History

Hundreds mourn forgotten Dambusters veteran

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12 November 2013
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Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of a Bomber Command veteran they had never met, following a newspaper and internet appeal to honour him.

Harold Jellicoe Percival died aged 99 at a nursing home on the Lancashire coast with few friends and little family, and staff feared no-one would be there to pay their respects.

He was part of the ground team which supported the legendary Dambusters squadron, whose daring raids in May 1943 smashed three dams serving the industrial heartland of the Ruhr valley.

But after a public appeal for the Second World War veteran, an estimated 300 people attended the service at Lytham St Annes, with traffic blocking roads in the area and space running out in the crematorium. He was laid to rest yesterday at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month — via redwolf.newsvine.com

History, Wildlife

Future of the monarchy rocked as fox kills Tower of London’s guardian ravens

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29 October 2013
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It was a week in which the future of the monarchy looked even more secure, thanks to the Royal christening.

But unbeknownst to members of the Royal family cooing over Prince George, another event has shaken the foundations of the British monarchy to their very core.

An urban fox attacked and killed two ravens in the Tower of London where, according to superstition, there must be six of the birds or else the monarchy, the kingdom and the Tower itself will fall.

The unfortunate ravens, Jubilee and Grip, were snatched and eaten just before they were due to be locked up in their cages overnight — via redwolf.newsvine.com

History, Weird

The Man Who Fought in WWII With a Sword and Bow

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15 September 2013
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Running into battle armed with a broadsword, bow, and quiver of arrows was perfectly acceptable if you were fighting in the Hundred Years’ War or fending off some orcs on Middle Earth. But when it comes to World War II, such medieval weaponry looks like child’s play next to the technology of the time. A sword isn’t the most likely of defences against rifles and tanks. However, for John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, nicknamed Mad Jack, there was nothing he’d rather arm himself with than a trusty sword and bow.

Born into an old Oxfordshire family, he graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1926. Before his World War II fame, Mad Jack worked as an editor of a Nairobi newspaper, a model, and a movie extra, appearing in The Thief of Bagdad due to his expertise with a bow. That same talent with archery took him to Oslo, Norway where he shot for Britain during the world championships in 1939.

By this time, of course, Europe was fast approaching World War II. Mad Jack had left the army after ten years of service, but happily returned to it because of the country having gotten into a jam in my absence.

By May 1940, Mad Jack was the second in command of an infantry company. He always marched into battle with a bow and arrows and his trusty basket-hilted claymore by his side. Despite these weapons being wildly outdated, Churchill defended them, saying, In my opinion… any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed — via redwolf.newsvine.com

History, Politics, World

9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask

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4 September 2013
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The United States and allies are preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct US intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.

If you found the above sentence kind of confusing, or aren’t exactly sure why Syria is fighting a civil war, or even where Syria is located, then this is the article for you. What’s happening in Syria is really important, but it can also be confusing and difficult to follow even for those of us glued to it.

Here, then, are the most basic answers to your most basic questions. First, a disclaimer: Syria and its history are really complicated; this is not an exhaustive or definitive account of that entire story, just some background, written so that anyone can understand it — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Iconic Case Study Houses Finally Reside on National Register

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30 August 2013
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In Design, History
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At long last the Los Angeles Conservancy‘s effort to get a set of homes in the region included on the National Register of Historic Places has paid off, with the announcement that 11 of the Case Study Homes are deemed historically significant.

Ten of the homes have been placed on the list, according to the Conservancy. The 11th home did not get put on the list despite eligibility because of owner objection. All of them will enjoy equal preservation protections under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), says the Conservancy.

The Case Study program grew out of a post-WWII discussion of the future of architecture as a new era of building dawned. The idea was to create affordable, well-designed Mid-Century Modern homes for American families (of course, putting many in fancy neighbourhoods ensured the average Angeleno wasn’t likely to ever call one home, alas).

Not all the planned homes were built, and the program didn’t spring forth a gush of mass-produced affordable houses from the prototypes, but it did give architecture wonks and admirers much to love over the years. Most iconic is probably Case Study House #22, the Stahl house, designed by Pierre Koenig, which is oft-photographed — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Design, History

Spitbank Fort / Gosport, UK

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5 August 2013
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The Spitbank Fort was the result of an 1859 Royal Commission and is located in the Solent, near Portsmouth, England. Though its purpose and wares shifted somewhat over time, it was aimed at protect British shores from both sea and (eventually) air attacks — via WebUrbanist

Design, History

Einstein Tower / Erich Mendelsohn

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26 July 2013
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The Einstein Tower in Potsdam, Germany, designed by the German architect Erich Mendelsohn, is one of the best-known examples of German expressionist architecture. Designed as an amorphic structure of reinforced concrete, Mendelsohn wanted the tower to represent as well as facilitate the study of Einstein’s radical theory of relativity — a groundbreaking theorem of motion, light and space — via ArchDaily

Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing to be given posthumous pardon

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22 July 2013
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Alan Turing, the Enigma codebreaker who took his own life after being convicted of gross indecency under anti-homosexuality legislation, is to be given a posthumous pardon.

The government signalled on Friday that it is prepared to support a backbench bill that would pardon Turing, who died from cyanide poisoning at the age of 41 in 1954 after he was subjected to chemical castration.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, a government whip, told peers that the government would table the third reading of the Alan Turing (statutory pardon) bill at the end of October if no amendments are made. If nobody tables an amendment to this bill, its supporters can be assured that it will have speedy passage to the House of Commons, Ahmad said.

The announcement marks a change of heart by the government, which declined last year to grant pardons to the 49,000 gay men, now dead, who were convicted under the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act. They include Oscar Wilde — via redwolf.newsvine.com

World’s oldest calendar discovered in Scottish field

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16 July 2013
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Archaeologists believe they have discovered the world’s oldest lunar calendar in an Aberdeenshire field.

Excavations of a field at Crathes Castle found a series of 12 pits which appear to mimic the phases of the moon and track lunar months.

A team led by the University of Birmingham suggests the ancient monument was created by hunter-gatherers about 10,000 years ago.

The pit alignment, at Warren Field, was first excavated in 2004.

The experts who analysed the pits said they may have contained a wooden post.

The Mesolithic calendar is thousands of years older than previous known formal time-measuring monuments created in Mesopotamia.

The analysis has been published in the journal, Internet Archaeology — via redwolf.newsvine.com

How Thor’s Hammer Made Its Way Onto Soldiers’ Headstones

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10 July 2013
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To summarise, Thor’s hammer represents heroism, nobility, self-reliance, and honour. It’s a symbol with a history that extends back a thousand years to pre-Christian Europe. And adherents of Odinism, the religion that Thor’s hammer represents, tend to make natural soldiers. Oh, and it also shares a pretty strong cultural heritage with a superhero who is, in his own weird, Technicolor, space viking way, as American as apple pie. How strange would it be, then, if the US Department of Veterans Affairs — the organisation that oversees cemeteries dedicated to US veterans and ultimately says which symbols can be used therein to represent your religious faith — had a problem with Thor’s hammer?

But for decades, the VA did have a problem with Thor’s hammer. Not so much for what Mjölnir stood for but because it was a pagan symbol, and pagan symbols were verboten.

If you look at all the symbols the Department of Veterans Affairs have approved for use on headstones over the years, pagan symbols were really the final frontier, Pitzl-Waters says. Hinduism, Humanists, Atheists, all these other symbols had been approved. But there wasn’t a single pagan symbol on the approved list — via redwolf.newsvine.com

New York teacher’s remains found behind wall 27 years on

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3 July 2013
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The skeleton of a New York state teacher who vanished in 1985 has been discovered behind a false wall in the home she shared with her late husband, police say.

The remains of JoAnn Nichols were found in a foetal position, tied with rope and wrapped in plastic in the house in the town of Poughkeepsie.

A post-mortem examination found she had been killed by a blow to her head.

Her husband, James Nichols, died in December of natural causes aged 82 — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Design, History

Atlas Missile Silo / Lewis, New York

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23 June 2013
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It’s 185 feet below the surface of Lewis NY, and comes with Strangelove-ian clocks that show the time in cities around the world and gun-metal grey consoles covered with analogue switches and dials for you to flip and turn while making blastoff noises with your mouth. You also get 8 acres with a waterfront view. Asking price: $750,000 — via Boing Boing

Yuri Gagarin air crash details emerge

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18 June 2013
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New details have emerged about the air crash on 27 March 1968 that killed Yuri Gagarin — the first man in space.

Fellow cosmonaut Alexey Leonov claims an unauthorised plane flew too close to Gagarin’s fighter jet, sending it into a spin.

Gagarin and his flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died when their MiG-15 went down near the town of Novoselovo, about 90km from Moscow.

Secrecy surrounding the crash has led to vigorous speculation down the years.

A government investigation of the accident (which Mr Leonov was part of) concluded that the MiG tried to avoid a foreign object — such as geese, or a hot air balloon.

On the conclusions of this original investigation, Mr Leonov said: That conclusion is believable to a civilian — not to a professional.

In an interview with Russia Today, the cosmonaut — who, in 1965, became the first person to walk in space — claimed he had been permitted to share a declassified report showing that a Sukhoi fighter jet flew too close to Gagarin’s MiG, disrupting its flight — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Rose Engine Lathe No.1636 / Holtzapffel & Company

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12 June 2013
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Rose Engine Lathe No.1636 / Holtzapffel & Company

A rose engine lathe (Wikipedia) is a type of geometric lathe used to produce complex radial engravings called Guilloché, which are used both for decorative and security (ie, anti-counterfeiting) purposes.

Those of you with more than $238,000 of disposable cash lying around may be irked to discover that the auction for this stunningly beautiful antique specimen is long closed. At least we can all still enjoy the gorgeous photographs, courtesy Massachusetts-based Skinner Auctioneers, who sealed the deal back in December. Their site is actually chock-a-block with beautiful old tools, instruments, and apparatus — via MAKE

German WWII Dornier bomber lifted from sea off England

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11 June 2013
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A British salvage team has lifted a German World War II bomber from the seabed off the coast of south-east England.

The Dornier Do 17 was shot down during the Battle of Britain in August 1940, but was only discovered by divers in 2008.

Covered with barnacles and missing a wing, the dripping wreck of the plane was slowly raised 15 metres to the surface at Goodwin Sands, Kent, at the mouth of the English Channel — via redwolf.newsvine.com

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