It was September 20, 1911 and RMS Olympic, the largest ocean liner in the world, was on its fifth voyage between the ports of Southampton and New York when she was struck in the side by the Royal Navy protected cruiser HMS Hawke. Surprisingly, not only did neither ship sink, but there was no loss of life. Still, the accident had surprising ramifications that deserve to be remembered.
Solenopsis invicta, the “Red Imported Fire Ant”, native to South America, has proven a tenacious and destructive pest in the United States, costing Americans billions of dollars every year. That is why, in the late 1950s, the United States embarked on an all out war against the six-legged menace.