If I were to ask you which 20th Century recording artist had the most top-ten hits in their lifetime, you might be tempted to guess Elvis Presley, or maybe a member of the Beatles. But no: that honour belongs to Glenn Miller, the trombonist and band leader whose recordings of such classics as “In the… Read More »
On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and uttered the immortal words “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind,” bringing to a close the decade-long Space Race between the US and USSR. While the Americans beating the Soviets to the moon might… Read More »
At 8:20 AM on August 6, 2016, 66-year-old veteran pilot Scotty Wilson opened the throttle and roared down the runway at Clinton-Sherman Industrial Air Park near Burns Flat, Oklahoma. Moments later he was airborne, and began climbing into a clear blue sky. But almost immediately things started to go wrong as the aircraft banked sharply… Read More »
During the Second World War, more than 260,000 Allied personnel were captured by the Western Axis powers and held in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, Italy, and their occupied territories. Their bold and often ingenious escape attempts have become the stuff of legend, including the famous “Great Escape” from the Stalag Luft III camp in March… Read More »
If you are the sort of person who spends a lot of time staring at old buildings, you may have noticed a strange symbol cropping up again and again: a bundle of rods bound together with criss-crossing straps, often topped by an axe head. This motif shows up just about everywhere, from theatres, universities, courthouses,… Read More »
The first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, appeared on bookstore shelves on April 13, 1953. Its author, Ian Fleming, had served in British Naval Intelligence during WWII, and based much of his famous super-spy’s world on his own personal experiences. For example, Bond himself was inspired by Fleming’s own personality and tastes as well as… Read More »
It was a rainy afternoon in July 1974 when the Royal Canadian Army Cadets of D Company filed into a classroom at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier [“Val-cart-yay”], Quebec. The Cadets, all boys aged 13 to 18, were glad for the chance to sit down and relax, having just undergone a rigorous inspection of their barracks… Read More »
It can be found in the toolbox of every craftsman and mechanic, and in the pocket of every hiker, camper, and adventurer. It has appeared in countless books, movies, and television shows; travelled across scorching deserts, frozen tundra, and steaming jungles; plunged to the bottom of the ocean; and even rocketed into outer space. It… Read More »
Put a frog in a pot of boiling water and it will immediately jump out. But put that same frog in a pot of cold water and raise the temperature gradually enough, and it will be boiled alive. This evocative story has long served as a useful metaphor for complacency in the face of gradual… Read More »
In today’s world of high-tech medicine, it is easy to take for granted the ease, regularity, and relative safety with which modern surgery is performed. For most of human history surgery was a bloody, painful, and dangerous affair. Without the benefit of antiseptic techniques or anaesthesia, surgeons had to work fast, racing against the clock… Read More »
Beneath the gothic arches and towers of Phoebe Hearst Hall at Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University lies a truly extraordinary room. Measuring 20 x 10 x 10 feet and carved into solid Appalachian granite, the room is packed with a dizzying collection of artefacts from the late 1930s, from phonograph records and typewriters to Lincoln Logs, Donald… Read More »