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Author Topic: This Day in History  (Read 200074 times)

Staggerwing

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Reply #90 on: July 17, 2019, 06:22:05 PM
I was about 5 years old. I barely remember watching it on a small black&white TV in the first home my parents bought (not rented) after we emigrated to the US from the Netherlands.

My dad actually filmed us watching the landing in the dining room and we had that home movie for many years, watching it at the holidays along with the rest of our family celluloid memories.

I have no idea where that film ended up. It seems to have disappeared somewhere in the fogs of the 80's.  :(

Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa


Martok

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Reply #91 on: July 18, 2019, 02:16:29 AM
it cannot have been 50 years ago


My parents hadn't met yet.

Neither had mine (they were in college). 


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bayonetbrant

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Reply #92 on: July 22, 2019, 06:59:24 AM

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Random acts of genius and other inspirations of applied violence.
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bayonetbrant

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Reply #93 on: July 22, 2019, 09:08:51 AM
A lot of people have called attention to the fact that Buzz Aldrin's travel voucher for his mission to the moon netted him all of $33 and change.

Personally, I get a kick out of the first column where he traveled by "Gov. Air" and really, really wish he'd filled out the "Agent's Valuation of Ticket" and the "Mode, Class of Service, and Accommodations" columns

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Random acts of genius and other inspirations of applied violence.
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Sir Slash

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Reply #94 on: July 22, 2019, 03:48:04 PM
Too bad he didn't get, 'mileage'.

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bayonetbrant

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Reply #95 on: July 22, 2019, 04:20:33 PM
Too bad he didn't get, 'mileage'.


you don't get it when you fly Gov Air.  All he got was the per diem for travel days where he was (presumably) feeding himself  ;D

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Random acts of genius and other inspirations of applied violence.
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Six Degrees of Radio for songs you should know by artists you should love


Sir Slash

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Reply #96 on: July 22, 2019, 07:47:45 PM
I hope he at least got to adjust out his time worked when he got back.

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mirth

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Reply #97 on: July 29, 2019, 10:05:49 AM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.


bbmike

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Reply #98 on: July 29, 2019, 10:51:30 AM
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1155841410861608960

And in 25 more days he would go on to sign the Federal Aviation Act that would create the FAA. Of course, the CAA had already been around since 1938.  8)

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mirth

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Reply #99 on: August 01, 2019, 08:47:34 AM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.


Sir Slash

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Reply #100 on: August 01, 2019, 03:19:23 PM
And Patton slapped somebody to celebrate.  :party:

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besilarius

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Reply #101 on: August 07, 2019, 07:28:16 PM
Today in 1942, the First Marine Division landed on Guadalcanal.
In 480 BC, Thermopylae may have occurred.  (Some question about the date.)

"These things must be done delicately-- or you hurt the spell."  - The Wicked Witch of the West.
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besilarius

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Reply #102 on: August 13, 2019, 07:19:17 AM
 Spain's Missed Strategic Options in 1898

Spain did badly in its war with the United States in 1898. She could have done better. Much better. In fact, it is difficult to disagree with the belief of many Spanish officers, including Vice-Admiral Pascual Cervera, who commanded the squadron sunk off Santiago, that their government had given little thought to strategic planning beyond the notion of losing the war quickly.

The shattering defeats inflicted upon the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay and at Santiago were both avoidable.

Had the squadron in the Philippines been dispersed, rather than concentrated at Cavite, Commodore George Dewey would not have secured so signal a victory at the very outbreak of the war. With the Spanish ships dispersed among the archipelago's seven thousand islands scattered over 100,000 square miles of ocean, they would have posed a threat - a "fleet in being" - to the safety of an American expedition to seize Manila. Dewey would have found the task of searching all those potential hiding places tedious, time consuming, and potentially dangerous, yet necessary despite the relative worthlessness of the Spanish vessels in question. It would certainly have taken months to winkle out the last of the Spanish fleet. Of course, the Philippines were a side-show. The critical theater was the Atlantic.

In the Atlantic Admiral Cervera offered a much better strategy than merely sending his squadron to the Caribbean to be sunk. The U.S. could not safely invade Cuba until the Spanish fleet had been neutralized. Cervera proposed keeping the fleet concentrated in the Canary Islands. There it would continue to pose a threat to American maritime movements and at the same time be available to intercept possible American raids on the Spanish mainland. Spain's resources were adequate for this strategy. At the start of the war Spain had four major warships in commission, three Maria Teresa class armored cruisers plus the new armored cruiser Cristobal Colon, the ships that formed the core of the squadron that Cervera took to Santiago. Had Spain adopted this strategy, these vessels would have shortly been joined by two other major warships that were soon available, the battleship Pelayo, completing a refit, and the armored cruiser Carlos V, a very powerful vessel just entering service.

Even had they remained relatively inactive, these six heavy ships concentrated in the Canary Islands and supported by the available smaller cruisers and various lighter warships could easily have proven extremely worrisome to the United States Navy, constituting a relatively powerful fleet in being. From the Canaries, one or two of the armored cruisers and some of the half dozen or so smaller cruisers could have been sent to raid U.S. maritime commerce and threaten the East Coast, already experiencing something of a panic even before Cervera's squadron actually sailed. Such a strategy would have prolonged the war in several ways.

Had Spain adopted this course of action, the U.S. Navy would have been forced to divert resources from the Caribbean to chase the Spanish commerce raiders, and guard the Atlantic coastline. An American descent on Cuba or Puerto Rico would have been delayed, due to the shortage of escorts. Given that the U.S. Army was extremely concerned about the danger of operating in the Caribbean during the fever season, a landing in Puerto Rico or Cuba might easily have been delayed until the fall, assuming a decision was made to undertake one at all, given the potential danger from the Spanish fleet in the Canaries. Indeed, precisely what the U.S. would have done in such circumstance is difficult to determine. An expedition against the Canaries was actually considered by the U.S., but only after Cervera's defeat, and primarily as a means of preventing Spain from attempting to reinforce the Philippines. Moreover, it seems unlikely that the U.S. Navy could have done much more than undertaken a massive raid, lacking the logistical train to support a more serious expedition at such distance from North America.

Assuming that Cervera's squadron was sent to the Caribbean, the Spanish Navy could have supported it by creating a new fleet in being. Even as Cervera was sailing westwards, the Spanish government had begun concentrating a second squadron at Cadiz, comprising Pelayo, Carlos V, several cruisers, and three destroyers. This squadron was supposed to escort several troop transports to the Philippines in order to wrest control from Dewey's little squadron. Had this force instead been concentrated in the Canaries after Cervera's departure for the Caribbean, it would have limited the U.S. Navy's flexibility. As it was, the potential use of this second squadron the Atlantic caused the U.S. Navy some concern until mid-May, when it became clear that the squadron was bound for the Philippines, whereupon the Navy began spreading rumors of imminent raids on Spanish soil, to convince the Spaniards to recall it.

Even the American success in capturing the outer defenses of Santiago on July 1, in the battles of El Caney and San Juan Hill, was not necessarily decisive. If, instead of essaying a sortie, Cervera had been permitted to remain in Santiago, and committed all his manpower, weapons, ammunition, and supplies to the defense, resistance might have been prolonged. As it was, the final days of the siege saw something of a race between the American ability to keep the place invested in the face of increasing disease and privation and the Spanish ability to hold out, in the face of increasing disease and privation.

Of course Cervera did sortie, and Santiago did surrender. But even these losses did not mean that Spain retained no further options. Her army in Cuba remained virtually intact despite the loss of Santiago, and the Cuban guerrillas did not pose a significant threat. Most Spanish officers in Cuba believed they could deal with an American expedition against Havana, particularly given that, following the disastrous collapse of the victorious U.S. V Corps due to fever, such an undertaking would certainly be postponed for several months. While their optimism may be questioned, there is some validity to their logic. A defeat - or even a serious reverse - before Havana might have resulted in greater American willingness to seek less than total victory.

Of course, Spain ultimately was gong to lose the war. Nevertheless, by prolonging the war, American patience would have been tried, particularly given long casualty lists from disease. A more favorable international climate might have arisen, one in which the Great Powers might have lent their good offices to a negotiated settlement. Cuba would certainly still have been lost, but the Philippines and Puerto Rico might have been salvaged.

"These things must be done delicately-- or you hurt the spell."  - The Wicked Witch of the West.
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mirth

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Reply #103 on: August 15, 2019, 08:34:45 AM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.


Sir Slash

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Reply #104 on: August 15, 2019, 10:10:45 AM
Played that one in TOAW 4. The Germans gave me a hell-of-a-hard-time.

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