Lester_J._Maitland_and_Albert_F._Hegenberger
Five weeks after the much celebrated Charles Lindbergh flight from New York to Paris, two plucky American pilots took a two ton Atlantic-Fokker C-2 trimotor airplane on a 2500 mile transpacific flight from California to Hawaii.
On June 29, 1927, they landed in the Pacific archipelago. The achievement was impressive and they received the Mackay Trophy. [Read more…]
The Panama Canal Purchase Act enacted on June 28, 1902, authorized United States Government to purchase the rights, privileges, franchises, concessions, grants of land, right of way, unfinished work, plants, and other property, real, personal, and mixed, of every name and nature in a Panama project.
All this “from the French New Panama Canal Company at a cost not exceeding $40 million.”
Not even Shakespeare could concoct such a story.
Francisco Pizarro Gonzalez died on June 26 1541. The daring conqueror of Incas reaped what he sowed.
The illiterate bastard son of a Spanish soldier, Pizarro looked across the Atlantic for opportunity. Inspired by the success of Hernando Cortes, in Mexico, he set his focus on the Incan Empire. [Read more…]
Research and future rights skate Antarctica
On June 23, 1961, the Antarctic Treaty came into effect. At that time, the Cold War was in full swing and nobody wanted to have additional headaches working through the overlapping and competing claims to Earth’s last true frontier. [Read more…]
Pancho Villa
On June 21, 1916, the Mexican military attacked elements of the U.S. 10th Cavalry at Carrizal, a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The clash occurred during the punitive expedition carried out by General Pershing in pursuit of the guerilla leader “Pancho Villa.” [Read more…]
Wrapped up in a bit of security
Stepping off the plane after my fourth deployment I saw my anxious family waiting. Then they were running. That scene was to record one of the top moments in my life and it was definitely an emotional roller coaster.
My twin boys were clutching their blankets. It being midnight, they were well past their bedtime. As I picked them up I noticed how tightly they held on, not to me but to their blankets. I also noticed that both blankets were well-worn and a little frayed. What I didn’t know was the routine they had with their “Be Be”s and how important their “security” blankets were to them. [Read more…]
Vlad Courtesy of National Authority of Tourism The medieval citadel of Sighisoara
On this day, 550 years ago, the Ottoman Turks faced the wrath of Vlad Dracula also known as Vlad the Impaler.
Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, had invaded Wallachia with the intention of controlling the lower Danube. The odds were stacked against Vlad as the Ottomans heavily outnumbered the Wallachians. [Read more…]
James Douglas 1st Governor of Vancouver Island which straddled the 49th parallel
On this day in 1846, the United States and the British Empire agreed to extend the 49th parallel border from the Rockies all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
As a result, the southern tip of Vancouver Island remained as the only British (now Canadian) territory, west of Minnesota that lay south of 49th parallel. [Read more…]
Grave marker for Air Force fighter pilot BGen. Robin Olds
What do you do when your daughter wants to see her best friend-the one who helped her through her dad’s last deployment? If you are within a 100 mile radius you load up the Family and make it happen.
We all met up at a hotel outside of the Air Force Academy and soon saw that the rest of the tribe was getting restless with simply hanging out at the hotel.
In the previous week, I had just missed an opportunity to check out the Air Force Academy. I had been on location surveying possible upcoming training areas for use in my new assignment. [Read more…]
Ernesto Miranda
On June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court of United States decided that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before an interrogation.
The decision was a legal procedural landmark that marked the transition from the “tell me all you know” method to the “you have the right to remain silent…” scenario. [Read more…]