A Brief History On October 16, 1991, 35 year old loser George Hennard crashed his truck into the front of a Luby’s Cafeteria in Kileen, Texas, hopped out of the pick-up, and began shooting, eventually killing 24 people (including himself) and wounding another 27. Up to this point, the Luby’s Cafeteria shooting was the deadliest non-school shooting in US history. (Note: This tragedy was greatly eclipsed by the horrific mass shooting at Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1, 2017, in which a single gunman shot and killed 58 people, with another 413 reporting wounds or injuries.) Digging Deeper Although this…
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A Brief History 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. It seems the 3 white officers had decided to take shore leave overnight, leaving Smalls and several other slaves on the ship. Digging Deeper Smalls masterminded the escape of the ship with himself in disguise wearing the Captain’s uniform and straw hat. Not only did Smalls successfully present the ship to the Union Navy, but he also…
A Brief History On June 24, 1779, the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War began at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea at the British Fortress of Gibraltar. Spanish and French forces greatly outnumbered the British forces, in men, guns, and ships, and yet after almost 4 years of siege the British had held firm and Gibraltar is known as a metaphor for an impenetrable fortress. Spain and France had attempted to take advantage of British preoccupation with its war in America to gang up on their old foe, and had gone to war in a back handed support…
A Brief History On October 15, 1997, Andy Green became the first supersonic driver of a car by setting the land speed record of 763 mph (Mach 1.016), driving a twin jet powered ThrustSSC across a measured course and back in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. This historic event occurred 50 years and 1 day after Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly supersonic in level flight. Digging Deeper Green is an RAF fighter pilot, no stranger to high speed, also is the holder of the land speed record for diesel powered vehicles with a speed of 350 mph in…
A Brief History On October 15, 1997, the ThrustSSC driven by Andy Green became the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier. At a speed of 763 mph this twin jet powered car became the fastest car on the planet. Here we list 9 such land based people, animals, or vehicles that are the fastest in their category. What additions to this list would you make? (See our list from March 30, 2014 10 Fastest Things, and our list from July 9, 2014, 10 Greatest Swimmers.) Digging Deeper 9. Fastest Roller Coaster, Formula Rossa, 149 mph. Located in the…
