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The world's first flight officially took off from North Carolina’s Outer Banks on this day in history, Dec. 17, 1903. The Wright brothers were allegedly the first to successfully fly a powered and controlled airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, after years of experimenting with the concept of flight. Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright began testing out flying in 1899, while Samuel Langley of the Smithsonian did the same, according to the National Park Service (NPS). Langley’s attempts were underwritten by the War Department yet were unsuccessful, since his efforts relied on the brute power of the machines to keep...

I may be Jewish but I think I give the best Christmas present. I am a coin collector and I enjoy giving my Christian friends an ancient coin known as the widow’s mite. I will be doing it again this Christmas. According to Mark 12:41-44 (King James):

Tim Wollack and his daughter, Henley, were on a fishing trip at Lake Michigan when they thought they saw an elusive Green Bay octopus hovering beneath their boat, the Wisconsin Historical Society said in a Facebook post. But what they actually uncovered was a shipwreck that had been missing for more than 152 years. Officials believe the boat is the George L. Newman. “Working with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden Mike Neal, the shipwreck was investigated with Video Ray ROV on December 4,” the society noted in the post. “The wreck is of a wooden three masted sailing...

ifteen years ago today, an Iraqi journalist stood up in the middle of a press conference in Baghdad and shouted in Arabic, “This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!” and then proceeded to hurl his shoes, one after the other, at then-President George W. Bush. The gesture by the journalist, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, had dire effects on his own life — a risk he was well aware of beforehand — but it lives on in the public imagination worldwide as perhaps the most effective individual protest against America’s bloody and ultimately disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq....

Silver has been used for thousands of years as ornaments and utensils, for trade, and as the basis for many monetary systems. Of all the metals, pure silver has the whitest color, the highest optical reflectivity, and the highest thermal and electrical conductivity. Backstory. Whenever you read some precious metals expert discussing the industrial uses of silver, here is the typical spiel that goes: "Silver is essential in jewelry, electronics, medical, solar, electric vehicles, and Green Energy storage systems (i.e., batteries)." Very good, Captain Obvious, but it's my fervent belief that military and aerospace usages of silver gobbles as much...

Every school child in Colorado is taught about the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. On a wintry day in November of that year, an untrained and undisciplined territorial militia attacked an Indian camp near the eastern border of the territory leaving 150 to 200 dead. The tragedy has long been the subject of roiling debate about who or what was to blame. When the History Colorado Center opened a new exhibit on the event in 2012, visitors were offered competing perspectives of Indian, soldier, and settler. The exhibit was immediately assailed by native activists for not taking an exclusively “indigenous...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

1941: The following personnel were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian Islands. Capt. Mervyn S. Bennion, USS West Virginia BB48 Ens. Francis C. Flaherty, USS Oklahoma BB37 BMC Edwin J. Hill USS, Nevada BB36 LCDR Samuel G. Fuqua, USS Arizona BB39 RADM Isaac C. Kidd, BatDiv 1, aboard USS Arizona BB39 Ens. Herbert C. Jones, USS California BB44 AOC John W. Finn, VP14 at NAS Kaneohe Bay RMC Thomas J. Reeves, USS California BB44 LCDR Donald K. Ross, USS Nevada BB36 MM1 Robert R. Scott, USS California BB44 CWT Peter Tomich,...

The world's only intact Roman shield and body armour that was found in a German field after being buried for more than 2,000 years are set to go on display in a new exhibition at the British Museum.The shield, which is on its maiden transatlantic loan from Yale University in the US, was found in Syria in the 1930s.Although discovered in pieces, it was restored to its former glory by experts and will be seen by the British public for the first time in the Legion: life in the Roman army exhibition, which opens on February 1 next year.The segmental...

... The website coincides with a study from the team published in the journal Antiquity, which investigates the inhabitants of the hospital of St. John the Evangelist. Founded around 1195, this institution helped the "poor and infirm," housing a dozen or so inmates at any one time. It lasted for some 300 years before being replaced by St. John's College in 1511. The site was excavated in 2010. "Like all medieval towns, Cambridge was a sea of need," said Robb. "A few of the luckier poor people got bed and board in the hospital for life. Selection criteria would have...

[Video] Schab has returned for the 82nd commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Pearl Harbor survivor “Ike” Schab is back in Honolulu. The 103-year-old was greeted with applause Sunday as he got off his flight from Portland. Schab has returned for the 82nd commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack. It’s a trip that almost didn’t happen because of an illness, but Schab was determined to make it to this year’s ceremony. While it’s been more than eight decades since the Pearl Harbor attack, Dec. 7 still brings back his memories of being there. ”And they’re not necessarily...

There Is No Peaceful Solution I hate to break it to you, but...As most of us are surely aware by now, the fermenting demographic troubles in Ireland finally boiled over last week in a flurry of rioting. The proximate cause was an Algerian immigrant who went on a stabbing spree against a woman and several children (only the latest in a series of this type of thing by Ireland’s growing foreign-born population). The deeper cause, of course, is the systematic set of policies enacted by globalist, transnational, mostly foreign “elites” who have ruled Ireland for over a decade to the...

The nation’s foreign-born population has hit an unprecedented 49.5 million, the largest ever recorded in American history, under President Joe Biden. Analysis by Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) revealed that in October the foreign-born population reached almost 50 million, increasing by 4.5 million foreign-born residents since Biden took office in January 2021. Put another way, the Biden administration has added more immigrants to the nation’s population than the annual number of U.S. births in fewer than three years. Similarly, the growth of the foreign-born population under Biden exceeds the resident populations of 25...

Nobody wants U.S. Treasury bonds. Once a symbol of America’s economic might and accepted as a global coin of the realm, they have fallen badly out of favor, with serious consequences for taxpayers, investors, and financial markets. Elementary economic forces — too much supply and not enough demand — have collided to create the worst stretch for U.S. government bonds since the Civil War. The government keeps borrowing to cover its budget deficits, while once-reliable buyers of that debt, both at home and abroad, have pulled back. The result: Investors are demanding the steepest yields since 2007. Auctions of fresh...

DUBLIN — Overlooked in the chaotic situation that unfolded in recent days, Irish citizens made history as they engaged in violent rioting while completely sober for the first time ever. "This is truly unprecedented," said Professor Blake Rumsey, sociologist and lead historian at the Institute of Knowledge. "Throughout recorded history, we've never seen this type of Irish upheaval in the absence of copious amounts of beer, whiskey, and Bailey's Irish Cream. It is both surprising and impressive to see Irish citizens proving their collective ability to stage a riot while not the least bit intoxicated." Irish citizens in Dublin began...

I hope that everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving this week. My plan for this week had been to go ahead and begin a new collaborative audiobook about Governor William Bradford's chronicle of the early years at Plymouth Plantation. But little did I know, it's been complete since 2010! It just had a different name because someone "translated" it into a more common vernacular. There really are already some great works at Librivox to help contribute to a more educated populace. This work is a solo work, and it's fantastically read. This would be well worth paying for, but the fact...

Did you know that Thanksgiving is a Catholic holiday? True, it’s not on the Church calendar. And it is celebrated only in America, whereas Church holidays are universal. (snip) But any time a nation does anything in unison that involves families getting together and counting their blessings, it is a good thing. “Thanks,” says G.K. Chesterton, “is the highest form of thought.” And he mentions the fact that the worst moment for an atheist is when he is thankful and suddenly realizes he has no one to thank. (snip) What most people believe is a variation on what I was...

A museum in Britain has decided that a Roman Emperor was actually transgender and has decided to change his pronouns in their displays. I’m not sure this was the wisest move on their part, not only because the idea is rather silly, but because the emperor in question is widely regarded as one of the very worst that Rome ever had, and that is saying something. 🔴 Roman Emperor was trans, Hertfordshire museum declares The ill-fated Elagabalus will now be referred to as 'she', although experts say a transgender category did not exist in ancient Rome ⬇ https://t.co/b1S8KFYTcP— The Telegraph...

Sources tell FOX 5 Atlanta that they are looking at "Cop City" demonstrators' possible involvement in the fire at Stone Mountain Park that destroyed the historic Davis House. Authorities are still working to determine if that fire is arson, but are highly suspicious based off the timing of the alarms and who would have access to that area at that time of the morning.

For years it’s been said that high levels of immigration are nothing to worry about. After all, we’re reminded, the proportion of the foreign-born population is still lower than it was during the Great Wave Era. The Great Wave Era of Immigration was a period between the 1880s and 1920s when shiploads of immigrants would enter New York Harbor, pass the Statue of Liberty, and go to Ellis Island to be admitted into the country. So don’t worry, the foreign-born proportion of the population is still lower than it was then. That was true, but we are now reaching the...