saratoga was hit again, and again refused to go…

A Brief History On February 20, 1942, the United States was still reeling from the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and was in desperate need of victories after island after allied island fell to the seemingly unstoppable Japanese Navy and Army.  Burma, Malaya, The Dutch East Indies, Solomon Islands, Gilbert Islands, Philippines, Wake Island, Singapore, Hong Kong, and numerous other places had fallen or been invaded by the Japanese.  The US Navy that had been battered at Pearl Harbor was all that prevented Japan from sailing East to attack the US West Coast. Digging Deeper In…