During the Virginia campaign in the summer of 1862, the Union Army used tethered balloons to observe the Confederate troop movements during the battles—the first US air force.
Valve from Civil War balloon, on display at Tredegar Iron Works Museum
Continue reading First US Air Force: The Civil War Balloon Corps
In the midst of the Hundred Years War with England, the French government was suddenly paralyzed by a King who had gone insane.
When most of us think of “pirates” we think of buccaneers like Blackbeard and Captain Morgan who raided shipping in the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries. But the most successful pirate in history was a woman who commanded a huge fleet on the coast of China in the early 1800s.
Today, we take the Global Positioning System (GPS) for granted: it is a routine feature of everything from out cars to our phones. But when the GPS was first conceived, it was part of a highly-secret military program developed for the Cold War.
Man-portable GPS receiver
The F-22 Raptor is the latest fighter to be produced by the US.
F-22 Raptor on display at the US Air Force Museum
From the dawn of humanity, people have been treating dead bodies with reverence and respect, often based around religious ceremonies and rituals. The earliest members of Homo sapiens buried their dead, often accompanying the bodies with “grave goods” such as spear points and pottery.
Civil War embalming tent
The first of the “stealth” aircraft to be deployed, the F-117 Nighthawk looks more like a spaceship than a military airplane.
F-117 Nighthawk on display at the US Air Force Museum
