Day Tripping: June 18
Enterprising into the breach
Winds Of War Blow
At the urging of ‘War Hawks’ in the United States Congress, President James Madison officially declared war on Britain in 1812. Frustrated by continual blockades of American trade ships by both Britain and France during the Napoleonic wars, US officials convinced the President there was little choice left but to declare war. Worse for American merchants were the British penchant to board trade ships and press American seamen into active duty with the Royal Navy in the fight against Napoleon.
Led by Thomas Jefferson and his assertion that taking Canada was “merely a matter of marching”, the American plan involved an assault on British held Upper Canada. for the next two years, the invasion turned out to be far more than a matter of marching as native tribesmen and freed slaves took up arms in defense of the region. In the end, the War of 1812 proved little, and no significant land holdings changed hands.
To Boldly Go
The first Space Shuttle flight with astronauts aboard happened in 1977 when the test model ‘Enterprise’ took to the air strapped to the back of a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. Though the ship never made it into space and did not fly on its own power, the flight with the crew aboard was instrumental in testing its landing systems.
The space shuttle was designed to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and land safely without power, so the crew put the craft under a series of critical speed break tests by manipulating the rudder and flaps. The entire 54-minute flight was carried out with the shuttle anchored to the 747, which maintained a constant speed of 209 miles per hour. With the success of these tests, Enterprise’s next mission would involve being separated from its escort ship to perform a simulated landing.
Few In The Know
In its first operational flight, the stealth Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk took to the sky over Groom Lake, Nevada in 1981, the famed Area 51. The decision to pursue stealth technology was taken in 1958, but the actual development of the aircraft began in 1978 with few in the Pentagon even knowing the project existed. Less than three years later, the F-117 made its maiden flight and stealth technology remained a secret throughout the decade.
Originally, the US Air Force believed rounder edges would render stealth capabilities more readily, but when Lockheed designers set to work on the program, they implemented the angular shapes to better refract radar devices from picking up the aircraft.
Musical Milestones
A woman from Minnesota was found guilty of sharing music files illegally in 2009 in a suit filed by Capitol Records. Thirty-two-year-old Jamie Thomas-Rasset had been using the Kazaa platform online to download 24 songs under the username Tereastarr. The original conviction ordered her to pay $80,000 per song, equalling $1.92 million, but Thomas-Rasset continues to fight for reduced fines.
Narratives
Using the daguerreotype photographic process, Thomas Martin Easterly of St Louis, Missouri captured the first known image of lightning in 1847.
Remembrance
In his eulogy to the Big Man, Bruce Springsteen said, “I leaned on Clarence a lot; I made a career out of it in some ways.” Clarence Clemons passed away in 2011 at age 69. Watching him work through a three-hour set with the E Street Band was a joy to behold.
Notable Births
An all musician’s day for birthdays:
1942 — Paul McCartney is 79 today, long past 64 and he still has his hair.
1973 — Gifted singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne
1976 — Star of Country music and television on The Voice, Blake Shelton
K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray 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 James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca
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