The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Martin B-26 "Marauder"

B-26A

The B-26A differed from the B-26 which preceded it primarily in having an extra ferry fuel tank installed in the rear bomb bay. The B-26A also had a shackle for a 22-inch torpedo underneath the fuselage. Thirty of these B-26As had R-2800-5 engines, but 100 examples that were delivered with the R-2800-39 of identical power were known as the B-26A-1. Weights had increased to 21,741 pounds empty, 32,200 pounds loaded. Ferry range was 2600 miles with 1462 gallons of fuel.

The first B-26A (41-7345) was delivered in October of 1941.

In 1942, many of the earlier B-26s were fitted with the extra ferry tanks, thus being brought up to B-26A standards. Some of the B-26/B-26A had the 0.30-inch nose gun replaced with a 0.50-inch gun.

The name Marauder was assigned to the B-26 in October of 1941. Initially, the name "Martian" had been seriously considered.

B-26B

The B-26B was the version of the Marauder that was built in the greatest quantity. It first appeared in May of 1942.

The B-26B differed from earlier Marauder versions in having two 0.50-inch machine guns with 1500 rpg installed in a stepped-down tail position, replacing the single hand-held gun of the earlier B-26 and B-26A. The guns were operated manually by the gunner by means of a ring and bead sight. The gunner had no seat, and usually knelt to track his targets and fire his weapons. Ammunition was fed from cartridge belts held upright on a pair of roller tracks in the aft bomb bay. Each gun was equipped with 800 rounds. The new tail position increased the overall length to 58 feet 3 inches.

The B version introduced a 24-volt electrical system, self-sealing fuel lines, and a rearrangement of various internal equipment items. The large propeller spinners were deleted. A rack was introduced underneath the fuselage which could be attached to the belly to accommodate a 2000-pound torpedo. Fuel supply included two 350-gallon main fuel tanks in the wings, two 121-gallon auxiliary tanks, and up to four 250-gallon bomb bay ferry tanks, for a total capacity of 1962 gallons. Normal bomb load consisted of two 2000-lb or 1600-lb bombs, eight 500-pound, sixteen 250-lb, or thirty 100-lb bombs. Maximum short-range bombload was 5200 pounds, which was seldom carried. This could be two 1600-lb bombs plus a 2000-pound torpedo on the external rack.

Marauder Mission
B-26 'Marauders' of the Ninth Air Force return from an attack on enemy positions in Northern France. Pictured is "Yankee Guerrilla" of the 386th. BG.

Provisions were made for up to seven crew members. The bombardier sat in the transparent nose cone and operated a flexible 0.50-inch machine gun with 270 rounds. The pilot and co-pilot sat side by side in armored seats behind an armored front bulkhead. The navigator/radio operator sat in a compartment behind the pilots. In an emergency, these four crewmen could escape through the forward bomb bay, although the pilot and co-pilot had escape hatches in the upper cockpit that could be opened outward. The beam gunner manned a single gun that fired through a hatch cut into the floor of the rear fuselage. A Martin 250CE dorsal power turret was mounted on the top of the fuselage behind the bomb bay. It was equipped with two guns and 400 rpg. The turret could turn through a full 360 degrees and the elevation could be as much as 70 degrees. The tail gunner operated two 0.50-inch guns. The main entrance to the fuselage was through the nose wheel well, but pilot's escape hatches were available in the roof of the canopy.

The B-26B was powered by a pair of R-2800-5 engines on the first 307 aircraft.

In August, the production block system was introduced with the advent of the B-26B-2-MA. Unlike most other aircraft, the production block numbers on the B-26B Marauder were not in multiples of five. This model had the R-2800-41 engine, yielding 2000 hp for takeoff and 1600 hp at 13,500 feet. Maximum speed was up from 311 mph to 317 mph at 14,500 feet. However, weight was increased to 22,380 pounds empty, 34,000 pounds gross.

The B-26B-3-MA introduced the R-2800-43 engine of similar power. This engine was retained throughout the remainder of the Marauder production run. This model also had enlarged air intakes mounted on top of the engine cowling so that sand filters could be fitted when required in desert conditions. These intakes were retrofitted to many earlier Marauders.

The B-26B-4-MA which appeared in October 1942 had a longer nose wheel strut to increase the wing incidence and lift during takeoff. Minor equipment changes such as a new starter, new navigation instruments and winterization gear were introduced. The last 141 of the 211 B-4s built had the light tunnel gun replaced by a pair of 0.50-inch machine guns, one firing through each of two side hatches on the bottom of the rear fuselage. This arrangement had previously been used on modified aircraft in the field, and was found suitable for introduction on the production line. These guns were mounted on extending arms swiveling from positions on the fuselage floor and fired rearwards and downwards. Each gun had 240 rounds of ammunition.

The B-26B-5-MA introduced slotted flaps and mechanically-operated main undercarriage doors.

In preparation for large-scale introduction of the Marauder into combat, the USAAF had set up B-26 Transition Training Fields at MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida and at Barksdale Field, Shreveport, Louisiana. Nine new USAAF medium bomber groups had been activated in 1942 as Marauder-equipped units. Unfortunately, many of the pilots trying to master the Marauder at these fields had no previous twin-engined experience. In 1942, a series of training accidents took place stateside which placed the future of the entire Marauder program in doubt. Most of these accidents took place during takeoff or landing. The increases in weight that had been gradually introduced on the production line had made the wing loading of the Marauder progressively higher and higher, resulting in higher stalling and landing speeds. Veteran pilots in combat overseas had enough experience that they could handle these higher speeds, but new trainees at home had serious problems and there were numerous accidents, causing the Marauder to earn such epithets as "The Flying Prostitute", "The Baltimore Whore", "The Flying Vagrant", or "The Wingless Wonder", these names being given because the B-26's small wing area appeared to give it no visible means of support. Other derisive names being given to the B-26 were "The Widow Maker", "One-Way Ticket", "Martin Murderer", "The Flying Coffin", "The Coffin Without Handles", and the "B-Dash Crash". In particular, there were so many takeoff accidents at MacDill Field during early 1942 that the phrase "One a Day Into Tampa Bay" came to be a commonplace lament.

D-Day Plus One, yet another aerial armada heads inland over the heavy fighting on the beaches below. Bearing their high profile invasion stripes, P-51 Mustangs of the 354th Fighter Group are seen escorting B-26 Marauders of the 397th Bomb Group as they cross the battle lines, the Marauders' mission to hit enemy targets ahead of advancing Allied ground forces. Below, endless flotillas of troop ships and landing craft swarm onto the beaches as day two of the invasion draws towards it close.

The USAAF was concerned about the high accident rate and seriously considered withdrawing the Marauder from production and service. The US Senate's Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program (better known as the Truman Committee, after its chairman, Sen. Harry S. Truman of Missouri), which had been charged with ferreting out corruption, waste, and mismanagement in the military procurement effort, also began looking into the Marauder's safety record. In July the Committee recommended that B-26 production be stopped. However, combat crews in the South Pacific were more experienced and were not having any problems with the airplane, and they went to bat for the Marauder. They exerted pressure, and the USAAF decided to continue with production of the Marauder.

However, by September of 1942, the situation had gotten even worse and training accidents had become even more frequent. By that time, the reputation of the Marauder had gotten so bad that civilian crews contracted to ferry USAAF aircraft to their destinations were often quitting their jobs rather than having to ferry a B-26. The Air Safety Board of the USAAF was forced to initiate an investigation into the cause. In October, the Truman Committee was again on the warpath and once again recommended that production of the B-26 be discontinued.

USAAF commanding General Henry. H. Arnold directed that Brig. Gen. James H. Doolittle (fresh from his famous Tokyo raid) investigate the problem with the B-26 personally. Doolittle had recently been given command of the B-26-equipped 4th Medium Bombardment Wing, which was scheduled to take part in the invasion of North Africa.

Both General Doolittle and the Air Safety Board concluded that there was nothing intrinsically wrong with the B-26, and there was no reason why it should be discontinued. They traced the problem to the inexperience of both aircrews and ground crews, and also to the overloading of the aircraft beyond the weight at which it could be safely flown on one engine only. Almost immediately after the Marauder had entered service, it had been found necessary to add more and more equipment, armament, fuel, and armor, driving the gross weight steadily upwards. By early 1942, the B-26 had risen in normal gross weight from its original 26,625 pounds to 31,527 pounds with no increase in power. It had been found that many of the accidents had been caused by engine failures, which were in turn caused by a combination of poor maintenance by relatively green mechanics and a change from 100 octane fuel to 100 octane aromatic fuel, which damaged the diaphragm of the carburetors. Many of the B-26 instructors were almost as green as the pilots they were trying to train, and did not know themselves how to fly the B-26 on one engine only, and so could not teach the technique to their students.

B-26B-1-MA S/N 41-17747 with flak damage to the #1 engine nacelle, left wing and wheel well (note the missing landing gear doors). September 1943

General Doolittle sent his technical adviser, Captain Vincent W. "Squeak" Burnett, to make a tour of OTU bases to demonstrate how the B-26 could be flown safely. These demonstrations included single-engine operations, slow-flying characteristics, and recoveries from unusual flight attitudes. Capt. Burnett made numerous low altitude flights with one engine out, even turning into a dead engine (which aircrews were warned never to do), proving that the Marauder could be safely flown if you knew what you were doing. Martin also sent engineers out into the field to show crews how to avoid problems caused by overloading, by paying proper attention to the plane's center of gravity.

However, the decision was made to increase the wing area in order to lower the wing loading, reducing the takeoff and landing speeds and hopefully cutting down on the number of takeoff and landing accidents.

The new wing was first introduced on the B-26C production block at Omaha, and did not appear on the B-26B line at Baltimore until the introduction of the B-26B-10-MA production block, which first appeared in January of 1943. The wing span increased from 65 to 71 feet and area increased from 602 to 658 square feet. A taller fin and rudder was introduced to maintain stability with the larger wing, increasing overall height from 19 feet 10 inches to 21 feet 6 inches.

However, the advantages of the reduced wing loading were partially offset by an increase in gross weight to 38,200 pounds as the result of the fitting of additional armament. A total of twelve 0.50-inch machine guns were now carried. These comprised a flexible 0.50-inch nose gun with 270 rounds, a single fixed gun on the starboard side of the nose with 200 rounds, two "package" guns on each side of the fuselage below the cockpit with 200-250 rpg, two 0.50-inch guns in the rear dorsal turret, two 0.50-inch guns in the beam, and two 0.50 inch guns in the tail. Nevertheless, at a takeoff weight of 36,000 pounds, the takeoff run was reduced from 3150 to 2850 feet. However, the larger wing area resulted in a decrease in maximum speed from 289 to 282 mph.

Even before all the design changes had been put on the production line, the efforts of the Army and Martin to improve training began to pay off, and accidents at training fields began to fall off, and within a month had reached a fairly low level. The Truman Committee finally relented, and stopped its demands for the cessation of Marauder production. Nevertheless, the derogatory nicknames still persisted, and word had not gotten down to the grass roots level that the problems with the B-26 had been corrected. Pilot students still believed that the B-26 was a deathtrap, and very few graduates requested assignment to a B-26 group.

On the B-26B-20-MA and later blocks, the hand-held twin tail guns were replaced by a power-operated Martin-Bell turret, also with two 0.50-inch guns with 400 rpg. The guns were positioned below the gunner and afforded a wider field of fire. The blunt tail cone of this installation markedly altered the contours of the rear fuselage. The guns were operated by a remotely-controlled linkage, but gunners usually preferred to swing the guns manually. Provisions were made for two more 250-US gallon tanks in the aft bomb bay, bringing total fuel capacity to 1964 US gallons.

Early models of the B-26 had two separate bomb bays, but the rear one was only used infrequently for light loads in the South Pacific. Eventually, the rear bomb bay racks were discontinued altogether. Eventually the rear bomb bay doors and actuating mechanism were deleted as well. The space and weight factors had become too critical, and the space was more valuable as a gunner's station after two flexible 0.50-inch machine guns were installed in the waist window area and ammunition storage boxes were installed for the tail and waist guns. Provisions for the two rear bay tanks were deleted from the B-26B-25-MA and later blocks.

The last of 1883 B-26Bs was delivered at Baltimore in February of 1944. In addition, 208 B-26Bs were converted to AT-23A target tugs for the USAAF.

B-26C

The B-26C was the designation given to a version of the B-26B manufactured at a new factory built by the government for Martin at Omaha, Nebraska. Even before Pearl Harbor, the US government had sensed the coming of war, and began a massive expansion of the American aircraft industry. As part of this program, the government built a whole series of new aircraft plants which were to be leased to aircraft manufacturers for the purpose of fulfilling military contracts. Most of these plants were in the Midwest or Western states, well out of range, it was hoped, from German raiders. The plant in Omaha was leased to Martin for the manufacture of the B-26 Marauder.

The B-26C had been initially ordered on June 28, 1941. The B-26C was essentially identical to the Baltimore-built B-26B, and followed more or less the same evolution during its production lifetime. However, all B-26Cs were built with the new larger wing -- the B-26C was in fact the first Marauder to appear with the new larger wing, the larger wing having been introduced on the Omaha line before it appeared on the Baltimore line.

The first three B-26Cs were accepted in August of 1942, and 86 B-26C-5-MO aircraft were accepted by the end of 1942.

Making emergency landing.

The B-26C-5-MO introduced the Bell-designed power turret in the tail which replaced the hand-held setup previously used. Its guns were positioned below the gunner and afforded a wider field of fire. The guns were operated by a remotely-controlled linkage, but gunners usually preferred swinging the guns manually.

The B-26C-15-MO had twelve 0.50-inch machine guns. One flexible and one fixed gun in the nose, four fixed package guns on the side, two in the top turret, two in the lower waist, and two in the tail. Except for the place of manufacture, the B-26C-15-MO and B-26B-10-MA were identical.

Provisions for the external torpedo rack and the rear bomb bay were deleted from the B-26C-30-MO and later production blocks.

The C-45 model incorporated a thicker grip on the control wheels, improvements in the hydraulic and electrical systems, and additional emergency systems.

350 B-26C were manufactured as target tugs and were redesignated AT-23B. These AT-23Bs were later redesignated TB-26C. 225 AT-23Bs were transferred to the US Navy as JM-1s. The JM-1 was used by the Navy for target towing and other general utility duties. It was never used in combat. Many JM-1s were painted with a bright orange-yellow finish, but the USAAF AT-23Bs retained their natural metal finish.

A total of 1210 B-26Cs and 275 AT-23B target tugs were built at Omaha. The last B-26C (a B-26C-45-M0) was delivered in April of 1944. After that, Martin-Omaha switched over to the manufacture of the B-29 Superfortress.

XB-26D

The sole XB-26D was an early B-26 that was modified to test heated surface-type de-icing equipment. Only one example was built.

B-26E

The B-26E was a proposed stripped version of the B-26B. It had the upper turret moved forward on the fuselage to a position formerly occupied by the navigator's compartment. A weight reduction program was to have reduced the loaded weight by 2000 pounds. However, this version was never built.

B-26F

The next production version of the Marauder was the B-26F. The B-26F differed from the B-26B/C primarily in having the angle of incidence of the wing increased by 3.5 degrees. This was yet another attempt to decrease the takeoff run and to lower the landing speed. This increased angle of incidence resulted in a distinctly canted-up engine nacelle, which gave more ground clearance for the propellers and provided a more level cruising attitude. Previous Marauder models had cruised with a slight nose-high attitude. However, the increased angle of incidence resulted in a reduction of maximum speed to 277 mph.

The fuel system of the B-26F was slightly modified, with a total capacity of 2500 US gallons. As in the later B-26B and Cs, the fixed forward-firing nose gun was omitted, but there was a slight increase in the ammunition capacity of the remaining eleven 0.50-inch guns. The provision for the under-fuselage carriage of a torpedo was finally deleted (it had not been used very successfully in any case). Maximum offensive load was now 4000 pounds.

The first B-26F was produced in February of 1944. Only three hundred B-26Fs were built. One hundred of these were B-26F-1-MAs. The other two hundred were B-26F-2s and F-6s, all of which were delivered to Great Britain as the Marauder Mk. III. The Marauder Mk. III carried the RAF serials HD402 through HD601 (ex-USAAF serials 42-96329/96528).

B-26G

The final production version of the Marauder was the B-26G. It was externally similar to the B-26F, but had universal Army-Navy equipment rather than specifically Air Corps-type equipment. A larger life raft compartment was installed in the top section of the forward fuselage. Provision was made for mechanical emergency extension of the nose wheel.

Both the B-26F and G were sometimes fitted with a tail bumper fairing underneath the aft turret.

The last of more than 5,000 B-26s built (all types) was delivered on 30 March 1945 and named Tail End Charlie "30".

150 B-26Gs were supplied to the RAF under Lend-Lease. RAF serials were HD602 to HD751. Like the B-26Fs, these were also known as Marauder Mk. IIIs. The last B-26G was delivered by Martin/Baltimore on April 18, 1945, bringing Marauder production to an end.

Additional Sources:

www.b26.com
www.brooksart.com
www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org
www.wpafb.af.mil
www.web-birds.com
www.inkart.com

The first Martin B-26 Marauder mission flown was by the 22nd Bomb Group on April 5, 1942. Launched from Garbutt Field, Australia the B26's staged through 7 mile drome near Port Moresby, New Guinea to strike the Japanese base at Rabaul, New Britain. The B26's had to stage through 7 mile drome to top off the gas tanks to enable them to reach Rabaul and then fly back to Port Moresby. The conditions encountered by the crews of the 22nd Bomb Group were primitive in the extreme by comparison with those of the 9th AAF crews later in the war.

"Mauled by a Marauder"
During this B-26 Marauder's last mission the aircraft was shot up and fell out of formation. Looking like easy prey she was jumped by Luftwaffe fighters, but tail gunner Bill Norris shot down three Fw190s and damaged a fourth.

The last bombing mission by a Martin B-26 Marauder Group was that flown on May 1, 1945 by the 17th Bomb Group 1st Tactical Air Force. They bombed the gun positions on the Isle d'Oleron, France. The last Martin B-26 Marauder mission was flown by the 1st Pathfinder Squadron when 8 of their B26's led 130 Douglas A26's of the 386th, 391st, 409th and 416th Bomb Groups to the Stod Ammo plant in Czechoslovakia on May 3, 1945.

Showcasing America's finest, and those who betray them!

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Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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We here at Blue Stars For A Safe Return are working hard to honor all of our military, past and present, and their families. Inlcuding the veterans, and POW/MIA's. I feel that not enough is done to recognize the past efforts of the veterans, and remember those who have never been found.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004

The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

LINK TO FOXHOLE THREADS INDEXED by PAR35

The last Martin B-26 Marauder mission was flown by the 1st Pathfinder Squadron when 8 of their B26's led 130 Douglas A26's of the 386th, 391st, 409th and 416th Bomb Groups to the Stod Ammo plant in Czechoslovakia on May 3, 1945.

The venerable A-26 can not be considered a slouch either.

Great thread SAMWolf!

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!

Good Wednesday Morning Everyone.

If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.

Night shift bump for the Freeper Foxhole and the maraurding Marauders.

Will check for pics when I get home in the morning

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

"Looking like easy prey she was jumped by Luftwaffe fighters, but tail gunner Bill Norris shot down three Fw190s and damaged a fourth."

Mr. Norris must have been a close relative of Alvin Collum York.

When I was about eleven I built a plastic model of the B-26. I was deeply smitten with the shape of that machine. Remember it clearly.

When you turn a model up and down, side to side, you start to see how the machine works. One of the steps on my way to being a machine freak.

Not an aerial truck like the B-25, that is for sure.

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

Good morning Snippy, Sam and every one.

Great start, Sam!

Thanks...

August 24, 2005

Our Main Calling

Read:
Exodus 19:1-8

I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. —Exodus 19:4

Bible In One Year: 1 Chronicles 7-9

cover In our performance-driven world, Christians often assume that God's main calling on their lives is to work for Him. But working for Christ should be secondary to our devotion to Him. As Oswald Chambers warned: "The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him."

I encountered this subtle "competitor" soon after the Lord led our family to start a ministry among street addicts. We loved these searching youths, and I devoted my entire attention and energy to helping them experience Christ's saving power.

Then Derek, one of our seekers, ran back to London and to drugs. This loss shocked me into realizing that I had become so absorbed in our work that my devotion to Jesus had lost its importance. God used my distresses as "eagles' wings" to carry me away from my worship of work and back to my first love—Jesus!

God did the same for Israel in Moses' day. He delivered the Hebrews from an impossible taskmaster and brought them on "eagles' wings" back to Himself (Exodus 19:4).

Praise God, Derek soon returned. Meanwhile, I had learned a lesson that's vital for all followers of Jesus. Our God-given work must never compete with our main calling: devotion to Christ. —Joanie Yoder

Striving for souls, I loved the work too well;
Then disappointments came; I could not tell
The reason, till He said, "I am thine all;
Unto Myself I call." —Cowman

Many Christians are strong on service but weak on worship.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
What Is Worship?

Here is a nice summary of the "Mauled by a Marauder" mission. It credits Norris with only two Fw190 kills, which is still a fair day's work...

Sam and Snippy,
Hey, guys! Thanks for the tribute to one of my favorite aircraft, the B-26 Marauder!
SUPER JOB!

An interesting note production of the B-25 Mitchell was almost twice that of the B-26 Marauder. 9800+ Mitchels were made to the 5000+ Marauders.

Enough of the chit chat on with the pics

A couple of pics of the CAFs B-26 Carolyn

A B-26 on a snowy field in France IIRC. This shot shows off the circular cross section of the B-26 fuselage rather well.

That's all for now, time for some blanket drill.

Regards

alfa6 ;.}

Good morning ladies.

Since my guts have been sucked out, does that mean I'm "gutless" now?

Good morning everyone.

Morning, PE.

You may feel gutless
I would guess...
but the surgeon left
a few in the
it's not like him
to leave a mess...
A few days in the sack
will do w-o-n-d-e-r-s for you
you'll stand straight and tall
and won't notice the little missing gall...;)

priceless.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on August 24:
1113 Geoffrey Plantagenet France, conquerer of Normandy
1591 Robert Herrick England, poet (Gather ye rosebuds)
1759 Wilbur Wilberforce England, crusaded against slavery
1808 Benjamin Grubb Humphreys Brig General (Confederate Army)
1808 Thomas Fenwick Drayton Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1891
1816 Sir Daniel Gooch laid 1st successful transatlantic cables
1827 Walter Husted Stevens Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1867
1828 George Hume "Maryland" Steuart Brig General (Confederate Army)
1872 Sir Max Beerbohm England, caricaturist/writer/wit (Saturday Review)
1886 William Francis Gibbs naval architect, designed Liberty ships
1890 Duke Kahanamoku Hawaii, 100m swimmer (Olympic-gold-1912, 20)
1898 Albert Claude Belgium, physician (Nobel 1974)
1900 Preston Foster Ocean City NJ, actor (Waterfront, Gunslinger)
1902 Fernand Braudel French historian (Civililization & Capitalism)
1905 Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, blues singer, a major influence on Elvis Presley.
1912 Durward Kirby Indianapolis Ind, TV announcer (Garry Moore Show){inventer of the Kirward Derby}
1924 Louis Teicher pianist (Ferrante & Teicher-Exodus)
1929 Yasir Arafat,murderer/leader of the Palestinian Liberation Movement.
1938 Mason Williams (musician: guitar: Classical Gas;
1943 John Cipollina SF Cal, rock guitarist (Quicksilver Messenger Service)
1944 Gregory B Jarvis Detroit Mich, astronaut (STS 25)
1946 Richard "Dick" N Richards Key West Fl, USN/astr (STS-28, 41, sk:50)
1949 Anna L Fisher St Albans NY, MD/astronaut (STS 51-A)
1958 Steve Guttenberg Bkln NY, actor (Police Academy, Short Circuit)
1961 Cal Ripken Jr all-star shortstop (Balt Orioles)
1962 Mary E Weber Cleveland Ohio, PhD/astronaut
1965 Marlee Matlin Ill, deaf actress (Children of Lesser God-Acad Award)

Deaths which occurred on August 24:
1103 Magnus III Berbein, king of Norway (1093-1103)
1217 Eustace "the Monk" French buccaneer, dies in battle
1313 Henry VII, Roman Catholic German king/emperor (1308/12-13)
1680 Colonel Thomas Blood, Irish adventurer (Stole the Crown Jewels) dies
1888 Rudolph J E Clausius German physicist (thermodynamics), dies
1889 Jan E Matzeliger Suriname inventor (shoe lacing machine), dies
1943 Simone Weil French philosopher (Gravity and Grace) dies
1957 Ronald Knox writer, theologian
1967 Henry J Kaiser industrialist (Boulder Dam, Liberty ship), dies at 85
1975 Charles H Revson, US cosmetic magnate, dies at 69
1983 Jack Somack actor (Ball Four, Stockard Channing Show), dies at 64
1988 Max Shulman author (Dobie Gillis, Tender Trap), dies at 69
1991 Abel Kivlat US 1500m runner (Olympic-silver-1912), dies at 99
1991 Bernard Castro patented convertible couch, dies at 87
1998 E.G. Marshall actor, "The Defenders", "Nixon", "Absolute Power", dies at 88

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
24-Aug-2004 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Lance Corporal Jacob R. Lugo Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Staff Sergeant Donald N. Davis Fallujah (near) - Anbar Non-hostile - vehicle accident

Afghanistan
A GOOD DAY

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://www.taps.org/
(subtle hint SEND MONEY)

On this day...
0079 Mt Vesuvius erupts, buries Pompeii & Herculaneum
0410 Rome overrun by Visigoths, symbolized fall of Western Roman Empire
1215 Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid
1349 Plague strikes Mainz. Jews are blamed and 6,000 killed
1349 Jews of Cologne Germany set themselves on fire to avoid baptism
1391 Jews of Palma Majorca, Spain massacred
1516 Battle of Marjdabik Ottoman Turks under Suliman I defeat the Mamelukes of Egypt
1542 In South America, Gonzalo Pizarro returns to the mouth of the Amazon River after having sailed the length of the great river as far as the Andes Mountains.
1572 King Charles IX orders massacre of thousands of French Protestants "St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre". 50,000 Huguenots and their leader, Admiral Gaspard de Chastillon, Count the Coligny killed
1608 1st English convoy lands at Surat India
1662 Act of Uniformity requires English to accept book of Common Prayer
1751 Thomas Colley executed in England for drowning supposed witch
1780 King Louis XVI abolishes torture as a means to get suspects to confess
1814 British sack Washington, DC, White House burned, in retaliation for the American burning of the parliament building in York (Toronto)
1853 1st potato chips prepared by Chef George Crum (Saratoga Springs, NY)
1854 National emigration convention meets in Cleveland
1858 Richmond "Daily Dispatch" reports 90 blacks arrested for learning to read
1862 C.S.S. Alabama commissioned at sea off Portugal's Azore Islands (beginning a career that would see over sixty Union merchant vessels sunk or destroyed by the Confederate raider.)
1869 Cornelius Swarthout patents waffle iron
1891 Thomas Edison patents motion picture camera
1894 Congress passes the first graduated income tax law, which is declared unconstitutional the next year.
1897 Newspaper editor Charles Dudley Warner published his often-quoted sentence, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." The quotation is often mistakenly attributed to his friend Mark Twain.
1905 Chicago Cubs beat the Phillies 2-1 in 20 innings
1909 Workers start pouring concrete for Panama Canal
1912 NYC ticker tape parade for Jim Thorpe & victorious US olympians
1912 Territory of Alaska organized (Ok, everyone line up according to height, men on the left women on the right....Come on people we haven't got all day. Katharine! We're waiting for you! Anytime you're ready.(sigh))
1912 US passes Anti-gag law, federal employees right to petition the govt
1922 1st Phillie to hit for the cycle (Cy Williams)
1929 Palestinians attack orthodox Jews in Jerusalem
1932 1st transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart
1936 Australian Antarctic Territory created
1936 FDR gives FBI authority to pursuit fascists & communists
1939 Germany & USSR sign 10-year non-aggression pact
1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established
1950 Operation Magic Carpet-45,000 Yemenite Jews move to Israel
1954 Communist Control Act passed, at height of McCarthyism
1954 International Amateur Athletic Federation recognizes Red China
1956 1st non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrived Wash DC
1959 Hiram L Fong sworn in as 1st Chinese-American senator while Daniel K Inouye sworn in as 1st Japanese-American Rep (Both from Hawaii)
1960 -127 F, Vostok, Antarctica (world record){More proof of global warming}
1961 Former nazi leader Johannes Vorster becomes South Africa's minister of justice
1963 1st 200 meter freestyle swum under 2 minutes (Don Schollander 1:58)
1963 John Pennel is 1st to pole-vault 17'
1967 Valin joins USAF (commies quake in fear, not to mention a couple of T.I.s who give serious consideration to sucide)
1968 France became world's 5th thermonuclear power, explodes on Mururoa
1970 Bomb kills 1 at U of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison
1972 Gordie Howe & Jean Beliveau inducted in Hockey Hall of Fame
1976 Soyuz 21 returns to Earth
1979 NFL fans (60,916) choose old Patriots logo over new
1981 Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 yrs to life for Lennon's murder
1984 Pat Bradley set LPGA record for 9 holes with a 28 at Denver
1985 STS 51-I mission scrubbed at T -5m because of bad weather
1987 Announcement of possible Martian tornadoes
1989 Pete Rose is suspended from baseball for life for gambling
1989 Voyager 2 flies past Neptune
1990 Iraqi troops surround US & other embassies in Kuwait City
1990 Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev sent a message to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein warning the Persian Gulf situation was "extremely dangerous."
(Nothing get by this guy! Sharp as a tack)
1991 Gorbachev resigns as head of USSR Communist Party
1991 Ukraine declares independence from the USSR
1992 Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida.
1994 Israel & PLO initialed accord giving autonomy to Palestinians in West Bank in education, health, taxation, social welfare & tourism
1995 Windows 95 debuts
1996 Steve Fossett sails across the Pacific Ocean, sets a solo speed record time (20 days)
1998 24 beads are donated to the Native American Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial, said to be the ones used in 1626 to buy Manhattan from Native Americans
1999 A federal judge in Ohio halts the state's 4-year-old tuition voucher program saying that it violated constitutional mandates for separation of church and state.
2001 Tom Green, a Mormon fundamentalist with five wives and 30 children, is sentenced by a court in Provo, Utah, to five years in prison in the state's biggest polygamy case in nearly half a century
2004 Nigerian Senate orders Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell to pay 1.5 billion dollars compensation for damages caused by nearly 60 years of exploration in the Niger Delta.
(I expect to hear any day now of the Nigerian Senate giving back a portion of the money they derived from this oil)

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Liberia : Flag Day (1847)
Sierra Leone : President's Birthday
Windows 95 Birthday
Intergalactic waffle day
Volcano Eruption Awareness Day
National Catfish Month

Religious Observances
RC, Ang, Luth : Feast of St Bartholomew, apostle

Religious History
0410 The Visigoths sacked Rome, disillusioning Christians who were trusting in God's protection of this ecclesiastical center of early Christianity. St. Augustine (354©430) later tacked this religious problem in his monumental work, "City of God" (ca.413ª27).
1456 In Mainz, Germany, volume two of the famed Gutenberg Bible was bound, completing a two-year publishing project, and making it the first full-length book to be printed using movable type.
1572 The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre took place all across France, where thousands of French Protestants (Huguenots) were slaughtered. depleted the intellectual, educational and financial reserves of the French nation.
1854 The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa was organized by German Lutherans. In 1930 this synod merged with the synods of Ohio and Buffalo to form the American Lutheran Church.
1906 Five Baptist congregations met at Jellico Creek, Whitley County, Kentucky, and formed the Church of God of the Mountain Assembly. The CGMA both pentecostal and holiness in doctrine reports a world membership today of 7,000.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Mo. Minister Plans Bonnie & Clyde B&B

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - Neighbors aren't welcoming a minister's plans to convert a garage apartment that was the site of an infamous Bonnie and Clyde shootout into a bed-and-breakfast.
"When I think of a bed-and-breakfast, I think of charm, antiques and history - not murder," says Peggy Webb, who is among the opponents.
In his application for a special-use permit, the Rev. Phillip McClendon said he wants to buy the property from its current owner.

The 1933 shootout happened in the middle of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow's bank-robbing spree across Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana and New Mexico. Authorities in Louisiana ambushed and killed Bonnie and Clyde in May 1934.
Though two lawmen who were gunned down at the apartment would be honored with a plaque in front of the building, irate neighbors circulated a petition against the bed-and-breakfast plan.

Many said they wanted to curb extra traffic and keep curiosity seekers away.
But DeWayne Tuttle has called the concerns overstated. He said the apartment has been a tourist attraction for the 37 years that he has owned the property.
"I can hardly go in and out of the house that I don't have to talk to somebody," Tuttle said.
He noted that neighbors didn't object in the past when he offered the apartment for rent.

"It can't involve more than two cars," Tuttle said of the proposed bed-and-breakfast, which would house two to four guests at a time. "I don't see anything that is going to bother the neighbors."

Thought for the day :
"You can't sit on the lid of progress. If you do, you will be blown to pieces."
Henry J. Kaiser

Our Main Calling

Read:Exodus 19:1-8

I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. —Exodus 19:4

Bible In One Year: 1 Chronicles 7-9

Read:
Exodus 19:1-8