The Albatros D series was one of the most widely-produced German aircraft of the First World War, serving for the entire second half of the conflict. Nearly all of Germany’s top air aces, including the Red Baron Manfred von Richthofen, scored the majority of their victories in Albatros D fighters.
In the late 1960’s, at the height of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the hippie revolution, the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour became the most controversial show in TV history and, despite winning an Emmy, was abruptly pulled off the air.
The Nobel Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in the world. Luminaries that have received Nobel Prizes include Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela, Ernest Hemingway, and Barack Obama. But the history of the Nobel Prize actually began because a wealthy Swedish industrialist living in Italy got to read his own obituary.
Today, Florida spends large amounts of money and resources each year to protect and preserve our wild wetland habitat. One of our most prominent plant invaders, however, was originally introduced to Florida in a deliberate attempt to destroy swamp habitat.
Melaleuca tree
In 1832, a Japanese cargo ship with 14 people aboard was caught in a storm and pushed out into the Pacific. One of them was 14-year old Yamamoto Otokichi, who was about to begin an unexpected two-decade trip around the world.
Continue reading Yamamoto Otokichi’s Unintentional Trip Around the World
The Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic Park series has made Velociraptor one of the most famous dinosaurs in the world. But the real Velociraptor is much different than the movie version, and most of what people know about raptors from the movies is actually wrong.
In the 18th century, England (and America) changed the calendar that it had been using for almost 2000 years. In the process, eleven days were “lost”. And, according to legend, there were riots as people took to the streets to demand their eleven days back.
We most often think of Hiroshima as the atomic bomb that ended the Second World War. It wasn’t. It was not until a second atomic bomb was dropped three days later that the Japanese military was forced to accept a surrender. The Nagasaki mission is, however, mostly forgotten, lost in the historical shadow of the Hiroshima bombing–a good thing, perhaps, since it was a string of errors, difficulties, and screw-ups.
Throughout the 1960’s, television audiences around the world watched as the United States launched Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space ships in a race towards the Moon. But at the same time, in total secrecy, another set of astronauts was carrying out another space race with an entirely different purpose.
Continue reading Milestones in Space Exploration: The Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Hidden History 