When the British approached North American Aviation about building Curtiss P-40 Warhawks for them, James Kindelberger (North American’s president) told the British he could design and build something better than a Warhawk in less than 120 days…less time, it turns out, time than it took to re-tool his factory. And Kindelberger was true to his word. [...]
Archive for June, 2011
McDonnell Rolls Out Eagle #1
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1972, Aircraft, General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, McDonnell Douglas, McDonnell-Douglas F-15 Eagle on June 26 | Leave a Comment »
Bagration: What a Difference Three Years Makes
Posted in Russia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Army Group Centre, Operation Bagration, Ukraine on June 23 | Leave a Comment »
When Allied forces stormed the beaches at Normandy in June of 1944, they did so with the goal of capturing beaches that would create serve as a “supply offload” point. Of course, ultimate goal was to head east, free western Europe from Germany’s vise grip, and destroy Adolf Hitler’s regime. What many of the boys [...]
Alexander Hamilton: Six Hours One Monday
Posted in The Confederation (1783-1789), United States, tagged 1787, Alexander Hamilton, Constitutional Convention, Federal Convention on June 18 | 4 Comments »
Alexander Hamilton is a fascinating study in contrasts, and I hope that over the last couple of years, the numerous scribbles I’ve put together on the man would give you that feeling as well. Hamilton was a man who was born into some of the worst conditions of his time, but achieved greatness. A man who [...]
Soviets Have Baltics Seeing Red
Posted in Russia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Nazi-Soviet Pact on June 15 | Leave a Comment »
If you remember way back to this site’s younger days, you might recall the discussion of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Signed in August of 1939, it allowed for the disappearance of Poland, half of which went to Germany, and the remainder going to Russia. But included in the pact was permission for the Russians to do [...]
Phony 7th Division Pays Big Dividend
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1941, 7th Division, Col. Dudley Clarke, Crete, Cyprus, Deception, General Archibald Wavell on June 13 | Leave a Comment »
As May of 1941 rolled into June, the situation for the British in the Mediterranean was bleak. North Africa was under siege from Rommel’s vaunted Afrika Korps, Greece had been occupied by the Germans, and Crete has just fallen to a daring (and costly) German paratroop assault. British General Archibald Wavell faced a daunting task: [...]
(Tornado) Crossing Jordan
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1976, Iowa, Jordan, Tornado on June 13 | Leave a Comment »
The 2011 tornado season has, so far, been as bad as most people can remember. Records indicate that it’s already the worst since 1950, which was apparently a very bad year…I can’t say because I wasn’t alive at the time. But that’s what the records, the news reporters, and the folks at the Weather Channel [...]
Mallory: Go Rest High on that Mountain
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 1924, Andrew Irvine, George Mallory, Mount Everest on June 9 | Leave a Comment »
I take up the keyboard this evening surrounded by thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. It’s another one of those “heckuva” storm nights, where cell after cell comes rumbling through. I try to ride my bike to work 3 or 4 times a week, but I have a big goose egg to show for this week. [...]
Six-Day War, Sixty-Year Conflict
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 1967, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, Israel, Jordan, Sinai, Six-Day War, Syria on June 5 | Leave a Comment »
We’ll keep it brief this evening, especially since tonight’s subject is one with which I’m not nearly as familiar as I should be. In fact, I should probably just pass this one by. But I won’t… Since it was reformed as an independent state in 1948, the nation of Israel has existed on a razor’s edge. [...]
