We rarely visit the movie theater. Occasionally, we’ll go and watch a movie, but even “occasionally” is too strong a word. The last time I occupied a theater seat was in December of 2006, when I took my wife to a show as part of a Christmas present. I don’t remember when I went before [...]
Archive for October, 2009
British Capture Shark in the Mediterranean
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Bletchley Park, Enigma, Shark, Triton, U-559, U-571 on October 30 | 2 Comments »
Bob Ross: 30 Minutes of Awesome
Posted in Twentieth century (1901-1960), United States, tagged 1942, Bob Ross, Public Television, The Joy of Painting on October 29 | 7 Comments »
It’s a special day at Today’s History Lesson. I’m just brimming with stuff to talk about, though I have but one subject. For those of you that grew up watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, you know how relaxing…and calming…and soothing…and gentle that program was. Rambunctious children like you, by the millions, exorcised their “energy” demons with this [...]
Hamilton, Madison, and Jay: Ministers of Defense
Posted in The Confederation (1783-1789), United States, tagged 1787, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, President James Madison, Publius, The Federalist Papers, The Independent Journal on October 27 | Leave a Comment »
As we saw a few months back, the ratification of the U.S. Constitution caused no end of debate among the Colonists. The new charter called for a stronger central government than the Articles it replaced, albeit a three-sided government designed to hold itself in check. But its passage, in September of 1787, had the effect of dividing [...]
Japan Wins Big and Loses Bigger at Santa Cruz
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Admiral Nobutake Kondo, Admiral William Halsey, Battle of Santa Cruz, Guadalcanal, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands on October 26 | Leave a Comment »
For the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Battle of Santa Cruz was one of those battles that was looked back on with downcast eyes, heavy sighs, and lots of phrases that began with “If only we…” and “It almost…” and “We just about…”. Fought to the northest of the Santa Cruz Islands (several hundred miles east [...]
St. Lo Laid Low by Yukio
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Battle of Leyte Gulf, Divine Wind, Kamikaze, Leyte Gulf, Lt. Yukio Seki, San Bernardino Strait, St. Lo, Taffy 3 on October 25 | Leave a Comment »
The Battle of Leyte Gulf needs no serious introduction to regular readers of Today’s History Lesson, as we spent several days looking at it a year ago. If you’d like a refresher, here are the three articles from last year, which should give you an above-and-below-water overview of what is considered to be the largest [...]
The Blue Flame: Sun, Salt, and Speed
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1970, Blue Flame, Bonneville Salt Flats, Craig Breedlove, Gary Gabelich, Land Speed Record on October 23 | 2 Comments »
This was a somewhat bizarre and puzzling piece to put together, and I’ll explain why in a couple minutes. But first… When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time looking at a paperback copy of the Guiness Book of World Records. It was a blue paperback (as I recall), and I believe [...]
Clark Takes Secret Trip, Returns with Extra Baggage
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Algeria, Cherchel, General Henri Giraud, General Mark Clark, HMS Seraph, North Africa, Operation Torch on October 21 | Leave a Comment »
It was October 21, 1942. In Virginia, the mid-afternoon sun shone down on an invasion fleet. To date, it was largest of its kind ever assembled. It’s destination?…the coasts of North Africa where Operation Torch would be unleashed. An ocean away, off the coast of North Africa, it was also October 21, 1942. But the [...]
A Divine Wind Stirs the Balacat Trees
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Divine Wind, East Airfield, Kamikaze, Leyte Gulf, Luzon, Mabalacat, Pampanga Province, Philippines on October 20 | Leave a Comment »
Today, East Airfield is just a field. Every year, a crop of sugar cane is grown there. When the time is right (like it is at some point every year), the sugar cane is harvested and turned into whatever sweet things it becomes. And it’s then, when the sugar cane is removed, that the field [...]
Black Monday: Stock Market Crash and Burn
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), tagged 1987, Black Monday, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Stock Market Crash on October 19 | 2 Comments »
It seems like October is “stock market” month. In the years since 1791, when the Bank of the United States first issued stock, millionaires by the thousands have been made and destroyed through the vicissitudes of the market (ah, there’s that cool word again…remember it?) as it has navigated through this particular 31-day cycle. A [...]
A Mexican Jumping Beamon
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1968, Bob Beamon, Long Jump, Mexico City, Olympics on October 18 | Leave a Comment »
Over the years, the Olympics have provided us with some really memorable moments. Of the various Games I’ve seen, there are some I recall with varying degrees of clarity. There was Bruce Jenner’s improbable Gold Medal in the decathlon. Nadia Comaneci, the young Romanian whose perfect 10 stunned the gymnastics world. Remember the diminutive Mary Lou [...]
Goering Escapes the Frying Pan…
Posted in Post-war history (1945-), tagged 1946, Hermann Goering, Luftwaffe, Nuremberg Trials, Wannsee Conference on October 15 | Leave a Comment »
Here I am, trapped behind these bars. If there was any way to escape, I’d do it. Many of my subordinates did get away, and are probably halfway to Argentina by now. Hitler was right…those stupid Generals cost us the war and then a bunch of them got away. My Luftwaffe did everything possible, but [...]
U-47 Threads the Needle and Fells the Mighty Oak
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1939, Gunther Prien, HMS Royal Oak, Karl Donitz, Scapa Flow, Scotland, U-47 on October 14 | Leave a Comment »
As October 13, 1939 ended, the HMS Royal Oak was sitting in the relative quiet of Scapa Flow. Located within the Orkney Islands off the northern tip of Scotland, Scapa Flow was a natural harbor surrounded by islands (right about here). Its beauty as a harbor had been recognized as far back as ships had been [...]
Corporal Andrusko: 1 Bullet, 3 Wounds, 1 Miracle
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Blood Poisoning, Captain Andy Haldane, Corporal Eddy Lee Andrusko, Peleliu, Vicissitude on October 13 | Leave a Comment »
Vicissitudes. I love that word. The way it rolls off the tongue…it’s smooth. Vicissitudes. The first time I heard that word was, somewhat surprisingly, during an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Mike and the Bots were making fun of the short A Date with Your Family, which preceded the movie Invasion USA (which happens to [...]
Andy Haldane: Loved and Lost on Peleliu’s Hill 140
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Captain Andy Haldane, Hill 140, Peleliu on October 12 | 8 Comments »
As I’ve been reading “To the Far Side of Hell“, I’m reminded again that history looks back on the Battle of Peleliu with an extremely critical eye. The garrison there was strong and well-entrenched, but the island’s airfield was useless and its aircraft destroyed. The general principle of “island-hopping” (bypassing Japanese strongholds and letting them [...]
Meriwether Lewis’ Sad Departure
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1809, Grinder's Stand, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana Territory, Meriwether Lewis, Natchez Trace, Tennessee on October 11 | 5 Comments »
The death of Meriwether Lewis is generally considered by modern scholars to have been a suicide. There have been accusations of foul play, but eyewitness accounts don’t seem to bear that out. Still, there’s just enough uncertainty with his final hours to give some small amount of room for speculation. Lewis, along with William Clark, [...]
BlackBird: Last Flight of the Uni-Tasker
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1999, Alton Brown, Kelly Johnson, Lockheed Skunk Works, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird on October 9 | Leave a Comment »
When the U.S. military buys aircraft, they sort of subscribe to the “Alton Brown” philosophy of “no uni-taskers in the kitchen”. Our armed services tend to favor multi-role aircraft that can do lots of missions well rather than simply excelling at one thing. It keeps the runways uncluttered. It’s why aircraft like Lockheed’s F-16 Fighting [...]
The McCollum Memo: Conspiracy or…?
Posted in North America, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Arthur McCollum, Japan, McCollum Memo, Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt on October 7 | 1 Comment »
I’ve been off for a couple days, fighting a case of the blah’s. I would go to the office in the morning, then end up working from home in the afternoon. And by the time 4:00pm got here, I was pretty wiped out. This evening I’m better, though still not great. But let’s talk about something…and try [...]
Chiseled in Stone
Posted in Twentieth century (1901-1960), United States, tagged 1927, Gutzon Borglum, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota on October 4 | Leave a Comment »
South Dakota is one of the least populated states in the Union. With roughly 800,000 people calling it home, only Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, and North Dakota have fewer residents. But between 2 and 3 million people call South Dakota “my/our vacation destination” every year as they venture to Mount Rushmore, one of the most famous National Parks [...]
