Russia, History, and Vladimir Putin

The history of Russia clearly demonstrates the truth in the adage, “Governments come and go, but national interests remain the same.”

Vladimir Putin                                               official Kremlin photo

Icons of Aviation History: 19109 Wright Military Flyer

When the US Army bought its first airplane, it wasn’t really sure what to do with it. But within just a few years, the Signal Corps was experimenting with different ways to utilize air platforms.

Replica 1909 Military Flyer in Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy

History of Surfing

The earliest history of surfing is entirely unknown, but it is likely that Pacific Islanders were riding atop waves on flat wooden boards for centuries before the Europeans arrived.

A homemade wooden surfboard from 1946, at the Texas Surf Museum in Corpus Christi

The Longest Paddle

In 1932, an unemployed German citizen named Oskar Speck set out on a paddling trip in his folding kayak that would take him 30,000 miles and bring him to the shore of Australia over seven years later.

Oskar Speck’s route

The Strange Story of the Tasaday

In the 1970s, government officials in the Philippines announced the discovery of an unknown Stone Age tribe that was living in the jungles. But 15 years later, the “Tasaday” were denounced as a hoax, sparking off one of the strangest arguments in all of anthropology.

Tasaday                                                     photo from Wiki Commons