Day Tripping: February 20

Blusters, blunders, and blast-offs

Welcome to my daily feature where each day on the calendar marks a part of our shared history.

Quitting On Weak Politicians

While serving as Foreign Secretary for the Conservative British Parliament, Anthony Eden resigns in protest to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement to Mussolini of Italy in 1938. His departure would be the first blow to the and of Chamberlain’s hold on the government, and who was widely being criticized for being soft on Hitler’s Nazis.

When Winston Churchill ascended to the office of Prime Minister at the start of World War II, he appointed Eden to the post of Secretary of State for War.

A Collosal Miscalculation

Forever to be remembered in Canada as their version of Black Friday, then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker orders the manufacturing of a leading-edge fighter jet to be completely scrapped in 1959. The Avro Arrow program was halted just as five of the most advanced supersonic aircraft roll off the assembly floor. All jets and remaining parts are ordered to be disassembled, but legend has it that at least two planes were spirited to safety. Their actual whereabouts remain a mystery to this day.

The original purpose for the Avro Arrow interceptor was to serve as a deterrent to Soviet airstrikes during the Cold War, but the costs became too unwieldy for the government to manage. Smaller nations like Canda still struggle today to compete in the high-tech aviation sector for this very reason.

On that fateful day sixtie-two years ago, the company’s President was forced to announce to the thousands of present factory workers, “that f ***ing prick in Ottawa” had cancelled the program. Many of the individuals from A.V. Roe’s brain trust who designed and built the aircraft, scattered to find employment in aeronautics firms around the world and the United States, including NASA.

It’s believed many of the design cues from the Arrow inspired the functional look of the NASA space shuttle years later. Still, more than 50,00 employees were laid off or lost their jobs entirely as a result of Diefenbaker’s decision.

Senior draftsman Ken Barnes was ordered at the time to destroy all the blueprintsof the aircraft, but hid them in his basement instead where they were discovered years later by his nephew after Ken’s death.

There is a current project in Calgary, Alta to create a 60% replica of the groundbreaking aircraft using a Leer jet fuselage.

Historic Flying Ace

Future Senator John Glenn launches into space in his Friendship 7 rocket and becomes the first American to orbit Earth in 1962. He makes three passes around the globe in under five hours, the last under manual control, and then splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean.

John Glenn was also the oldest human in space in 1978 with the Spaceshuttle Discovery and the first to make a supersonic crossing of the United States in just over three hours in 1957. Wouldn’t it have been great if he flew an Arrow?

Musical Milestones

1816 — Renowned opera The Barber of Seville is booed and jeered during its premiere performance in Rome, probably at the coaxing of writer Rossini’s bitter rival, Giovanni Paisiello. Legend has it that Paisilello paid audience members but the performance was marred by strange occurrences. The leading man sang his opening aria with a bloody nose after tripping on a trap door, and a cat wandered onto the stage and stayed until the end of the first act.

Narratives

Known for his unique ‘gonzo journalism’, Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide, shooting himself in the head while on the phone with his wife.

Remembrance

Robert Bolt writer of A Man for All Seasons and based on the story of Sir Thomas More who defied King Henry VIII, in 1995.

Notable Births

1902 — Award winner who defined the landscape photograph and gave us the eight zone system for black and white photography, Ansel Adams.

1925 — Film director Robert Altman gave us such cult film classics as M*A*S*H, Nashville, and Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article dedicated to the days of our history. I hope to see you tomorrow for another instalment.

K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Joseph M. Learned Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate