Give me a mind-blowing history fact - Page 14

Belton Ag

1:03p, 3/1/24

Quad Dog said:
There was a brief period of time where Abraham Lincoln could have received a fax from a samurai.

Is there some kind of semantical game with this statement?

BQ78

1:14p, 3/1/24

I think it is an Internet sensation thing but it is technically correct. Fax machine was invented in the 1840s and Samurais didn't disappear until 1867. Problem is Lincoln didn't know how to add paper or change the ink to his fax machine, so it could never have happened

. This however, is documented on the Internet:

87Flyfisher

6:29p, 3/1/24

Mongols were fighting Teutonic Knights and Knights Templars in the west and Samurai in the east at the same time.

Leonard H. Stringfield

11:11p, 3/1/24

My dad (now 92) worked on a project at General Dynamics/Convair in Ft. Worth that was aimed at using a nuclear reactor to power an airplane. Then Sputnik happened...

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/20-july-1955/

jkag89

8:12a, 3/2/24

In reply to Leonard H. Stringfield

It would have been one thing it the nuke reactor was actually testing the concept of powering the engines but using it as a test bed for shielding of a reactor one would think you did not actually need to be on a flying aircraft.

Really nice blog, thanks for linking. Good history, great pics.

Leonard H. Stringfield

12:14a, 3/3/24

In reply to jkag89

jkag89 said:
It would have been one thing it the nuke reactor was actually testing the concept of powering the engines but using it as a test bed for shielding of a reactor one would think you did not actually need to be on a flying aircraft.

Really nice blog, thanks for linking. Good history, great pics.

Correct, but the end game was to have an aircraft that could stay aloft for days at a time. Not unlike our nuclear powered carriers and subs. The shielding involved made the plane to heavy from what dad has said.

Once Sputnik came on board, the project was moot and many of the engineers got jobs with NASA.

Dad left and got a job at UT-Austin and became the first guy to install a research reactor in the state of Texas. I remember that well as I "helped"...lol

p_bubel

4:20p, 3/3/24

Don't know if I've already posted this, or read it here originally...

On September 11, 2001, with the impromptu maritime evacuation of Lower Manhattan some 500,000 people were transported to safety in approximately nine hours by hundreds of vessels that answered a call from the U.S. Coast Guard to converge on New York Harbor.

It's the largest water evacuation in history.

mike073

5:13p, 3/3/24

The current Alamo building is the third location. First was along San Pedro creek and the second near the current La Villita area but it collapsed before it was finished.

Gig 'em Aggies!

CanyonAg77

5:37p, 3/3/24

In reply to Leonard H. Stringfield

Leonard H. Stringfield said:
My dad (now 92) worked on a project at General Dynamics/Convair in Ft. Worth that was aimed at using a nuclear reactor to power an airplane.

Eleven years ago, we took a long trip up to Yellowstone and nearby areas. We ended up going by Arco, Idaho, where some of the first nuclear research was done. I posted the photos below back then, but I'll copy them over here

Original thread

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2318527

CanyonAg77

5:37p, 3/3/24

So they actually came up with working steam turbine jet engines powered by nuclear reactors. They built test units on rail cars and tried them out in the desert. They were a little big. Note person standing between engines.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/chs_girls_soccer/8992827482/]

[/url]
Nuclear bomber engines by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/chs_girls_soccer/8992822436/]

[/url]
Nuclear Bomber Engine 2 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

That's the jet engine near the bottom, nearest to the camera.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/chs_girls_soccer/8992842544/]

[/url]
nuclear jet engine by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

CanyonAg77

5:38p, 3/3/24

So there was expected to be a little radiation. To protect the ground crew, they came up with a shielded tug. You pilots stay in the plane, we'll be in the locomotive behind several inches of lead.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/chs_girls_soccer/8991654125/]

[/url]
locomotive by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/chs_girls_soccer/8991643607/]

[/url]
shielded engine for nuclear bomber by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

And they actually built a hanger for the nuclear bomber that was never built. Your tax dollars at work. Photos above on the sign saying "The Plane That Never Was". You can see it on Google Maps. It's on the Idaho National Labs property, so I guess they have a use for it. Idaho National Labs is not in the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there. This is coming from somebody from the Panhandle.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/chs_girls_soccer/8991710471/]

[/url]
Nuclear bomber hanger by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Leonard H. Stringfield

5:56p, 3/3/24

In reply to CanyonAg77

Yes, dad mentioned that he saw a test run of that thing out there. Loud as hell and spewed radioactivity everywhere.

thanks for those photos

CanyonAg77

6:19p, 3/3/24

In reply to Leonard H. Stringfield

My favorite factoid was that the ground crew was going to be in the lead-shielded train. I guess the pilots just had to suck it up.

Jabin

6:22p, 3/3/24

In reply to CanyonAg77

Didn't spyder post a pic of a shielded cockpit insert?

CanyonAg77

6:26p, 3/3/24

In reply to Jabin

Jabin said:
Didn't spyder post a pic of a shielded cockpit insert?

Didn't see it if he did

Jabin

7:51p, 3/3/24

In reply to CanyonAg77

It was at the link he posted.

CanyonAg77

8:29p, 3/3/24

In reply to Jabin

Jabin said:
It was at the link he posted.

Oh, yeah. Can't keep up with all his socks and bans

p_bubel

10:39p, 3/7/24

Not sure if this is an wives' tale or not:

After the Norman Conquest of England, nobles referred to the meat they ate in French, but the peasants who raised animals for meat referred to them in Anglo-Saxon. This is why modern English has words such as beef and pork for what we eat, but cow and pig for the animals it comes from.

Jabin

7:22a, 3/8/24

In reply to p_bubel

p_bubel said:
Not sure if this is an wives' tale or not:

After the Norman Conquest of England, nobles referred to the meat they ate in French, but the peasants who raised animals for meat referred to them in Anglo-Saxon. This is why modern English has words such as beef and pork for what we eat, but cow and pig for the animals it comes from.

I suspect that the essence of that is correct. It's the same reason that so many legal documents contain repetitive and redundant words. The deed to your house, for example, probably states that the Sellers "grant, bargain, and sell, and convey" to you your property. I had always thought that was simply lawyers being redundant, but apparently those words were all the same but from different languages: Latin, Saxon (or old Anglo-Saxon), and French. I don't know why or where the 4th word came from. English apparently has a lot more synonyms than other languages, and that is the reason why - it's actually multiple languages compressed into one.

p_bubel

9:38p, 3/11/24

In December of 1942, The United States Navy found itself with only one fleet carrier operational and needed another large carrier to help assist in the theater until the first of the new Essex-class carriers became operationally available. The solution turned out to be simply making a request to the Royal Navy for a loan. The Royal Navy decided to loan the USN an Illustrious-class carrier, the HMS Victorious under the command of Captain L. D. MacIntosh, Royal Navy where she spent 9 months during 1943 as the "Robin."

Victorious and the Saratoga at Nouma, 1943

agrams

11:39p, 3/11/24

The town of Vicksburg, Mississippi was one of only two districts in Mississippi to vote against secession (the other being Natchez). Vicksburg surrendered to union forces in July 4th, 1863. The conclusion of World War II in 1945 marked the first time Vicksburg gathered to celebrate alongside the rest of the Nation. The holiday was not recognized as Independence Day and was instead named the "Carnival of the Confederacy." The event was repeated the following years, and in 1947 General Dwight D. Eisenhower had made a trip to Vicksburg to take part in the festivities. Independence Day did not receive its official title in Vicksburg until 1976 for the Bicentennial of the United States.

source:
https://vicksburgnews.com/vicksburg-didnt-celebrate-the-fourth-of-july-for-nearly-a-century/#google_vignette

p_bubel

3:40p, 3/12/24

A large chunk probably already know this...

In February 1947, a B-29 bomber nicknamed Kee Bird became lost above the Arctic Circle while on a secret Cold War reconnaissance mission. After crash landing in northern Greenland, the crew was rescued, but the Kee Bird was left behind. Its historical significance and well-preserved condition attracted the attention of Darryl Greenamyer, an experienced salvage pilot. After surveying the plane and its location, Greenamyer decided to repair the Kee Bird and fly it back to the United States.

The team had work in the frozen arctic conditions preparing the aircraft, replacing the engines, tires and propellers without any heavy duty equipment aside from a bulldozer.

A crude runway was carved out of the snow on the ice using the small bulldozer that had been ferried into the site. The new engines were successfully started for the take-off attempt. As Darryl Greenamyer was taxiing the aircraft onto the frozen lake, the jury-rigged fuel tank of the B-29's "putt-putt" auxiliary power unit began to leak gasoline into the rear fuselage. Fire broke out and quickly spread to the rest of the aircraft. The cockpit crew escaped unharmed

PBS has a documentary on their effort.

p_bubel

3:58p, 3/12/24

There's a gravesite honoring a U.S. Cavalry horse at Ft. Sam Houston.

After coming to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio in 1912, the young brown thoroughbred known as Pat soon became a favorite for the military men to practice training drills and maneuvers. This dedicated affection would save Pat from the end of the cavalry horses, and he would finally be honored with a military grave that still rests the grounds of the post.

During the 1930s, the Army started to dispose of its cavalry horses, either by selling them or destroying them. The beloved horse Pat was saved from death and the stripping of his military rank by soldiers who lobbied Washington to spare him.

After surviving the elimination of the Army horses, Pat lived a life of leisure for the next 20 years. He had his own paddock at Fort Sam Houston that included his own groom and he wore a special blanket decorated with service stripes.

In 1953, Pat died at the old age of 45. He was honored with a military funeral attended by more than 100 mourners and dignitaries who joined in a service that included a eulogy and the playing of Taps.

p_bubel

4:01p, 3/12/24

In 1977 Sandra West's body, and her 1964 Ferrari 300 America, were buried at Alamo Masonic Cemetery in San Antonio. Her final wishes were to be entombed in the Italian luxury car, wearing a nightgown in the front seat, near her husband's grave.

p_bubel

4:45p, 3/12/24

Foulois graduated from the Army Signal School in 1908 and first learned to fly on the Army Dirigible No. 1, a lighter-than-air engine-propelled airship. He later participated in the trials of the Wright Flyer with the Wright brothers.

During the trials, Foulois was on board in the observer's seat of the Wright Flyer with Orville Wright and clocked the airplane's landmark 10-mile flight time that qualified that airplane for acceptance into the Army.

In February 1910, Foulois was transferred to Fort Sam Houston with a team of enlisted men known as his "flying soldiers" and the Army's only airplane, Army Airplane No. 1. Here, he learned to fly it himself, aided by instructions in letters from the Wright brothers. Foulois said he was a "mail-order pilot" who had learned to fly through his correspondence with the Wright brothers.

March 2, 1910, Foulois climbed aboard the Army Airplane No. 1 at Fort Sam Houston and at 9:30 a.m. circled the field, attaining the height of 200 feet and circling the field at the speed of 30 mph. The flight only lasted for seven and a half minutes.

Foulois made four flights that day, crashing on the last flight due to a broken fuel pipe. The premier flight became known as the "birth of military flight," and Foulois became known as the "father of U.S. military aviation."

"I made my first solo, my first landing and my first crackup all the same day," Foulois said.

p_bubel

4:46p, 3/12/24

Sorry for all the posts, I'm pushing off getting back to work.

Rongagin71

6:52p, 3/12/24

In reply to p_bubel

That first aeroplane came to Ft Sam in a box from the Wrights.
It was intended to join Pershing's chase of Villa in Northern Mexico,
and a plane (not sure if it was the same one) did fly scouting missions.

Bighunter43

7:16p, 3/12/24

The Bonnie and Clyde death car was stolen from Ruth Warren from Topeka, Kansas. They put over 7,000 miles on it in the 24 days they had it. Of course everyone knows the bodies were towed in the car to the Arcadia furniture store and funeral home. Mrs. Warren and a friend came to claim it, and after a court battle, DROVE it home, blood and all. She leased it to the Crime Doesn't Pay tour until 1952. It changed hands several times, and in 1987 it ran in an antique car race (The Great American Race) from California to Florida! Of course it now resides at Pistol Pete's Casino in Primm, Nevada!

Agthatbuilds

7:37p, 3/12/24

In reply to Bighunter43

Bighunter43 said:
The Bonnie and Clyde death car was stolen from Ruth Warren from Topeka, Kansas. They put over 7,000 miles on it in the 24 days they had it. Of course everyone knows the bodies were towed in the car to the Arcadia furniture store and funeral home. Mrs. Warren and a friend came to claim it, and after a court battle, DROVE it home, blood and all. She leased it to the Crime Doesn't Pay tour until 1952. It changed hands several times, and in 1987 it ran in an antique car race (The Great American Race) from California to Florida! Of course it now resides at Pistol Pete's Casino in Primm, Nevada!

That's a pretty crazy history

BonfireNerd04

7:40p, 3/12/24

The graves of the first (John Parr) and last (George Ellison) British soldiers known to have died in World War 1 are only about 20 feet apart. This was not done on purpose.

p_bubel

7:42p, 3/12/24

In reply to Rongagin71

Rongagin71 said:
That first aeroplane came to Ft Sam in a box from the Wrights.
It was intended to join Pershing's chase of Villa in Northern Mexico,
and a plane (not sure if it was the same one) did fly scouting missions.

By then the Curtis Jenny was flying with the squadron at Ft Sam.

CanyonAg77

7:54p, 3/12/24

In reply to Agthatbuilds

When I was a kid (1960s or 70s) I recall seeing "The Bonnie and Clyde Car" at the traveling carnival at the South Plains Fair, Lubbock

My suspicion is that the carnival people found an old Ford, shot it full of holes, and took it on tour

Bighunter43

8:14p, 3/12/24

In reply to CanyonAg77

CanyonAg77 said:
When I was a kid (1960s or 70s) I recall seeing "The Bonnie and Clyde Car" at the traveling carnival at the South Plains Fair, Lubbock

My suspicion is that the carnival people found an old Ford, shot it full of holes, and took it on tour

There were some fakes on tour out there.

Agthatbuilds

8:25p, 3/12/24

In reply to CanyonAg77

CanyonAg77 said:
When I was a kid (1960s or 70s) I recall seeing "The Bonnie and Clyde Car" at the traveling carnival at the South Plains Fair, Lubbock

My suspicion is that the carnival people found an old Ford, shot it full of holes, and took it on tour

My grandmother used to tell a story about when she was a child. She said her parents knew Bonnie and Clyde. One night, she saw their car come onto their farm and, allegedly, Bonnie and Clyde stayed in a house on the farm.

They went on and were very shortly thereafter killed by the authorities.

My grandmother grew up on the border of Ne Texas and nw Louisiana

BonfireNerd04

8:29p, 3/12/24

In 1651, the Netherlands intervened in the English Civil War by declaring war on the Isles of Scilly (an island chain off the coast of Cornwall, which was then controlled by Royalists). When Scilly surrendered to the Parliamentarians, the Dutch fleet went home, and then kinda just forgot about the war with Scilly. Until 1986, when some British historian noted that the war never officially ended, and pointed it out to the Dutch embassy, who promptly agreed to a peace treaty, ending any potential legal limbo over the 335-year ceasefire.