A Brief History On July 10, 1997, British scientists in London conducted DNA tests on a Neanderthal skeleton which showed the likelihood of a common ancestor for all men having originated in Africa, perhaps 200,000 years ago. Digging Deeper Neanderthal man is the stereotypical cave man of cultural reference, powerfully built and immensely strong, with males average height about 5’6” and females about 5’1”.  Their brains were actually larger than modern human brains, 1600 cc versus 1400 cc.  The theory of human evolution has modern man and Neanderthal both evolving from a common ancestor 200,000 or so years ago in…

A Brief History On July 10, 1942, an American pilot spotted an intact Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter downed on Akutan island.  The Zero was recovered and restored to flying condition by the Americans and provided information needed to develop American fighters and tactics to cope with the Zero’s great performance.  Here we list 10 of the most formidable fighter planes American pilots have had to face in combat.  Digging Deeper 10.  Mikoyan and Gurevich MiG-29. Inflicting (disputed by allies) rare air to air kills on a British Tornado and an American B-52 during the 1991 Gulf War, the MiG-29…

A Brief History On July 10, 1942, a US pilot spotted a downed Japanese A6M Zero fighter plane on Akutan Island, Alaska.  The relatively intact fighter was recovered by US forces, made airworthy, and extensively tested, providing valuable intelligence about the Zero that had been terrorizing American pilots.  Last year we used this incident to list 10 of the greatest “enemy” fighter planes, and this time we list 10 of the greatest (sometimes more interesting or famous than important) intelligence coups of World War II.  Some of these coups can be times when preventing the enemy from learning something is…

A Brief History This article presents a timeline of The Dark Ages! Prologue On September 28, 235, Pope Pontian became the first pope to resign his office, only to live out his days exiled to the mines of Sardinia! On September 25th, Catholics remember the death of Spanish Saint Fermin, the first bishop of Pamplona, in 303 A.D…and the miracles that followed! On October 27, 312, the night before the Battle of Milvian Bridge against the Roman Emperor Maxentius, the Emperor Constantine the Great adopted as his motto the Greek phrase “ἐν τούτῳ νίκα” after having a vision of a…

A Brief History On July 9, 1922, Johnny Weissmuller became the first man to break 60 seconds in the 100 meter freestyle swim, posting a world record time of 58.6 seconds.  Weissmuller rode his fame as a swimmer to become the Tarzan of the movies that we think of as the definitive Tarzan.  He was the greatest swimmer of his day, but girls routinely beat his best times today.  Here we list 10 of the greatest swimmers in the world and in history, some of which may not be what you are thinking of.  (Maybe next time we can list the worst swimmers!)…