The Dam Busters – first dam
An evening pause: From the fine 1954 British film, The Dam Busters. Star Wars fans might recognize the scenerio.
Tag: history
John Adams – the vote
An evening pause: To close out my Declaration of Independence celebration that I began two days ago, here is the vote and public release of the Declaration, as portrayed in the 2008 John Adams mini-series.
To all government leaders, you ignore these words at your peril:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. [emphasis mine]
U.S. Space Walk of Fame in Titusville needs volunteers
Going to see the shuttle launch on Friday? The Space Walk of Fame Foundation Museum in Titusville, Florida needs volunteers to help organize the launch viewing at places like Space View Park.
It’s too late to apologize
An evening pause:
Secret Treasure Found in Temple in India Could Be Worth $10 Billion
Secret treasure found in temple in India could be worth $10 billion.
July 2, 1776 – The vote for independency
An evening pause: From the movie 1776 (1972). The actual vote and signing of the Declaration of Independence took place 235 years ago today, on July 2nd, not July 4th. We celebrate the Fourth of July because that was the date put on the Declaration itself when it was made public.
The history of the space shuttle in photos
The history of the space shuttle in photos. Hat tip Clark Lindsey.
In a poll Jamaicans overwhelming long for the return of British colonial rule
Hooray for imperialism! In a poll Jamaicans overwhelming long for the return of British colonial rule.
NASA sues Apollo 14 astronaut over camera ownership
NASA is suing Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell over camera ownership.
A gladiator’s tombstone tells tale of death
A gladiator’s tombstone reveals a tale of death and bad refereeing.
Hadrian built his country estate with the buildings aligned with the sun
The Roman emperor Hadrian built his country estate with the buildings aligned with the sun.
For centuries, scholars have thought that the more than 30 buildings at Hadrian’s palatial country estate were oriented more or less randomly. But De Franceschini says that during the summer solstice, blades of light pierce two of the villa’s buildings.
In one, the Roccabruna, light from the summer solstice enters through a wedge-shaped slot above the door and illuminates a niche on the opposite side of the interior (see image). And in a temple of the Accademia building, De Franceschini has found that sunlight passes through a series of doors during both the winter and summer solstices.
How pasta became the world’s favourite food
How pasta became the world’s favourite food.
Apollo spacesuits head to the museum
The modern American space effort: Apollo spacesuits head to the museum.
D-Day
An evening pause: In memory of those who died 67 years ago today so that we would be free today.
You could have heard a pin drop
“We stand for freedom.”
Fifty years ago today, John Kennedy stood before Congress and the nation and declared that the United States was going to the Moon. Amazingly, though this is by far the most remembered speech Kennedy ever gave, very few people remember why he gave the speech, and what he was actually trying to achieve by making it.
Above all, going to the Moon and exploring space was not his primary goal.
The Context
For Kennedy — whose presidential campaign included an aggressive anti-communist stance against the Soviet Union — the months before the speech had not gone well. Five weeks earlier, for instance, the CIA-led attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro’s communist government had ended in total failure. When Kennedy refused to lend direct military support to the Bay of Pigs invasion, the 1,200 man rebel force was quickly overcome. “How could I have been so stupid as to let them go ahead?” Kennedy complained privately to his advisors.
In Berlin, the tensions between the East and the West were continuing to escalate, and would lead in only a few short months to Khrushchev’s decision to build the Berlin Wall, sealing off East Berlin and the citizens of East Germany from the rest of the world.
In the race to beat the Soviets in space, things were going badly as well. NASA had announced the United States’ intention to put the first man into space sometime in the spring of 1961. The agency hoped that this flight would prove that the leader of the capitalist world still dominated the fields of technology, science, and exploration.
Originally scheduled for a March 6, 1961 launch, the short fifteen minute sub-orbital flight was repeatedly delayed. The Mercury capsule’s first test flight in January, with a chimpanzee as test pilot, rose forty miles higher than intended, overshot its landing by a hundred and thirty miles, and when the capsule was recovered three hours later it had begun leaking and was actually sinking. Then in March another test of the Mercury capsule included the premature firing of the escape rocket on top of the capsule, the unplanned release of the backup parachutes during descent, and the discovery of dents on the capsule itself.
These difficulties caused NASA to postpone repeatedly its first manned mission. First the agency rescheduled the launch to late March. Then early April. Then mid-April. And then it was too late.
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A hint at what the Soyuz images of the station and shuttle
A hint at what today’s images of the station and shuttle, taken from the Soyuz capsule, will look like.
“I cannot imagine someone hanging out their underwear and having it immortalized.”
Diagram of Titanic used during 1912 official inquiry to be sold at auction
The 32-foot-long diagram of the Titanic used during 1912 official inquiry is to be sold at auction later this month.
Archaeologists uncover oldest mine in the Americas
Archaeologists have uncovered the oldest evidence of organized mining in the Americas.