The FReeper Foxhole Studies Aerial Demonstration Teams - Part 3 - The Blue Angels - Dec. 6th, 2003

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The Blue Angels



A Brief History

At the end of World War II, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, the Chief of Naval Operations, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in Naval Aviation. The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration less than a year later in June 1946 at their home base, Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida. Flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat, they were led by Lt. Cmdr. Roy "Butch" Voris.

The first aircraft the Blue Angels used was the F6F Hellcat, and they only had three of these aircraft and one SNJ. This aircraft didn't last long with the Blue Angels.


The paint color on the Hellcats was FS15042-Gloss Sea Blue and the yellow was actual gold leaf.

Only two months later on August 25, 1946, the Blue Angels transitioned to the Grumman F8F Bearcat and introduced the famous "diamond" formation.


Bearcat

By the end of the 1940s, the Blue Angels were flying their first jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. In response to the demands placed on Naval Aviation in the Korean Conflict, the team reported to the aircraft carrier USS Princeton as the nucleus of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191), "Satan's Kitten", in 1950.

They were reorganized the next year and reported to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, where they began flying the newer and faster version of the Panther, the F9F-5.



The Blue Angels remained in Corpus Christi until the winter of 1954 when they relocated to their present home at NAS Pensacola, Florida. It was here that they progressed to the swept-wing Grumman F9F-8 Cougar.


The ensuing 20 years saw the Blue Angels transition to two more aircraft, the Grumman F11F-1 Tiger (1957) and the McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II (1969).


Tiger 3




Phantom II

In December 1974, the Navy Flight Demonstration Team began flying the McDonnell Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II and was reorganized into the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. This reorganization permitted the establishment of a commanding officer vice a flight leader, added support officers, and further redefined the squadron's mission emphasizing the support of recruiting efforts. Cmdr. Tony Less was the squadron's first official commanding officer.



On November 8, 1986, the Blue Angels completed their 40th anniversary year during ceremonies unveiling their present aircraft, the sleek McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, the first dual-role fighter/attack aircraft now serving on the nation's front lines of defense. Since 1946, the Blue Angels have flown for more than 260 million spectators.


The opposing Solo performs the High Performance Climb on takeoff. The pilot will experience nearly six times the pull of gravity during this maneuver.


Surrounded by a cloud of water vapor, one of the jets hurries to catch up with the rest of the team.


The Opposing Solo performs the Low Transition on Takeoff before going into the High Performance climb during a demonstration.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

More Blue Angels



The year 1946 marked the first performance of the Blue Angels, a flight demonstration team inspired by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Chief of Naval Operations. Flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the Blue Angels would perform daring maneuvers to thrill the public and maintain interest in naval aviation. The flight team originated with 4 pilots and an 11-man ground crew.

Shows back then were only 17 minutes long and consisted of "V" and "Echelon" (parallel but unaligned) formations. It didn't take long to wow crowds everywhere and add new formations. "Diamond" and "Solo" formations took off in the '40s. The '50s offered up tons of new maneuvers including "Tuck-under Break," the "3-in-1," the first six-plane "Delta" and "Solo's Back-to-Back."



The '60s delighted fans with stunning new maneuvers including "Diamond Landing," "Six-Plane Delta Landing," "Lead Solo's Dirty Roll on Take-off," the "Half Cuban-eight" and the "Farvel" formation (leader inverted in the "Diamond"). Step back into the 70s and you're in for a treat with breathtaking new "Diamond" maneuvers including loops and inverted planes as well as new solo tricks including the "Dirty Loop," the "Opposing Dirty Roll on Take-off" and the "Tuck-away Break." Blue Angels shows today last approximately 45 minutes. Six pilots perform 30 exciting maneuvers during each show - never repeating a stunt.



Always on the cutting edge, Blue Angels aircraft have transitioned with technology. In 1946, they switched to the Grumman F8F-1 for its increased power and maneuverability. They began using planes with jet engines in 1949. Previous Blue Angels planes had engines with pistons.

Jet engines proved to be much more powerful than those with piston engines. From 1953 to 1956, Blue Angels flew Grumman F9F-8 Cougars; Grumman F11F-1 Tigers from 1957 to 1968. McDonnell Douglas Phantoms premiered in 1973, only to be upstaged by McDonnell Douglas Skyhawks in 1974. Since 1986, the Blue Angels have been working their magic with McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets.


The Blue Angels fly over Naval Station Norfolk, VA. The squadron typically performs 70 shows at 35 locations each show season.


The Blue Angels Delta perfoms a Delta Flat Pass during a demonstration.


The Blue Angels Diamond performs the Fan during a demonstration. The aircraft maintain 12 to 18 inches of separation during this maneuver.

The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, Blue Angels, is stationed at Sherman Field, NAS Pensacola, Florida. The squadron is scheduled to fly 70 air shows at 35 locations in the United States during the 2002 season.

The squadron spends the winter (January through March) training pilots and new team members at Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro, California. The mission of the Blue Angels is to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting and to represent the naval service to the civilian community, its elected leadership and foreign nations.


Blue Angels One thru Four perform one of the team's signature maneuvers, the Diamond 360. During this maneuver the four F/A-18 Hornets are approximately 18 inches apart from canopy to wingtip.

The Blue Angels serve as positive role models and goodwill ambassadors for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. A Blue Angel flight demonstration exhibits the choreographed refinements of Navy-trained flying skills. It presents the graceful, aerobatic maneuvers of the four-plane diamond, as well as the fast-paced high performance maneuvers of the two solo pilots.

The renowned delta formation is complete with six jets performing maneuvers, as a whole, in formation. The 2001 show season brought out more than 15 million spectators. Since 1946 the Blue Angels have performed for more than 350 million people.

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Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
www.photovault.com/Link/Military/Navy/Aircraft/BlueAngels.html
www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/aircraft/b-angels/blues.html
www.navy.com/blueangels

[snippy_about_it]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Saturday Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[snippy_about_it]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

[WaterDragon]

Wonderful, snippy! I'll have to bookmark the page and come back tomorrow.....supposed to be up early to catch a plane.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

It's Big 12 Championship Saturday. OU- K.State tonight at 7 on ABC.

[Aeronaut]

Ah, the F11-F - we used to call them the "ensign getters."

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Arizona (BB-39)

Pennsylvania class battleship
displacement. 31,400 tons
length. 608'
beam. 97'1"
draft. 28'10"
speed. 21 k.
complement. 1,081
armament. 12x14", 22x5", 4x3", 2x21" torpedo tubes.

The USS Arizona (Battleship No. 39) was laid down on 16 March 1914 at the New York Navy Yard; launched on 19 June 1915; sponsored by Miss Esther Ross, daughter of a prominent Arizona pioneer citizen, Mr. W. W. Ross of Prescott, Ariz.; and commissioned at her builder's yard on 17 October 1916, Capt. John D. McDonald in command.

After shakedown off the east coast and in the Caribbean, she operated out of Norfolk, Virginia, until November 1918, when she made a brief cruise to France. She made a second cruise to European waters in April-June 1919, proceeding as far east as Turkey. During much of 1920-21, the battleship was in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas, but paid two visits to Peru in 1921 in her first excursions into the Pacific. From August 1921 until 1929, Arizona was based in Southern California, making occasional cruises to the Caribbean or Hawaii during major U.S. Fleet exercises.

In 1929-31, Arizona was modernized at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, emerging with a radically altered appearance and major improvements to her armament and protection. Tripod masts, surmounted by three-tiered fire control tops, replaced the old cage masts; 5-inch, 25-caliber antiaircraft guns replaced the 3-inch, 50s with which she had been equipped. She also received additional armor to protect her vitals from the fall of shot and blisters to protect her from torpedo or near-miss damage from bombs. In addition, she received new boilers as well as new main and cruising turbines.

In March 1931, she transported President Herbert Hoover and his party to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In August of that year, Arizona returned to the Pacific, continuing her operations with the Battle Fleet during the next decade. From 1940, she, and the other Pacific Fleet battleships, were based at Pearl Harbor on the orders of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Arizona was moored in Pearl Harbor's "Battleship Row" on the morning of 7 December 1941, when Japanese carrier aircraft attacked. She was hit by several bombs, one of which penetrated her forecastle and detonated her forward ammunition magazines. The resulting massive explosion totally wrecked the ship's forward hull, collapsing her forward superstructure and causing her to sink, with the loss of over 1100 of her crewmen.

Acts of heroism on the part of Arizona's officers and men were many, headed by those of Lt. Comdr. Samuel G. Fuqua, the ship's damage control officer, whose coolness in attempting to quell the fires and get survivors off the ship earned him the Medal of Honor. Posthumous awards of the Medal of Honor also went to Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd, the first flag officer to be killed in the Pacific war, and to Capt. Van Valkenburgh, who reached the bridge and was attempting to fight his ship when the bomb hit on the magazines destroyed her.

In the following months, much of her armament and topside structure was removed, with the two after triple 14" gun turrets being transferred to the Army for emplacement as coast defense batteries on Oahu.

The wrecked battleship's hull remained where she sank, a tomb for many of those lost with her. In 1950, she began to be used as a site for memorial ceremonies, and, in the early 1960s a handsome memorial structure was constructed over her midships hull. This USS Arizona Memorial, operated by the National Park Service, is a permanent shrine to those Americans who lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor and in the great Pacific War that began there.

Arizona (BB-39) was awarded one battle star for her service in World War 11.

[The Mayor]

All things were created through Him and for Him. —Colossians 1:16

Christ showed His love by dying for us; we show our love by living for Him.

[Soaring Feather]

Good Saturday morning everyone in the FOXHOLE!

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Snippy.

[SAMWolf]

Hi Waterdragon.

We'll see if we can get you some more wallpaper graphics today.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. Since I don't have a team in this game,

Go OU!!

[SAMWolf]

Good morning aeronaut.

It sure sat low on the ground,landing must have been a bit hairy. I can see the tail hitting first.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks aomagrat.

Pearl Harbor changed America; it changed the World. It changed you and me... our families... our friends.

One and a half million visitors every year experience the power and reverence of this, the final resting place for most of the 1,177 sailors and marines who died on the Arizona. The Remembrance Exhibit at the Memorial visitor center also honors the fallen of the other ships, airfields, and barracks attacked on that "Date which will live in Infamy." Ultimately it commemorates all casualties and combatants of World War II in the Pacific.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Mayor.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Feather.

We're ready for another day of getting work done and taking some time sightseeing. Weather is too yucky for going to the Coast today. :-(

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on December 06:
1608 George Monck/Monk, English general/gov of Scotland
1732 Warren Hastings, England, 1st governor-General of India (1773-84)
1743 Franz Nikolaus Novotny, composer
1775 Nicolas Isouard, composer
1822 John Eberhard, built 1st large-scale pencil factory in US
1833 John Singleton Mosby, lawyer/Col ("Grey Ghost" of Confederate Army), died in 1916 (gave riding lessons to young George Patton)
1872 William S. Hart (actor, director, silent screen star: Wild Bill Hickock)
1886 Joyce (Alfred) Kilmer (poet: Trees)
1887 Lynn Fontanne (actress: The Pirate with Alfred Lunt)
1896 Ira Gershwin (Israel Gershvin) (musician, lyricist: Lady Be Good, The Man I Love, The Man That Got Away)
1898 Alfred Eisenstaedt, photo journalist
1903 Tony Lazzeri (Baseball Hall of Famer)
1906 Agnes Moorehead (actress: Bewitched)
1913 Eleanor Holm (swimmer)
1918 Harold Horace Hopkins, inventor (Endoscope)
1920 Dave Brubeck, Concord CA, jazz pianist/composer (Gates of Justice, Take 5)
1921 Otto Graham (football: Cleveland Browns [1950-55)
1924 Wally Cox (actor)
1930 Andy Robustelli (football)
1930 Bobby Van (Stein) (actor, dancer: Small Town Girl)
1933 Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki, composer
1940 Steve Alaimo (singer: Every Day I Have to Cry Some)
1941 John Nelson, San Jose, Costa Rica, conductor (Les Troyens of Berlioz)
1941 Richard Speck, mass murderer (killed 8 student nurses in 1966)
1945 James Naughton (actor)
1945 Larry Bowa (baseball: Philadelphia Phillies shortstop)
1948 Jonathan King (songwriter, singer: Everyone's Gone to the Moon)
1951 Gavin Kirk (hockey)
1953 Thomas Hulce, Plymouth Mi, actor (Amadeus, Equus, Echo Park)

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Deaths which occurred on December 06:
1185 Afonso I the Conqueror, king of Portugal (1143-85), dies at 76
1531 John Volkertsz Trimaker, Dutch Anabaptist leader, beheaded
1640 Matthijs Elsevier, Flemish/Dutch book publisher/merchant, dies at 75
1779 Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin, French still life painter, dies at 80
1793 Marie Jeanne Becu, Comtesse du Barry, mistress of Louis XV, guillotined in Paris
1867 Giovanni Pacini, composer, dies at 71
1882 Anthony Trollope, writer, dies
1889 Jefferson Davis, Pres of Confederate States (1861-5), dies at 81
1892 E Werner von Siemens, German industrialist (Siemens AG), dies at 75
1926 Claude [Oscar] Monet, French painter (impressionist), dies at 86
1949 Leadbelly, [Huddie William Ledbetter], blues singer, dies at 64
1988 Roy Orbison US Rock singer (Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely)
1989 Frances Bavier actress (Aunt Bee-Andy Griffith Show) dies at 86
1993 Don Ameche, actor (Cocoon), dies of prostate cancer at 85
1995 Dmitri Antonovitch Volkogonov, soldier/historian, dies at 67
1995 James "Scotty" Barrett Reston, journalist, dies at 86
1996 [Alvin] Pete Rozelle, commissioner (NFL), dies at 70

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1963 GORTON THOMAS F.---TOLEDO OH.
[AC CRASH 2 REMAINS RECOVERED N/SUBJ]
1963 HILL RICHARD D.---HOUSTON TX.
[AC CRASH 2 REMAINS RECOVERED N/SUBJ]
1967 PASTVA MICHAEL JAMES---LAKEWOOD OH.
1968 MORALES FRANK A.
1970 TAYLOR WALTER J. JR.---MOSS POINT MS.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0963 Leo VIII elected Pope
1160 Jean Bodels "Jeu de St Nicholas" premieres in Arras
1196 Northern Dutch coast flooded, "Saint-Nicolaas Flood"
1240 Mongols under Batu Khan occupy & destroy Kiev
1424 Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants Barcelona the right to exclude Jews
1491 King Charles VIII of France marries Anna of Bretagne
1492 Haiti discovered by Columbus, at Môle Saint Nicolas
1527 Pope Clemens VII flees to Orvieto
1534 Quito, Ecuador founded by Spanish
1631 1st predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed
1641 Don Francisco de Mello appointed land guardian of South Netherlands
1648 Pride's Purge: Thomas Pride prevents 96 presbyterians from sitting in English parliament
1723 Emperor Karel VI's Pragmatic Sanctie declares Constitution
1732 1st play in American colonies acted by professional players, New York NY
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlies army retreats to Scotland
1756 British troops under Robert Clive occupy Fulta India
1768 1st edition of "Encyclopedia Brittanica" published (Scotland)
1787 Laurens Pieter van de Speigel appointed Dutch pension advisor
1790 Congress meets in Philadelphia, new temporary US capitol
1820 US President James Monroe re-elected, Daniel D Tompkins Vice-President
1822 Veterinary school in Utrecht opens
1825 President John Adams suggests establishment of a US observatory
1833 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin departs Rio de la Plata
1841 Robert Schumann's 4th Symphony in D, premieres
1843 Amsterdam-Utrecht railway opens
1846 The opera "La Damnation de Faust" is produced (Paris)
1849 Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland
1862 President Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux Indians
1864 Battle of Deveaux's Neck SC
1865 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery
1866 Chicago water supply tunnel 3,227 meters into Lake Michigan completed
1870 Joseph H Rainey, 1st black in the House of Representatives (South Carolina)
1873 1st international football game in US: Yale 2, Eton (England) 1
1875 44th Congress (1875-77) convenes
1876 1st crematorium in US begins operation, Washington PA
1876 City of Anaheim incorporated for 2nd time
1876 US Electorial College picks Representative Hayes as President (although Tilden won)
1877 Washington Post publishes 1st edition
1877 1st sound recording made (Thomas Edison)
1882 Atmosphere of Venus detected during transit
1884 Aluminum capstone set atop Washington Monument, Washington DC
1896 D T Suzuki found the awakening at Engakuji temple, in Kamakura
1903 Sumatra Atjehs guerilla leader Panglima Polim surrenders
1904 Theodore Roosevelt confirms Monroe-doctrine (Roosevelt Corollary)
1907 Coal mine explosions in Monongah WV, kills 361
1912 China votes for universal human rights
1913 White Sox beat Giants 9-4 in exhibition game in Tokyo
1914 German troops over run Lódz
1916 German army under General Mackensen occupies Bucharest
1917 Finland declares independence from Russia (National Day)
1917 French munitions ship "Mont Blanc" explodes in Halifax, kills 1,639+ and injures 9,000+
1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition creates Northern Ireland
1922 1st constitution of Irish Free State comes into operation
1922 1st electric power line commercial carrier in US, Utica NY
1923 1st presidential address broadcast on radio (President Calvin Coolidge)
1925 Record 73,000 pay to watch Chicago Bears beat New York Giants 19-7
1925 Italy, Britain & Egypt sign Jaghbub accord (Italy)
1929 Turkey introduces female suffrage
1930 18th CFL Grey Cup: Toronto Balmy Beach defeat Regina Roughriders, 11-6
1930 Pablo Neruda marries Marie A Hagenaar Vogelzang in Batavia
1933 Ban on James Joyce' "Ulysses" in US, lifted
1938 117 Spanish knights under Captain Piet Laros return to Netherlands
1938 French/German non-attack treaty drawn (Ribbentrop-Bonnet Pact)
1939 5th Heisman Trophy Award: Nile Kinnick, Iowa (HB)
1939 Cole Porter's musical "Du Barry was a Lady" premieres in New York NY
1940 Gestapo arrest German resistance fighter/poster artist Helen Ernst
1940 Pietro Badoglio resigns as viceroy of Ethiopia
1941 NYC Council agrees to build Idlewild (Kennedy) Airport in Queens
1941 Dutch & British pilots see Japanese invasion fleet at Singapore
1941 King Leopold of Belgium marries Lilian Baels
1942 Queen Wilhelmina announces Dutch Commonwealth
1942 RAF bombs Philips factory (150 die)
1944 US 95th Infantry division reaches Westwall
1950 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Mirabile illud
1952 Czechoslovakian government tells Israeli ambassador, he's persona non grata
1953 Brown's Lou "Toe" Groza kicks 8 PATs, beating Giants 62-14
1954 Simone de Beauvoir receives Prix Goncourt
1955 New York psychologist Joyce Brothers won "$64,000 Question" on boxing
1956 Nelson Mandela & 156 others arrested for political activities in South Africa
1956 "Happy Hunting" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 413 performances
1957 1st US attempt to launch a satellite fails-Vanguard rocket blows up
1957 AFL-CIO votes to expel Teamsters (readmitted in October 1987)
1957 Indonesia begins nationalizing Dutch possessions
1958 US lunar probe Pioneer 3 reaches 107,269 km, falls back
1960 American League grants Gene Autry a franchise, Los Angeles Angels
1961 27th Heisman Trophy Award: Ernie Davis, Syracuse (HB)
1962 US abandons Skybolt ballistic missile program
1963 Beatles begin a tradition of releasing a Christmas record for fans
1963 Test Cricket debut of Graeme Pollock at the Gabba
1964 KTVR TV channel 13 in La Grande OR (PBS) begins broadcasting
1964 President Segni of Italy resigns
1965 2 trucks crashed into a crowd of dancers (Sotouboua Togo) kills 125
1966 Polio vaccination becomes obligatory in Belgium
1967 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1968 Baseball dismisses Commissioner William Eckert after 3 years
1968 PBA National Championship won by Wayne Zahn
1968 WKID (WSCV) TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale FL (IND) 1st broadcast
1969 300,000 attend the Altamont CA, rock concert feature Rolling Stones
1969 "Buck White" closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 7 performances
1969 USSR performs nuclear test
1970 Cleveland Cavaliers 1st NBA home victory, beating Buffalo Braves 108-106
1971 Lewis Franklin Powell confirmed as Supreme Court justice
1973 Gerald Ford sworn-in as 1st unelected Vice-President, succeeds Spiro T Agnew
1973 National League votes to move San Diego Padres to Washington DC (doesn't happen)
1973 Bahrain's constitution goes into effect
1974 George Harrison releases "Ding Dong, Ding Dong"
1975 Senator Robert Dole & Elizabeth Hanford marry
1975 41st Heisman Trophy Award: Archie Griffin, Ohio State (RB)
1976 War criminal Pieter Menten arrested in Zurich
1977 South Africa grants Bophuthatswana independence
1978 Spain adopts constitution
1980 Jim Bakker rapes Jessica Hahn
1980 NASA launches Intelsat V
1981 Rob de Castella of Australia sets Marathon record at 2:08 18
1982 11 soldiers & 6 civilians die by bomb planted by Irish National Liberation Army exploded in a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland
1982 Senator Ted & Joan Kennedy divorce
1982 Bomb attack on Londonderry, North Ireland disco, 17 killed
1983 A bomb planted on a bus in Jerusalem explodes, kills 6 Israelis
1984 Hijackers aboard Kuwaiti jetliner kill 2nd hostage
1984 France performs nuclear test
1985 UK joins US Star Wars project
1986 52nd Heisman Trophy Award: Vinny Testaverde, Miami FL (QB)
1986 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1987 3 satanist Missouri teenagers bludgeon comrade to death for "fun"
1987 Christa Rothenburger skates female world record 500 meter (39.39 seconds)
1987 Jane Crafter/Steve Jones win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1988 Arafat meets prominent American Jews in Stockholm, Sweden
1988 Milwaukee Bucks win their 1,000th NBA game (2nd fastest)
1988 Nelson Mandela is transferred to Victor Vester Prison, Capetown
1988 STS-27 Atlantis lands in California after secret mission
1988 Agnes Neil Williams purchases Baltimore Orioles for $70 million; Eli Jacobs becomes CEO of Baltimore Orioles
1988 Carlos Andrés Pérez re-elected President of Venezuela
1988 Merv Hughes takes 13 wickets vs West Indies at the WACA but Australia lose
1989 Mafia drug kingpin bombs security force at Bogotá, kills 52
1989 Worst Canadian mass murder: Marc Lepine kills 14 women at University of Montréal
1990 NHL grants conditional membership to Tampa Bay Lightning
1990 Saddam anounces release of all foreign hostages
1990 Shoeless Joe Jackson's signature is sold for $23,100
1991 "Star Trek VI-The Undiscovered Country" premieres
1991 "Les Miserables" opens at Circustheater, Scheveningen
1992 300,000 Hindus destroy Ayodha Mosque of Babri India, 4 die; riots follow
1992 81st Davis Cup: USA beats Switzerland in Fort Worth (3-1)
1992 300,000 Hindus destroy mosque of Babri India, 4 die but riots kill another 2,500 people.
1992 San Francisco 49er Jerry Rice catches NFL record 101st touchdown
1992 San Francisco Giants renig on $43 million pact with Barry Bonds
1993 Gunda Niemann skates ladies world record 5 km 7 13.29
1994 Maltese Falcon auctioned for $398,590
1994 Orange County California files for bankruptcy
1994 Warner Brothers announces a 5th TV network to begin on Jan 11, 1995
1995 6th Billboard Music Awards
1995 Michael Jackson collapses will rehearsing for an HBO special

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Bahrain : Ruler's Ascension Day
Ecuador : Day of Quito (1534)
Finland : Independence Day (1917)
US : Holidays Are Pickle Days (thru 12-31)

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Religious Observances
Anglican, Roman Catholic, Lutheran : Memorial of Nicholas, Archbp of Myra patron of children

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Religious History
1538 German Reformer Martin Luther stated: 'With all our thoughts we can't get beyond the visible and physical. No man's heart comprehends eternity.'
1769 During the illness of a close friend, English poet William Cowper, 38, penned the lines to the hymn, "Oh, For a Closer Walk with God."
1787 Cokesbury College, the first Methodist college in America, opened its doors in Abingdon, MD. The campus consisted of a three_story building 108 feet long and 40 feet wide.
1930 Missionary linguist Frank Laubach wrote in a letter: 'Sometimes one feels that there is a discord between the cross and beauty. But...a man has not found his highest beauty until his brow is tinged with care for some cause he loves more than himself. The beauty of sacrifice is the final word in beauty.'
1955 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'It is a dreadful truth that the state of having to depend solely on God is what we all dread most... It is good of Him to force us; but dear me, how hard to feel that it is good at the time.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"No matter what happens... somebody will find a way to take it too seriously."

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Question of the day...
You have AA, AAA, C, D, 9Volt, Litheum and all those types of batteries. What happened to the 'B' battery?

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Murphys Law of the day...(Freeman's Law)
Nothing is so simple it cannot be misunderstood.

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Astounding fact #9,102...
Both writer Edgar Allen Poe and LSD advocate Timothy Leary were kicked out of West Point.

[Pukin Dog]

Another great thread. Love the Blues. Best shows were in the Phantom, but that thing was just too dangerous and thirsty.

[snippy_about_it]

...supposed to be up early to catch a plane.

Hope you're going somewhere fun!

[SAMWolf]

1833 John Singleton Mosby, lawyer/Col ("Grey Ghost" of Confederate Army), died in 1916 (gave riding lessons to young George Patton)

The 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, better known as Mosby's Rangers, was one of the most feared and renowned combat units operating in northern Virginia and the Lower Shenandoah Valley. These rangers were an elite force of scouts and guerrilla fighters who were commanded by John Singleton Mosby. The adventures and exploits of Mosby's Rangers became legendary in American military history.

In early August 1864, the Federal Army came under the command of a new leader, Major General Phillip H. Sheridan. Sheridan began to push his army southward down the valley and established his headquarters south of Winchester. Supplies for the Federal Army came from Harper's Ferry by wagon train. On August the 12th, Mosby gathered his men at Rectortown, intent on interrupting Sheridan's supply line. Mosby's force consisted of nearly 350 Rangers, bolstered by two cannons.

Sheridan's 525-wagon train, supported by 3 regiments and a small cavalry force left Harper's Ferry loaded with supplies on the morning of the 12th. After traveling all day, the wagon train camped near Berryville at Buck Marsh Creek. Early the next morning as the fog lifted, Federal soldiers preparing for the day's travel were suddenly panicked by three rounds of cannon fire, followed by the rebel yell of charging Southern cavalry. Pandemonium ensued, and the Federals fled for life and limb, leaving the supply train

After burning many of the wagons, Mosby and his men captured 200 prisoners, 500 mules, 50 horses, 200 cattle, along with what spoils they could carry from the wagons. Left behind however, was a cash box of the 8th New York Cavalry containing $112,000. As the Rangers rode away in high spirits, a number were trying to play melodies on some captured fiddles, to the complaints of their friends. Later that evening the prizes from the raid were divided among the men, with the prisoners and most of the cattle sent off to the Army of Northern Virginia.

He and his men did not carry sabers and were armed with multiple revolvers rather than cavalry carbines. It was said that a Ranger could be riding at full gallop and fire 3 rounds into a tree trunk before he passed. This accounted for many empty Federal saddles. Fighting behind enemy lines, the Rangers usually didn't carry a flag, but on the Berryville raid, riding beside Mosby was 17 year-old Robert Stockton Terry who carried the battalion's new flag.