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.
In 1906, a famed explorer saw something on the horizon that would lead an expedition of men to search for a magnificent land they hoped would be full of new and undiscovered treasures for science.
One famous dolphin lived near the shores of New Zealand in the late 1800s, and swam alongside hundreds of ships, becoming a beloved figure to locals and foreigners alike, and described as ”the best known fish in the world.”
It was relatively common in the middle ages for Kings, royals, and various other titled men to die in combat, and they were at least usually expected to fight personally. Despite the dangers of medieval combat and the expectations of nobility, however, many at the highest levels of aristocracy died in less than noble mundane accidents, and even in embarrassing circumstances.
Although not nearly as discussed as the battles and generals of the war, both the Union and the Confederacy engaged in robust programs of espionage during the US Civil War. These nineteenth century spies engaged in cloak and dagger activities worthy of 007, including a brazen attack on November 25, 1864 on the Union’s largest city.
The human love of salt cured slices of heaven is nothing new. In fact, it is one of the world’s oldest cuts of meat, with a long and savory history.
As airplanes go, the North American F-86 Sabre is as iconic as it gets. The fighter aircraft that dominated in the Korean war became an enduring symbol of the Jet Age and the Cold War. So you could hardly blame a young Air Force mechanic for getting a little carried-away.