Today we bid adieu to the USS Chicago. The heavy cruiser was sunk off Rennell Island, situated roughly 200 miles straight south of Guadalcanal, during the afternoon of January 30, 1943. The Chicago was part of a task force that was sent to Guadalcanal due to increased enemy naval activity in the area. The U.S. [...]
Archive for January, 2010
USS Chicago Sunk by Bombs and Bumbling
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Admiral Richard Giffen, Battle of Rennell Island, Guadalcanal, Rennell Island, Solomon Islands, USS Chicago on January 30 | 1 Comment »
USS Missouri: Last of the Breed
Posted in North America, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Iowa-Class Battleships, USS Iowa, USS Missouri, Yamato on January 29 | 3 Comments »
It’s getting late this evening, so I’ll keep it fairly brief…or at least I’ll try to. When we discussed the sinking Japan’s humongous battleship Yamato (now approaching two years ago), we put it in a hypothetical shootout with the USS Iowa. Back then, I concluded that such a battle would have been won by the [...]
“Those Cats Were Fast as Lightning”…
Posted in Period between World Wars (1919-1939), tagged 1938, A Guy Named Joe, Fork-Tailed Devil, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Richard Dreyfuss, Spencer Tracy on January 27 | Leave a Comment »
This weekend, we watched A Guy Named Joe, an old war movie from the 40′s. In it, a B-25 pilot (played by Spencer Tracy) is killed bombing a German aircraft carrier (?!?) and then his ghost comes back to help a budding pilot learn his way around a fighter. And there’s a love story with [...]
Slavery: The Scourge of Many an Abolitionist
Posted in The Confederation (1783-1789), United States, tagged 1785, African Free School, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, New York, New York Manumission Society, slavery on January 25 | Leave a Comment »
When Thomas Jefferson sat down as part of a five-man committee and began drafting a declaration of independence, he probably had little idea how exceptional that first of American documents would become. But by the time he had written the second sentence, he probably had a pretty good idea of how accusatory it would be. [...]
“U. S.” Roosevelt
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Casablanca, Casablanca Conference, President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Unconditional Surrender on January 24 | 2 Comments »
Our ISP seems to have conquered the Internet ills it had yesterday. The Civil War battle at Fort Donelson earned Ulysses S. Grant the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant (see it there?…”Ulysses S”…”U. S.”…”Unconditional Surrender”?). But you probably didn’t need to be reminded of that, much less have it explained. It’s one of those pieces of [...]
Hannibal : Konigsberg :: Dynamo : Dunkirk
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, East Prussia, Konigsberg, Operation Dynamo, Operation Hannibal, Wilhelm Gustloff on January 23 | 3 Comments »
The Internet is bouncing up and down like a yo-yo. Up for two minutes, down for two. There’s a network problem somewhere. As a technology guy myself, I understand the fickleness of the Internet, but it’s frustrating nonetheless. This may get published piecemeal…we’ll see… On January 12, 1945, Russia launched its massive East Prussian Campaign. [...]
Ax Men in France
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1793, French Revolution, King Louis XVI, Robespierre on January 21 | Leave a Comment »
This hasn’t been a very good month for writing. If one thing hasn’t gotten in the way, it’s been another. I really wanted to write about Orde Wingate and the Gideon Force yesterday, so of course, our Internet Service Provider decided to disconnect our DSL service. And we were kind of pre-occupied anyways, owing to an [...]
The Road Away from Auschwitz
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Auschwitz, Filip Müller, Oswiecim, Poland on January 18 | Leave a Comment »
©Angelo Celedon Filip Müller noticed the change. People he considered “enemies” were now actually showing him a bit of deference. Those in authority over him, while still attempting to do their jobs, were displaying, in his opinion, affability. And while Müller may have wanted to attribute this change in attitude to a change in heart, he knew [...]
Spain Survives Another Nuclear Near-Miss
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1966, Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, Mk28 Hydrogen Bomb, Palomares, Spain, Strategic Air Command on January 17 | 1 Comment »
It’s been almost a year since we talked about the B-52 Stratofortress that crashed near Goldsboro, North Carolina. Time really flies. That accident, in 1961, was something of a nuclear “near miss” as the massive bomber was carrying a pair of Mk39 Hydrogen bombs. Back then, we kind of thought that there would be other [...]
Super Bowl or Side Show?
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1967, Green Bay Packers, Halftime Show, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles, Super Bowl on January 15 | 2 Comments »
Well, the long national nightmare is over. No, we don’t have a balanced budget or lower taxes or world peace. But the white car finally started. On Wednesday, we reached 40°F for the first time in weeks. So I went out and, after a bit of coercion, gained the victory. There’s still plenty wrong with [...]
The Midwest’s “Weather Playground” Turns Violent
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1888, Children's Blizzard, Exposure, Hypothermia, Signal Corps on January 12 | 1 Comment »
Samuel Glenn was a Sergeant in the Signal Corps. His job was to, three times a day, take weather measurements and then send them up the chain to the weather guys. The weather guys would then plot those readings on maps, which would give them a picture of what the weather was doing. These days, [...]
The Upper Midwest: The Weather Playground
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1888, Alberta, Canada, Canadian Rockies, Jet Stream, Weather on January 10 | Leave a Comment »
Sulfur dioxide is one of the by-products of volcanic eruptions…all eruptions send it into the atmosphere. Small eruptions release a little, big eruptions a lot. Sulfur dioxide acts like a “radiation mirror”, reflecting the sun’s energy back into space. Really big volcanic eruptions can cause enough solar power to be reflected to actually cool the earth [...]
Montgomery Weighs in on the Bulge
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Ardennes Forest, Battle of the Bulge, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, General George Patton on January 7 | 3 Comments »
A morning with temps above 0°!! We actually started today at +12, but of course it came with 5-6″ of snow. And now we’ve got 40-50mph wind gusts, which means terrible road conditions. Then another couple nights in the deep freeze. I really, really hate the cold. I know, I’m obsessing. But this is getting ridiculous. [...]
The Golden Gate Bridge is Born
Posted in Twentieth century (1901-1960), United States, tagged 1933, California, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco on January 5 | 2 Comments »
The cold continues…-15 again this morning and the white car still doesn’t start. It’s like a really bad saga. When I mention that Today’s History Lesson has something to do with San Francisco, each of you will have different images pop into your brain. For some, it’s the houses packed so tightly together (each of [...]
Tolkien’s Words, My World
Posted in American literature, tagged 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle Earth, South Africa, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings on January 3 | Leave a Comment »
Well, the cold weather continues. We’re looking at temps around -10°F tonight. The white car still refuses to start, so I think I’m simply going to give up trying until temps moderate, which means probably next weekend. There’s no point burning out a starter. I was telling a friend this week that Today’s History Lesson has [...]
Hale to the…Skipper
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1990, Alan Hale, Gilligan's Island, Jonas Grumby, The Skipper on January 2 | Leave a Comment »
Happy New Year everyone!! We woke up this morning to an unpleasant -16°F. I really hate winter. Not because of the snow or the shortened days, but just those frigid temperatures. If it would just stay around 25-30 degrees, I’d be fine. But -16!! And one of our cars sits out in the driveway and, [...]
