october 19
Throwback Thursday: Naval Aviation First 1910
One hundred, nine years ago, today, aviator Eugene Ely made naval aviation history, taking off from a wooden platform secured to the bow of the light cruiser USS Birmingham. Captain Washington Chambers, USN, was tasked by the Secretary of the Navy George von Lengerke Meyer to investigate uses for aviation in the Navy. Ely successfully took off in a Curtiss Pusher from the Birmingham, barely. The airplane rolled off the platform, plunged downward, skipping the water, which damaged the propeller but, he managed to stay airborne, landing two and a half miles away on Willoughby Spit. Two months later, on January 18, 1911, Ely landed his Curtiss Pusher airplane on a platform on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay.
Ely communicated with the United States Navy requesting employment but, United States naval aviation was not yet organized. Ely continued flying in exhibitions while Captain Chambers promised to “keep him in mind” if Navy flying stations were created.
On October 19, 1911, while flying at an exhibition in Macon, Georgia, his plane was late pulling out of a dive and crashed. Ely jumped clear of the wrecked aircraft but, his neck was broken and he died a few minutes later.
On February 16, 1933, Congress awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross posthumously to Ely, “for extraordinary achievement as a pioneer civilian aviator and for his significant contribution to the development of aviation in the United States Navy.”
Photo Credit: Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
Shutterbug Saturday: Old Halloween Stuff
It’s finally October, home month of jack-o-lanterns, ghosties, ghoulies, witches (the cartoon type), bats, spiders, skeletons, and the like, for the upcoming Halloween. I love wandering around to get shots of local decorations, much like Christmas. This post, however, covers some of my old stuff…stuff collected over the years (remember email forwards?)…stuff I didn’t take, myself, plus…a really cute video from 2005. I have no idea who took these. ~Vic
Take a look at Halloween Local.
Image file reflects 12-05-2000
Image file reflects 09-30-2001
Image file reflects 10-31-2001
Image file reflects 10-19-2002
Image file reflects 08-26-2007
Image file reflects 10-12-2008
Flashback Friday: Hurricane Wilma 2005
Thirteen years ago, today, Cat 5 monster Hurricane Wilma became the most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. As part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Wilma’s mbar pressure reached a low of 882 (hPa; 27.05 inHg) and the eye shrank to 2.3 miles in diameter, the smallest ever seen. She made landfall several times but, the Yucatán Peninsula, Cuba and South Florida suffered the worst. She did $27.4 billion dollars in total damage and claimed 87 lives. Her name has been retired.
Other October 19 history:
1789…..John Jay was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.
1900…..Max Planck discovers the law of black-body radiation or Planck’s Law. (This makes my head hurt.)
1987…..Stock markets crashed all around the world beginning in Hong Kong, spreading to Europe and, then, hitting the United States on Black Monday.
2005…..Saddam Hussein goes on trial for crimes against humanity.