A Brief History On December 21, 1988, the giant Soviet cargo jet, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, made its maiden flight.  Heavier than any airplane before or since, and with a wingspan longer than any production aircraft, the An-225 was intended to carry mass quantities of military cargo, outsized items, and to transport the Buran-class orbiter space vehicles. Digging Deeper Built as an enlargement of the already large An-124, only a single flying copy of the An-225 was ever completed.  A second airframe was started, but not finished. The dimensions of the An-225 were 84 meters long, an 88.4 meter wingspan,…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 20th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On December 20, 217 AD, reigning Pope Saint Zephyrinus died, replaced by Callixtus I as his successor. On December 20, 1941, the American Volunteer Group, better known by its nickname, the Flying Tigers, engaged in its first air-to-air combat when its fighters encountered 10 Japanese “Sally” bombers. On December 20, 1941, the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known by its nickname, the Flying…

A Brief History On December 20, 2019, the United States Space Force became a branch of the US Military, a military that far exceeds any current competitor. Digging Deeper Nations have always struggled with military costs, but the US is so rich that it is the only country to boast a Space Force at all.  Spending nearly $900 billion per year, the US defense budget is 40% of the total world defense spending, more than the next 10 nations combined. The US has 1.3 million active members and another 800,000 reservists.  The Navy has 11 active aircraft carriers among its…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 19th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On December 19, 1907, the Darr Mine disaster in Van Meter, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County) killed a total of 239 miners, both men and boys. On December 19, 1912, US President William H. Taft pardoned the skipper of the ill-fated cruise ship, the PS General Slocum, which had burned and sunk on June 15, 1904, costing over 1000 people their lives. On December…

A Brief History On December 19, 1974, former governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller, was sworn in as Vice President of the US.  Gerald Ford had previously served as Vice President when Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace in 1973, meaning that both the President and the Vice President in late 1974 had both not been elected to office! Digging Deeper The office of Vice President has long been derided as a trivial position, with John Adams, our first Vice President, calling it “the most insignificant Office,” and John Garner, FDR’s first VP calling the job, “almost wholly unimportant.” Critics of…