How Vasiliy Arkhipov Saved the World

In the last two weeks of October 1962, the world came closer to nuclear warfare than it ever has. For 14 tense days, US President John Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev stood eyeball to eyeball, each with his hand on the nuclear button. In the end, both blinked; but there was one particular point in that confrontation when the decision was taken out of their hands, when the nuclear attack could have been launched by a junior Soviet military officer–and when a man named Vasiliy Arkhipov stepped in and saved the world.

Milestones in Space Exploration: Surveyor

When President John Kennedy set the goal of landing a human safely on the Moon, the US had a grand total of fifteen minutes’ worth of manned spaceflight, and astronomers knew next to nothing about what the conditions on the Moon’s surface were like. Would a landing craft be swallowed up in a deep layer of lunar dust? No one knew.

A Surveyor moon lander, on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Martha: The Last Passenger Pigeon

In the times before the Europeans reached North America, the entire eastern half of what is now the United States was covered with unbroken forest. It was said that a squirrel could run from Maine to Texas without ever touching the ground. And one of the myriad of species that lived in this forest was the Passenger Pigeon. One hundred years ago, the last Passenger Pigeon died in a cage.

Passenger Pigeon.                                    Illustration from Wiki Commons

Icons of Aviation: Winnie Mae

The Lockheed Vega was one of the premiere aircraft of the 1930’s. Designed in 1927 as a long-distance passenger plane capable of carrying six passengers and a crew of two, the reliable and rugged Vega soon became a favorite with air explorers, many of who increased its range by removing the passenger seats and adding extra fuel tanks. Amelia Earhart used the Lockheed Vega in many of her flights. And Wiley Post, flying a Vega named “Winnie Mae”, set two around-the-world speed records.

The “Winnie Mae”, in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Apartheid in South Africa: A History

So we never forget what racism does to people.

The Apartheid Museum, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Voyage of the “Minnow”: The Story of Gilligan’s Island

It is one of the most iconic TV shows of all time, still on the air somewhere in the world every day, with a theme song that everyone knows. Here is the behind-the-scenes history of Gilligan’s Island. So just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale . . .

Wild Florida–Little Blue Heron

The Little Blue Heron isn’t as big or showy as some of its cousins, but it is an attractive shorebird that can be commonly seen throughout Florida.

Little Blue Heron

The 1996 St Petersburg FL Riots

It has become a depressingly familiar story in 21st century America. A young unarmed black man is shot and killed by a white policeman. Street protests turn into rioting, arson, and looting. And it all repeats two weeks later when the police officer is cleared by a grand jury and is not charged.

But this isn’t Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014–it’s St Petersburg, Florida, in 1996.

16th Street and 18th Avenue South, in the Midtown neighborhood of St Pete FL, where TyRon Lewis was killed.

Mathias Rust and his Flight to Moscow

In 1987, at the height of the Cold War, a West German teenager flew a single-engine Cessna into the Soviet Union and landed in Red Square–and helped to change the world.

Mathias Rust’s flight.

Avebury Stone Circle

Twenty-five miles north of Stonehenge lies the Neolithic stone circle of Avebury.  It is older and much bigger than its more famous cousin (it is in fact the largest stone circle in the world), and is part of a much larger ritual complex that includes the Long Barrows and Silbury Hill. Yet today, Avebury Circle is forgotten and unknown to most people.

Avebury Circle.

The Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway

The Vigeland Sculpture Park, in Oslo, Norway, is the largest exhibit in the world dedicated to just one sculptor. It is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in Oslo.

The “Angry Baby”.

James Bond and the Walther PPK Pistol: A History

The Walther PPK may be the most famous and widely-known handgun in the world, due to one thing–it’s the gun that was carried by the fictional “licensed to kill” British spy James Bond, Agent 007, in nearly all of his 25 films. But aside from its place in Hollywood film history, the Walther PPK has a real-world history that stretches back over 75 years, tracing a course through World War Two and the Cold War.

Walther PPK, with the distinctive finger rest on the bottom of the magazine

Florida’s Invaders–The Green Iguana

One of the more recent of Florida’s Invaders is amongst the largest lizards in the world, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. It was one of the most popular reptile pets in the US of all time. And now it has invaded Florida. It’s the Green Iguana.

Green Iguana

Thomas Paine: America’s Most Radical Founding Father

Of all the leading figures of the American Revolution, there was no one quite like Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine

Think YOU’RE Tough? The Story of Hugh Glass

Next time you think you are having a bad day, consider the story of 19th century mountain man Hugh Glass . . .

A contemporary painting of a Mountain Man. Photo by Wiki Commons.

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