Lost and Found – January 31st Edition

What to remember about January 31st…

• 1606  Guy Fawkes, chief conspirator in the “Gunpowder Plot” to blow up parliament and the king, jumps to his death on the way to his execution
• 1752  Founding Father, lawmaker, and “Penman of the Constitution”  Gouverneur Morris is born in New York City (d. 1816)
• 1865  13th Amendment to the Constitution in passed by Congress; it will be ratified and adopted by December; outlaws slavery in America
• 1915  Germany attempts 1st large-scale use of chemical weapons on the battlefield; freezing temperatures and wind render poison gas ineffective – this time
• 1945  Private Eddie Slovik becomes 1st and only U.S. soldier executed for desertion during WWII; Civil War was last time deserters executed
• 1950  President Truman announces that U.S. will develop a new generation of atomic weapons now that Soviets have the bomb; hydrogen bomb is coming
• 1958  NASA successfully launches its 1st satellite into orbit; Explorer 1
• 1971  NASA launches Apollo 14 from Cape Canaveral beginning 3rd mission to land men on the Moon; Shepard, Roosa, and Mitchell aboard
• 1995  President Clinton authorizes $20 billion loan to Mexico in attempt to prevent economic collapse that could impact U.S. markets
• 2001  Libyan terrorist Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is convicted by Scottish court for role in 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that killed 270; “terminally ill” and facing imminent death he is released on compassionate grounds in 2009; still alive as of this writing

Lost and Found – January 30th Edition

What to remember about January 30th…

• 1703  In Japan the Forty-seven Ronin avenge the death of their master in an attack that took 2-years to plan and execute
• 1781  Maryland is 13th and final state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, does so only after Virginia gives up claims to western lands
• 1835  Deranged Richard Lawrence is 1st to attempt to assassinate an American president; Andrew Jackson escapes injury when attackers pistols misfires
• 1862  America’s 1st “ironclad” warship USS Monitor is commissioned
• 1882  Future 32nd President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt is born in Hyde Park, New York (d. 1945)
• 1933  German president Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler to be chancellor
• 1945  While evacuating civilians during operation Hannibal, German transport ship MV Wilhelm Gustav is sunk by Soviet submarine, over 9000 civilians die
• 1945  126 American Army Rangers and Filipino scouts rescue almost 500 POW’s from Japanese prison camp in Raid at Cabanatuan
• 1948  Political and spiritual leader of Indian independence movement Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi assassinated by Hindu fanatic (b. 1869)
• 1956  Home of Martin Luther King Jr. is bombed in response to Bus Boycott
• 1968  Massive surprise attacks across the country mark beginning of the Tet Offensive; ultimately a failure for North Vietnam, public loses confidence in President Lyndon Johnson’s promises of rapid resolution of Vietnam conflict
• 1972  British soldiers shoot 30 unarmed protesters in Londonderry, Northern Ireland killing 13; “Bloody Sunday” leads to IRA bombing campaign
• 2006  Civil rights activist and widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Coretta Scott King dies (b. 1927)

Lost and Found – January 29th Edition

What to remember about January 29th…

• 1843  Future 25th President William McKinley is born Miles, Ohio (d. 1901); succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt after his assassination
• 1845  Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “The Raven” is 1st published
• 1861  Kansas enters the Union as the 34th state; slave-free state
• 1886  Karl Benz, founder of Mercedes-Benz, patents the 1st successful gasoline powered automobile
• 1891  Last monarch of Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani ascends to the throne
• 1936  Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York inducts 1st members: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson
• 1954  American actress, talk show host, and philanthropist Orpah Gail “Oprah” Winfrey is born in Kosciusko, Mississippi
• 1991  Battle of Khafji is 1st major ground engagement of the Persian Gulf War; Iraqi forces invade Saudi Arabia but are beaten off by coalition forces
• 1998  Bomb explodes at abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama; Centennial Olympic Park bomber Eric Robert Rudolf kills 1 and wounds 2
• 2002  President George W. Bush makes “Axis of Evil” State of the Union Address; declares Iraq, Iran, and North Korea major threats to world security

Lost and Found – January 28th Edition

What to remember about January 28th…

• 1777  British General Burgoyne develops plan to invade colonies and cut New England off from the south; poor planning leads to Patriot victory at Saratoga
• 1902  Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded with gift of $10 million from Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie
• 1915  German cruiser sinks unarmed American freighter because they fail to jettison “contraband” cargo of wheat bound for England
• 1915  President Wilson signs act merging Revenue Cutter Service with Life-Saving Service to create the modern United States Coast Guard
• 1959  Football great Vince Lombardi is signed to coach the Green Bay Packers
• 1973  Cease-fire goes into effect in Vietnam as U.S. pulls out
• 1980  USCGC Blackthorn collides with tanker Capricorn in Tampa Bay; though lightly damaged, entangled Blackthorn capsizes and 23 of 50 aboard are killed
• 1985  45 pop music icons gather in one studio to record “We Are The World”; charity album will raise millions to alleviate African famine
• 1986  NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73-seconds after launch, astronauts Jarvis, McAuliffe, McNair, Onizuka, Resnik, Smith, and Scobee are all killed

Warbirds – P-38 Lightning

To honor the anniversary of the first flight of the P-38 Lightning on January 27, 1939 we present to you some great footage in this new edition of Warbirds. This iconic aircraft emerged from United States Army Air Corps specifications drawn up in 1937. It was designated an “interceptor” to bypass the bureaucratic restriction of less than 500lbs of armament in pursuit aircraft. USAAF ordered an initial 55 aircraft in 1939 with the initial lightnings deployed with the 1st Fighter Group’s 27th Pursuit Squadron in July 1941. The first Lightnings to see service in WWII were unarmed F-4 photo reconnaissance version with the 8th Photographic Squadron in Australia. Armed P-38’s began operating in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska in May 1942. At the end of a 1000 mile patrol in August, a pair of Lightnings of the 343rd Fighter Group, 11th Air Force encountered and downed a pair of Japanese H6K “Mavis” flying boats. These were the 1st kills recorded for the aircraft nicknamed by the Japanese “two planes, one pilot”. In the European theater, P-38 Lightnings earned a fearsome reputation among Axis aircrews.  After 26 P-38’s destroyed 31 aircraft near Tunis in April 1943, it earned the nickname “fork-tailed devil” from German aircrews.

Over the course of its operational life, over 10,000 P-38’s were built.  It was the only American aircraft to serve continuously from start to finish of World War II.  Over 100 pilots became aces piloting this plane with several earning the Medal of Honor.  Her most famous mission is considered to be the interception of the transport and escorts of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto; resulting in his death.  Over a dozen working examples of this famous Warbird remain airworthy today and can often be seen at air shows.  If you get the chance to see one in action, you wont be disappointed.

Without further ado, here is some great video.

Lost and Found – January 27th Edition

What to remember about January 27th…

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

• 1756  Musical prodigy and composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born in Austria (d. 1791)
• 1776  Expedition of Colonel Henry Knox finishes 3-month trek through frozen countryside with 60-tons of captured British artillery
• 1785  Georgia incorporates 1st state-funded university; it is first named Franklin College and will become University of Georgia
• 1862  President Lincoln attempts to command Union forces into action by issuing General War Order No. 1; finds tactics better left to the soldiers
• 1888  33 explorers, geographers, scientists, soldiers, and teachers meet in Washington, D.C. to found the National Geographic Society
• 1939  1st flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter-bomber
• 1943  Over 90 bombers strike U-Boat construction yards; first attack by American aircraft on Germany
• 1967  Fire aboard NASA’s Apollo 1 spacecraft during simulation kills astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chafee
• 1973  Paris Peace Accords are signed; President Nixon’s promise fulfilled as American participation in Vietnam War officially ends
• 1998  First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on “Today” show and declares “vast right-wing conspiracy” behind her husband’s impeachment

Lost and Found – January 26th Edition

What to remember about January 26th…

Happy Australia Day

• 1784  Benjamin Franklin writes letter to his daughter Sarah stating his displeasure at choice of Bald Eagle as American symbol; turkey was his preference
• 1788  First fleet carrying convict settlers arrives in Australia to establish penal colony; celebrated as Australia Day
• 1837  Michigan enters the Union as 26th state
• 1861  Louisiana secedes from the Union
• 1870  Virginia rejoins the Union
• 1945  Army 2nd Lt. Audie Murphy is wounded (again) while guarding the retreat of his outnumbered troops; will be awarded Medal of Honor
• 1945  Soviet troops enter Auschwitz, Poland and take control of the network of Nazi concentration camps and uncover evidence of atrocities
• 1950  India becomes an independent nation and worlds largest democracy as constitution goes into effect; celebrated as Republic Day
• 1961  Janet G. Travell becomes physician to President Kennedy; 1st woman to hold this post
• 1970  U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Everett Alvarez, Jr. spends 2000th day as a POW in Vietnam; will not be released until 1973; longest held U.S. POW in history
• 1980  U.S. Olympic Committee votes to ask IOC to move or cancel Moscow Olympics in response to invasion of Afghanistan
• 1998  President Bill Clinton goes on TV and denies having “sexual relations” with White House intern Monica Lewinsky
• 2005  Condoleezza Rice is appointed Secretary of State by President George Bush; highest cabinet post ever held by an African-American woman

Lost and Found – January 25th Edition

What to remember about January 25th…

• 1863  Union General Ambrose Burnside removed from command of Army of the Potomac after only 2 months
• 1919  Peace conference delegates establish commission to create League of Nations; President Wilson insists on chairmanship
• 1924  1st Winter Olympics begin; called “International Winter Sports Week” until IOC recognized in 1928
• 1949  Notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone dies at home in bed from complications of neurosyphilis (b. 1899)
• 1949  Emmy Awards ceremony held for 1st time; gala takes place at Hollywood Athletic Club
• 1971  Charles Manson and 3 followers are convicted for murders of 7 people while attempting to spark a “race war”
• 1971   Idi Amin leads coup and takes control of Uganda
• 1980  After 9-days in jail, former Beatles member Paul McCartney is released from Japanese prison and deported for drug smuggling
• 1993  Pakistani gunman Aimal Kasi goes on shooting spree outside CIA headquarters in Virginia killing 2 and wounding 3 before escaping the country; convicted and later executed by lethal injection
• 2011  “Day of Revolt” demonstrations break out in Egypt protesting government of Hosni Mubarak; Arab Spring begins

Lost and Found – January 24th Edition

What to remember about January 24th…

• 1781  Patriot militia led by the Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion and “Light Horse” Henry Lee raid Georgetown, S.C. and capture British officers
• 1848  Gold is discovered in Sacramento Valley along Sutter’s Creek; California gold rush soon sparked
• 1908  Sir Robert Baden-Powell publishes 1st installment of Scouting for Boys; Scouting movement begins
• 1943  German General Friedrich von Paulus requests permission from Hitler to surrender his surrounded forces at Battle of Stalingrad
• 1961  B-52 bomber  with its payload of Mark-39 nuclear bombs crashes near Goldsboro, North Carolina
• 1965  WWII British Prime Minister, historian, and soldier Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill dies in London (b. 1874)
• 1972  WWII Imperial Japanese Army sergeant is discovered hiding on Guam ; he has been hiding for 28 years
• 1980  Administration of President Carter announces sales of military equipment and technology to China
• 1989  Serial killer and rapist Theodore Robert “Ted” Bundy dies in electric chair in Florida (b. 1946)

Lost and Found – January 23rd Edition

23What to remember about January 23rd…

National Pie Day (USA)

• 1737  American merchant, statesman, and signer of the Declaration of Independence John Hancock is born in Braintree, Massachusetts (d. 1793)
• 1789  Georgetown College is founded in Maryland as the 1st Catholic University in America
• 1849  Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman M.D. in America; she and her sister (later an M.D. also) found clinic for women in New York
• 1865  One-legged Confederate General John Bell Hood removed from command of the Army of Tennessee after series of disastrous failures
• 1922  Insulin used on human subject for 1st time in treatment for diabetes; discovery given away royalty-free to the world
• 1957 Wham-O produces the first plastic flying discs; the modern Frisbee is born; invented by William Frisbee in 1871
• 1964  24th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified; right to vote in federal election may not be denied by failure to pay tax
• 1968  Electronic intelligence gathering ship USS Pueblo is seized by North Korea; accused of spying, 83 crew are held for almost a year
• 1973  President Nixon announces that peace agreement has been reached with North Vietnam; signing to take place January 27th
• 1986  Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame recognizes its 1st inductees; among them Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, and Buddy Holly
• 1991  Police cruiser dashboard camera records murder of Texas lawman during traffic stop; tape convicts 3 assailants at trial
• 2002  “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh returns to U.S. in FBI custody; captured in Afghanistan fighting against U.S. troops
• 2002  Journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped by Islamic terrorists and later beheaded on camera by his captors