Operation Frequent Wind

Well, not aware of what Operation Frequent Wind was; it was the name given to the final evacuation during the Fall of Saigon: the final days of the US-Vietnam War. This operation is one of the largest military evacuations ever and the largest done using helicopters as the primary means of evacuation. This rescue operation is known as a logistical success for the US because a few dozen helicopter pilots were somehow able to rescue and evacuate more than 7,000 people in just 18 hours. Well, it’s impressive for sure, and what makes it more impressive is the fact that mass evacuation was never supposed to involve helicopters.

Operation Frequent Wind is now well known for being the most successful mass helicopter evacuation ever done using helicopters. The primary means of evacuation was never the plan – well, to surprise you more, it wasn’t even the backup plan. It was the backup to the backup to the backup plan. Woohoo!!

It was initially known as Operation Talon Vise until spies from North Vietnam got to know about it. The plans for a mass evacuation from Vietnam had been in place for many years and originally supposed to involve the use of commercial and military aircraft to evacuate citizens at risk and military personnel, with the estimated total number of people evacuated was around 2 million.

But why did marines dumped helicopter worth millions of dollars

The South Vietnamese air force major Buang Lee was trying to escape Vietnam because if he had stayed, he would have been executed. He was able to commandeer a small Cessna plane, and under heavy fire, he somehow took off and fled out of the country with two adults and five children in the tiny slow-moving plane.

He headed towards the sea in search of any ship to land on. After about an hour, he finally saw the USS Midway.

But he wasn’t able to land because there was not sufficient space to land on the ship, because of dozens of helicopters on board. He somehow was able to throw notes on the ship, that read: Can you please move the helicopters on the other side, so that I can land on your runway, Please rescue my family and me.

After reading the note, the captain of the vessel, Lawrence Chambers, had to make a decision. While it was possible to move some of the helicopters but not all of them. But seeing the courage of Major Buang, young captain Chambers made a decision to move the helicopter that could be moved and dump the rest in the sea. In total, nearly $65 million worth helicopters were ditched to save Major, his wife, and five children.

Well, this is the brave story of Major Buang and Captain Lawrence Chambers. This brave act by Lawrence Chambers has made a lot of Americans proud.

Saint Tammany, also known as Tamanend, helped the non stop trove of immigrants with necessities for survival. This helped to build a voting bloc for immigrants as well as a society that was quite political. The main headquarters was located on East 14th street, and it was known as the wigwam by members of the group.

The head honcho was named William Marcy Tweed. He made it through the ranks starting as the head of the fire department to city alderman by the young age of 28. In the mid 1800’s, fire fighting was a doorway to politics, which inevitably gave Tweed the title of boss to the society of political immigrants.

Once Tweed was in charge, he spared no expense to get his way. He bribed officials and showed no shame in buying votes to ensure his cronies were a part of nearly every election or political decision. This helped Tweed to control basically every aspect of governance in New York City.

By 1870, Tweed had shifted power into the hands of his cronies as well as himself, and they had the final say in expenditures in regards to New York City. This situation led Tweed to open his own businesses, and he made sure that his businesses were top pick when the city needed work done in regards to the sewer, street improvements, and buildings.

At the height of his power, Tweed exploited turf wars between the Dutch, Irish, and Scottish gangs of New York City. He pulled all the strings in regards to intimidating or eliminating them by pitting them against one another. In reality, there was not a vote that was cast according to the wants of the voters. For those he could not openly control, such as judges, police, and other officials, he simply opted to bribe them to get his way. He also bought favorable coverage from the press, therefore, Tweed was free to do as he pleased.

Tweed would have easily continued his graft on New York City, but his greed got the best of him. He shorted a county bookkeeper, who then in turn handed over incriminating evidence of Tweeds doings to the New York Times. The information was so incriminating that Tweed could not bribe the New York Times, and many Democrats demanded justice be served.

He went to trial, yet the jury was a hung jury. This led officials to believe that he had bribed the jurors, and this complicated matters quite a bit. By the time everything was said and done, there were two police officers watching one juror to ensure that no more bribes could be made. Tweed was eventually found guilty of forgery, larceny, and failure to audit claims against the city.

He was sentenced to 12 years in jail, and his charges were dropped to 1 year. When he was released from jail, the city sued him for millions of dollars, and he was eventually jailed again. However, this time it was a lot more relaxed. He was allowed to visit his family daily as long as he was accompanied by a guard, and this allowed Tweed to escape.

He fled from New York City, and he found work as a seaman on a ship. He was eventually recognized and returned to New York City to finish his sentence. By the time he made his way back to his jail cell, Tweed was extremely ill. He tried to make a deal to share all of the information he knew about the corruption of his own making. His offer was denied, and Tweed spent his final days in jail until he died in 1878.

The Dark Side of the Molasses Story

In order to mass-produce molasses to make rum, it required the use of slaves from Africa. In a peculiar kind of circular exportation, colonial exporters traded rum to African slaves and then traded slaves for molasses produced in the West Indies.

Fear of the Growth of Colonial Export Power

When Great Britain realized colonial exports were growing to global proportions, Parliament decided to impose a tax on imports for all non-British colonies. This was an effort to lower the price of Britain’s products to make them less expensive those the colonial traders could receive from sellers in the West Indies.

However, the tax on imports was specifically directed at colonies in America and also their plantations that produced sugar cane that was also used to make rum. The tax levied in 1733 was known as the Molasses Act. British politician, Main Bladen conceived of the idea of levying a duty tax on French West Indies imports. His scheme had much vengeance attached.

When questioned how the tax might cause the ruin of American colonies, he said, “that the duties proposed would not prove an absolute prohibition, but he owned that he meant them as something that should come very near it, for in the way the northern colonies are, they raise the French Islands at the expense of ours, and raise themselves also [to]o high, even to an independency.”

Colonist Retaliation

Such colonist retaliation would later result in the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 after continued British taxation without representation.

Colonial traders were forced to rely on smugglers who increased the volume of molasses imported by North American colonists. Many in the colonies believed the Molasses Act like the Stamp Act of 1765, Townshend Act, Indemnity Act, the Revenue Act, and others levied in 1767 and 1768 brought about the Revolutionary War in 1775 to 1783.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 16, 1922, Schulz was an introvert as a child. The young boy’s timidity, compounded with the freezing temperatures of the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, gave Schulz a deeply isolated childhood. Schulz further struggled to find friends in school as, being incredibly bright for his age, he was skipped ahead two grades and could never find companionship with the older kids in his class. As an adult, Schulz looked back at his childhood and saw it as preparation for his career as a cartoonist. In interviews and talks on the humor in his strip, Schulz said that the best comedians are those that came from troubled environments.

Throughout the loneliness of his childhood, Schulz found solace in comic strips. The young boy, with the encouragement of his father, read all the strips in the four newspapers of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. It didn’t take long for Schulz to decide to pursue a career as a cartoonist and he honed his artistic skills in high school. Schulz took jobs as an art teacher and letterer for a Catholic publishing company after coming home from World War II. Eventually, Schulz secured a job with the Minneapolis Tribune to draw a comic strip entitled Li’l Folks, the precursor to Peanuts.

After several years, Schulz was able to get Li’l Folks syndicated nationally. Publishing giant United Features Syndicate made the cartoonist change the strip’s name to Peanuts as Li’l Folks was too similar to the title of other strips. While making it to the big leagues, Peanuts was not without controversy, particularly for 50s audiences. The strip dealt with many taboo topics, such as depression, and was the first to give audiences the inner thoughts of an animal. While disliked by many, Peanuts became a household name within a decade of its first run and Schulz himself recognized as one of America’s leading cartoonists.

In crafting his characters, Schulz was inspired by his own personality. The frequent worrier Charlie Brown represents Schulz’s anxieties while Linus is the personification of the artist’s religious center. Schulz also created characters to represent the changing landscape of America. In 1966, inspired by the feminist movement, Schulz introduced the sports-loving tomboy Peppermint Patty. Two years later, after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Schulz introduced Franklin, Charlie Brown’s friend and the first African American character in the strip.

The last original Peanuts strip was published on February 13, 2000, a day after the death of its beloved creator. Although Peanuts came from a place of sadness and loneliness in Schulz’s mind, the persistence and resiliency of its young characters gives hope to generations.

In colonial days, individuals running for office would often send letters to potential voters, and occasionally visit them in person at their home. On election day, politicians were expected to be at the place of voting, and to great each voter personally.

The events leading up to elections were also quite different from today. Campaigners would often throw parties. When George Washington ran for the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758, he gave potential voters alcohol. Prior to voting, Washington provided seventy gallons of rum punch, thirty-five gallons of wine, forty-seven gallons of beer, and two gallons of cider. He won the election with 310 votes.

In New York, it was common for candidates to rent entire taverns and throw wild parties on election day. Once everyone was liquored up, impromptu parades would form as voters walked through the streets to the polling places. Voters who had traveled to town for the election often brought their families, who would watch the mayhem, and sometimes participate. After the election concluded, voters would crowd into the closest tavern, and the winner of the election was expected to provide food and drink. Election cake, a special sweet bread, was also served on election days.

Although they could not vote in official elections, African Americans also held election day festivities. Beginning in the 1700s, free and enslaved African Americans held festivals that included African traditions, foods, and dances. In Boston, African Americans would gather to drink, dance, and gamble on election day. In some cities, African American communities would elect their own leaders, which included sheriffs, a lieutenant governor, and justices of the peace.

Elections weren’t all fun and games, however. Candidates sometimes would bully potential voters, and brawls were not infrequent. One such brawl in Philidelphia broke into a full-scale riot in 1742. In response to rumors that Quaker politicians were cheating in elections, a group of sailors gathered around the courthouse. The sailors, who were pro-Anglican, became violent. The event is now known as the Bloody Election.

Many political academics believe that America should revive the tradition of election day festivities. The fight to make election day a federal holiday is growing in support and some political scientists believe that celebrations can increase voter turnout. Historian Holly Jackson believes that a return to the celebratory spirit of election day is important for the democratic process.

The childhood James Cook lived as the son of a farmer did not seem as if it would one day lead to adventure and fame. However, as fate would have it, Cook embarked on a voyage to Tahiti with the intent to measure a celestial event and soon found himself on a collision course with destiny.

By the time James Cook died on an island that would later become Hawaii, he had traveled more distance by water than any man before him and discovered the country of New Zealand.

The Farmer’s Son

James Cook was born in 1827 on October 27 in England’s Yorkshire countryside. Cook’s father was a farmhand who rose to the position of overseer and it seemed as if a similar fate belonged to his son.

The England Cook grew up in did not allow for much upward mobility through the social classes. In short, the son of a laborer was expected to toil away in the same fashion. Cook was fortunate to find the opportunity to experience secondary education.

Cook demonstrated an early aptitude for math that opened the door for him to apprentice with a local shopkeeper. This was a bit of an accomplishment for the time but it still left Cook feeling a bit discontent. The apprenticeship was in a seaside village by the name of Staithe and this ended up being the introduction Cook would receive in the life of a seafarer.

Cook joined the merchant marines a year and a half later and his ability to understand math provided him with the opportunity to train in higher mathematics, navigation, and astronomy. His determination led to Cook earning a position as a mate in 1752.

Naval Career

James Cook was 26 years old in 1755 when he enlisted in the Royal Navy. The enlistment placed Cook in a position beneath boys as young as 14 and seemed a bit strange at the time. Cook had also joined up for a life that was generally considered much tougher to live than the one he was enjoying as a merchant seaman.

Cook proved he was different, however, and he was promoted to boatswain within a year. Two years later, James Cook was the captain of a ship of his own.

The accomplishments for Cook piled up fast and he was credited with helping the British government properly scale the solar system, helping to conquer scurvy, leading the search for the “lost continent” and becoming the first ship’s captain to sail the Antarctic Sea.

Cook happened upon an island that is now part of Hawaii in January of 1778. He returned in February of the next year to explore the island more thoroughly. Historians do not agree on what happened next but Cook and four marines were killed by angry Hawaiians.

Cook’s place in history is one of the most accomplished sailors in the history of the world. For better or worse, he brought countless world inhabitants in contact with Europe for the first time. Some historians view the work Cook did to increase British territory heroic while others view him as a colonial invader who conveniently ‘discovered’ lands that already possessed inhabitants. In any event, there is no other sailor that can match the accomplishments of Captain James Cook.

This incredible story is about this type of big win. It all began in Oklahoma, United States, in 1957, when the city of Tulsa built a so-called time capsule right beneath the courthouse floor to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the state’s establishment. They left a car, a gold-and-white 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, as a souvenir inside it.

But the burial of the nicknamed “Miss Belvedere” had a surprise in store that would haunt the people of the city 50 years later.

Miss Belvedere was advertised as a big prize. The person who could make the most accurate guess of how many citizens the population of the city of Tulsa would have in the year 2007 would receive the car in that same year.

812 responses were copied to microfilm and left in the glove compartment of the car. Then, Miss Belvedere was left in the capsule, along with other additional 1957 memories of the state of Oklahoma. The time capsule was made of concrete, so it would have been able to withstand a nuclear bomb attack. For 50 years, everyone held their breath.

Then it was 2007 in Oklahoma. The city of Tulsa got ready for the big event. What would the legendary Miss Belvedere look like today? Would she still shine so wonderfully bright? The excavations began and the city was extremely excited.

When Miss Belvedere finally appeared and the protective hood was pulled off the vehicle, people stared at the car in disbelief. They hadn’t expected anything like this!

Miss Belvedere had literally turned into an old lady! The entire car had been corroded inside and out. The sad sight was presented to the people of the city. That was not all: the winner of the car was about to be announced!

The winner was Raymond Humbertson, who, back in 1957, had guessed that the city of Tulsa would count around 384,743 inhabitants in the year 2007. However, Raymond had died in 1979. So the “prize” went to his 100-year-old sister. She had to make a difficult decision.

The car was handed over to Ultra One, a company that took care of rust removal and would provide this service for Miss Belvedere. A donor paid a whopping ,000 (about €17,940) for it. But then the process was stopped.

The rust was taken off. But the car could not be saved. Time had left its marks on the vehicle. The state also had no interest in exhibiting Miss Belvedere after the disappointing result. Then, Dwight Foster, owner of Ultra One, made the final decision.

Miss Belvedere hardly bore any resemblance to the sparkling beauty it once was. “It’s basically papier-mache,” said Dwight Foster of Ultra One in New Jersey, “We did not know how bad it was until the car arrived here.” This message left everyone holding their breath. Could Miss Belvedere be saved?

Unfortunately, help came too late for the former vintage beauty. “Everything we wanted to do on the car could not be finished because it was too fragile,” explained Dwight Foster, who knew that any attempt to change anything on the vehicle would end in a complete disaster. But then there was new hope!

Robert Carney, the nephew of the new owner, Catherine Humbertson, announced the good news: Miss Belvedere would be donated to the Historic Auto Attractions Museum in Roscoe, Illinois. There, she would be a permanent part of the exhibition. But that was not all!

Foster also said that he would try to persuade the city of Tulsa to donate photos and artifacts to the museum to remember the story of the legendary Miss Belvedere. In 2017, the car was finally sent on its last trip, to Illinois.

It turned out that it was the latter. While a treasure map must be every archaeologist’s dream (as they surely chose to become an archaeologist after watching movies like Indiana Jones) it turns out that a shopping list still caused a lot of excitement. After all what could be on a shopping list from 400 years ago? Did they ask for a few snickers and a can of coke?

Looking at the images of the letter both the writing style and words used do send shivers through your body. It is clearly from a different time, one that we have often recreated in movies but now see in true reality. The letter starts with “Mr Bilby, I pray pvide to be sent too morrow in ye Cart some Greenfish” Already it sounds like something that would be uttered in Pride and Prejudice (which is set in the early 1800s). These opening words which sound so fancy, so smart, so sophisticated are essentially asking someone to pick up some fish.

The letter then goes on to say “The Lights from my Lady Cranfeild[es] Cham[ber] 2 dozen of Pewter spoon[es]: one greate fireshovell for ye nursery”. It took time for the archaeologists to decipher what this sentence meant exactly but it turns out that this was not exactly a shopping list but a moving list. The man in question Robert Draper had moved house and was sending Mr. Bilby to buy some items but also to retrieve some things from the old house. Here he is asking for lightbulbs, spoons, and a shovel. If you are wondering if they had fires in nurseries back in the 1700s (we were) then you are misunderstanding the last part of this message. The nursery referred to is likely the garden and Mr. Bilby may in fact be a gardener or handyman for the estate.

The letter wraps up with the final part stating “and ye o[t]hers which were sent to be exchanged for some of a better fashion, a new frying pan together with a note of ye prises of such Commoditie for ye rest. Your loving friend Robert Draper Octobre 1633 Copthall”. Here Robert Draper is saying that he wants Mr. Bilby to replace some of the things that were getting old, including a new frying pan as well as some things for Mr. Bilby’s own quarters that he needs. Robbery Draper signs the letter and marks the date, October 1633.

It is incredible to think such a simple note has survived so long. When I consider the silly things that I have written in the last twenty years I can’t imagine what archaeologists would think if they found it. Luckily what I write usually doesn’t last a day nevermind 400 years. The paper used back in 1633 by the wealthy was closer to a fabric material and explains how it was kept in such good quality. As for why it was buried under the floorboards it appears that was just chance. Experts guess that it likely slipped between the boards and has long been forgotten.

However, according to chronology, Waterloo was Napoleon’s most crushing defeat. It may possibly have happened after a horde of bunnies attacked the Emperor of France. There are several versions of this story.

Most people believe this happened in July 1807, shortly after Napoleon signed the Treaty of Tilsit, which ended the war between the French Empire and Imperial Russia. To mark the event, the Emperor ordered his chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier, to organize a rabbit hunt.

Berthier prepared an outside luncheon, invited some of the military’s top officials, and gathered a rabbit colony. Some suggest Berthier brought in hundreds of bunnies, while others claim he amassed up to 3000. Regardless, there were a lot of rabbits, and Berthier’s men had them confined all along the edges of a grassy field.

The rabbits were released from their cages when Napoleon went on the prowl, accompanied by beaters and gun-bearers. The quest was on. But then something unusual happened. The bunnies did not flee in fear. Instead, they dashed for Napoleon and his troops. Hundreds of fluffy bunnies went after the world’s most influential man.

Napoleon was swarmed by a fierce, fluffy army of bewildered rabbits. Napoleon’s entourage laughed enthusiastically at first. As the bombardment continued, their concern grew. The bunnies raced up to his feet, climbed up his legs, chewed on his gold-embroidered jacket, and jumped onto his head and shoulders.

Napoleon’s rifle was useless against them, and his attempts to scare them away with his riding whip were ineffective. Finally, his military forces used crops, whips, and rods to disperse enough of them to allow Napoleon to retreat to his velvet-seated chariot.

According to historian David Chandler, “the Rabbit Herd grasped Napoleon’s strategy better than most of his generals, separating into two wings and drifting around the flanks of the party, headed towards the imperial wagons.” The bunnies pursued him, getting inside his chariot and launching another attack.

The rabbits dispersed as the wagon began to drive away, and Napoleon survived to face another battle.The onslaught ceased only when the wagon rolled away. The great leader was no match for the rabbits. Blaming men for ravenous hordes of homicidal rabbits appears presumptuous and unrealistic in this day and age.

Bunnies are fluffy, cuddly, lovable balls of joy. Their impression is that of a cuddly and harmless child’s teddy bear rather than a horde of ferocious flesh-eating piranhas. They are more prone to escape than attack when approached in the wild. If you catch one in the wild, it will defend itself rather than roll over and surrender.

So, why would they attack Napoleon Bonaparte, the world’s most powerful man at the time, given their attractiveness and lack of fighting skills? It was Berthier’s fault. Berthier was a slack. He convinced local farmers to breed farm rabbits instead of tracking and capturing wild rabbits for hunting.

Unlike the fleeing wild rabbits, these farm rabbits had no cause to fear people and, like the peasants they bought, looked on Napoleon and his men for food. In short, Napoleon had no reason to be afraid of rabbits. They only needed food. On the other hand, the sheer scale of the figurines would have been bewildering.

What Can We Learn From This Story?

Rabbits can become agitated when they are hungry. They may stay in the same position for hours even when hungry. Nevertheless, if they know food is on its way, they will go insane and act possessed.

Conclusion

Many people feared Napoleon, yet it took a swarm of bunnies to bring him down. This story should be enough to persuade them to become protected species. Nobody should go hunting for rabbits. They symbolize regeneration and innocence, and they provide joy to many people.

The story

A Christmas Carol is a well-loved tale with a protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit, the boss of misery. Both lived different lives – Bob lived a life in poverty; on the other hand, Scrooge a comfortable life. Tim belonged to the family of the Cratchits; he has iron bars on his legs and always struggled with the crutch. However, it is not mentioned what illness he had.

As the story progresses, Scrooge got a surprise visit of four ghosts who showed him that there are errors in his misery. Also, during their last visit, the Ghost of Christmas showed Scrooge that Tiny Tim died of his ailments. Later, Scrooge repents and becomes more generous with the Cratchit family.

In the next chapter, Scrooge’s kindness is altered and transfers him into a “second father” to Tiny Tim, who survived.

The culprit of Tim’s death

Most of the scholars have suggested several ailments like TB, cerebral palsy, spine injury, nutritional deficiency, renal tubular acidosis, rickets, and polio, with which Tim might be affected. All these diseases have destructive effects on the skeleton, but it can be reversed with simple alkaline salts treatment.

Each of the disorders mentioned above is the result of poor nutrition and hygiene that might have led to the death of tiny Tim. Have a look at the other factors responsible for Tim’s death.

The living conditions of Tim

Tim lived in the worst parts of London. He lived with his low-income family in the filthy, shady, and crowded place with a soot-filled sky. Because of the burning of the coal, the atmosphere gets layered with sulfur and other harmful particles. Soot-filled sky made it difficult for London’s inhabitants to have enough Vitamin D. Thus, the people were most likely to get affected by the diseases. Having proper diet became the only reasonable way for the people to get appropriate Vitamin D.

The diet is another reason

The poor were not able to get hold of food, which is rich in Vitamin D like the fish, milk or eggs, liver, and healthy fats. Thus, the sparse population of London became susceptible to diseases like rickets. Tim belonged to the inferior parts of London; therefore, he couldn’t afford to buy Vitamin D rich food. And he became vulnerable to various diseases that took away his life.

He faced problems with Co-occurring diseases

The children with rickets were quite prone to get respiratory ailments like TB and pneumonia. And according to some studies, it was concluded that Tim was going through both of the conditions.

How money helped the poor kids?

With the simple addition of dairy products and fish in Tim’s diet, Scrooge worked on his newfound generosity. He provided him with sufficient Vitamin D so that Tim’s immune system improves, and he gets treated from his rickets problem.