The Wrights had their first controlled flight of a heavier-than-aircraft on this date in 1903. I had three separate pieces on the event back on the hundredth anniversary, which was also the day that SpaceShipOne first flew supersonic.
[Late evening update, after all the kvetching in comments]
Jeez, Looeeze, people.
OK, first controlled flight of a powered heavier-than-aircraft. Happy now?
Some anniversary thoughts (and a mention of my property-rights piece) from Adam Keiper.
Some thoughts on the paradoxes, from Victor Davis Hanson. It is frightening to contemplate how close we came to losing the second World War, and were only saved by bad decisions on the part of Hitler and Tojo.
…are boring. Thoughts on Oliver Stone’s turgid new tome.
Finally told. It’s a good read, but I think this probably isn’t right:
Firefighters from the Hickam Air Force Base carried the victims in. The men had a red T marked on their foreheads, mute testimony of the efficiency of first-aiders in giving tetanus shots to ward off lockjaw.
I suspect that it meant that they had tourniquets that had to be managed, not that they’d gotten tetanus shots.
Today is not only the 71st anniversary of Pearl Harbor, but also the day that we last sent men to the moon, forty years ago.
[Update a while later]
Pearl Harbor in perspective.
Former flight controller (and Shuttle program manager) Wayne Hale has been writing a series of blog posts about his recollections of the events leading up to the disaster. This week, he recalls the harbinger of the previous flight, that should have warned NASA about the problem, but didn’t.
Thoughts on leadership in America, seventy years ago and today.
The historical whitewash. As with Jefferson, it’s all about rewriting history.