History

From Startup to Industry Standard

Seawriter
Seawriter
97319
 

Over the last fifteen years, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has redefined the space industry. Launching rockets has changed from a stodgy plodding business mired in the 20th century to a dynamic 21st-century multiple-weekly-launch industry. It has reduced launch costs by a factor of 100.

Reentry: SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Age by Eric Berger tells how SpaceX accomplished it. The book follows the history of SpaceX from the start of the Falcon 9 project to the present.

Berger opens after the successful launches of Falcon 1. Berger picks up where his previous history of SpaceX, Liftoff, ended. Berger shows how and why Musk chose to abandon the successful but commercially questionable Falcon 1 and leapfrogged past the next development planned: the five-engine Falcon 5.  Instead, Musk shifted to the Falcon 9, capable of putting 23,000 pounds into orbit as compared to Falcon 1’s 1,000 pounds. He also insisted Falcon 9 was to be fully reusable and launch multiple times, a vision then mocked as unachievable.

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Britannia under the Waves

Michael G. Gallagher
Michael G. Gallagher
1313
 

Despite my last name being Gallagher, I’ve always been something of an Anglophile. I took two years of English History during my long-ago college days and when I graduated I took a six-week backpacking trip around England. I never ventured any farther north than Wales, but along with hanging out in pubs, I did manage to take what I called the Castle Tour. Starting with the grim fortress of Dover Castle overlooking the English Channel, I visited Arundel Castle, Carnarvon Castle, Conwy Castle, Harlech Castle, and Caerphilly Castle with its still-intact moat.

My travels weren’t just confined to castles, however. I visited the British Museum, where I viewed one of the early copies of the Magna Carta, which contains Articles 39 and 40, two of the foundation stones of our modern freedoms. I also visited the Imperial War Museum, the Tudor Palace of Hampton Court, Sir Christopher Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Westminister Abbey with its walls covered with plaques honoring Britons both famous and obscure.

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The Evil That Was Always There

Roderic
Roderic
138
 

When I was a wee bairn in the 60s, I remember seeing movies about WWII, the Holocaust, and all of that.  I could not believe that people could do the things that were done.  How could they be so evil?

My mother fixed her gaze on me when I voiced these opinions and told me that someday the evil that is hatred of the Jews would rise again, because it is an ancient evil that will never go away.  It’s just something that goes along with being God’s chosen.  Satan will always be after the Jews, and he has many allies.  When antisemitism came back in full force I would have to choose whether I would be good or evil.

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Around the World in Aircraft

Seawriter
Seawriter
66404
 

In the early 1920s the world’s leading aviation nation was Great Britain.  It had an independent air force, commercial airlines and a booming aircraft manufacturing industry.  By contrast, the United States, where the heavier-than-air aircraft first flew was nearly dead last. Its aviation industry consisted of barnstormers, stunt pilots flying war surplus biplanes. It had no airlines, few developed airfields, and most manufacturers were fighting bankruptcy. Americans were indifferent to aviation.

Into Unknown Skies: An Unlikely Team, a Daring Race, and the First Flight Around the World, by David K. Randall, shows how an unofficial air race around the world changed American attitudes, leading to eventual US preeminence in aviation.

By 1923 many aviation firsts had been accomplished.  The Atlantic had been crossed; there had been flights across the North American continent, and from England to India. But no one had circumnavigated the globe in an airplane.  Great Britain and France tried and failed.

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The Learning Curve #209

Edward Achorn on Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, & Slavery

11

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Ret. MN Justice Barry Anderson interview Edward Achorn, a noted writer, historian, and author of Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln and The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Convention That Changed History. Achorn shares insights into Lincoln’s improbable political rise and the critical events leading to his 1860 Republican presidential nomination, including his strategic maneuvering following his defeat in the 1858 Illinois Senate race. He discusses the significance of the 1860 Republican Convention in Chicago, where Lincoln bested more prominent candidates like William Seward. Mr. Achorn also examines the broader political landscape of the time and the importance of Lincoln’s second inaugural address, delivered amidst the Civil War’s devastation, and its profound impact on American political discourse. Additionally, Achorn highlights Lincoln’s intellectual influences and how his mastery of language shaped pivotal moments in American history. He brings to life the key figures surrounding Lincoln during his second inauguration, painting a vivid picture of Washington at this crucial juncture in the nation’s past. In closing, Achorn reads a passage from his book Every Drop of Blood.

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An Out of this World Golf Ball

Seawriter
Seawriter
15
 

Astronaut Alan Shepard’s first stop after being released from his post-Apollo 14 quarantine was a trip to the barber shop, for a post-mission haircut. Before Carlos Villagomez, Shepard’s friend and longtime barber started, Shepard gave Villagomez an autographed golf ball.

The Barber, The Astronaut, and The Golf Ball, by Barbara Radnofsky and Ed Supkis, tells the story of the two men and their friendship. It examines a question about that golf ball. Was it taken to the Moon with two others Shepard left on the lunar surface?

The pair seemed unlikely friends. Yet the book shows despite differences (Shepard was a New England Yankee while Villagomez was a Mexican immigrant) both shared common experiences and traits.

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[Member Post]

John H.
John H.
53
 

I predict that Ricochet won’t ever have a minimum word count for posts. But if it ever does, and your contribution is looking a few sentences short, here’s a great way to eke it out. “I did a search on Ricochet for [my topic], and got hits for [utterly unrelated topics].” You can definitely get […]

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What Maria Theresa Taught Me About Ruling

sawatdeeka
sawatdeeka
2113868
 

In the Shadow of the Empress is a long Kindle read that moves from the Austrian queen Maria Theresa’s life to those of her daughters in France and Italy and then back again to royalty’s doings in Austria. Besides some dense historical background up front, the story is immersive and turns these figures from the past into warm human beings. So I’m glad I soldiered through and learned what it took to be in charge back in the 1700s.

1. It’s possible to take your job seriously as a monarch. Somewhere, I got the impression that monarchs pretty much hung out in the castle, used up the national treasure on exquisite objects, languished as sickly heirs, did cruel stuff, contracted syphilis, went insane, beheaded people on trumped-up charges, and had mistresses. Power and riches just went to their heads. And I wasn’t wrong; all this did happen. However, there was actually important work to be done, and kings and queens undertook these tasks to varying degrees.

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The Learning Curve #206

UK’s Prof. Richard Holmes on Coleridge, the Ancient Mariner, & Poetry

02

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the British Academy, Prof. Richard Holmes. Prof. Holmes delves into the life and literary legacy of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of the most significant poets of the Romantic era. Holmes offers a comprehensive overview of Coleridge’s early education, highlighting how classical learning deeply influenced his worldview and writings. He also touches on Coleridge’s passionate anti-slavery views within the turbulent political landscape of late 18th-century Britain, providing context for his masterpiece, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Holmes further explores Coleridge’s use of symbolism, particularly the iconic albatross and the haunting ghost ship, illustrating how these elements convey the poet’s themes of guilt, nature, and human destructiveness. Prof. Holmes additionally covers Coleridge’s struggles with opium addiction, reflecting on how it shaped his life and creative output. Holmes also underscores Coleridge’s enduring influence on British Romantic poetry and its profound impact on the American Renaissance, encouraging educators and students to continue cherishing his timeless works. In closing, Prof. Holmes reads a passage from his two-volume biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

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[Member Post]

Bill Berg
Bill Berg
117304
 

Link to book on Amazon  A book, a man, a period of history that thrills the soul and fills it with sadness, compassion and regret. A reading experience that once consumed about a week of my life back in 2015 and left me with the same feeling that one has upon returning from a wonderful […]

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A Look at the Leaders

Seawriter
Seawriter
298641
 

More than any others, five men directed the flow and determined the outcome of World War II: Winston Churchill. Adolf Hitler. Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, and Franklin Roosevelt. Understanding how and why World War II evolved as it did requires understanding these five.

The Strategists: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Hitler–How War Made Them and How They Made War, by Phillips Payson O’Brien, examines each. It shows how their early life experiences shaped them and how they subsequently shaped World War II.

O’Brien splits the book.  The first half spends ten chapters on the early lives of these men. He devotes a chapter to each man’s early life, showing how they grew to adulthood, and what influences worked on them. Roosevelt and Churchill grew up privileged, raised to take the reins of power as adults.  Hitler, the son of a petty bureaucrat, rebelled against the expectation he would follow the same path. Mussolini and Stalin grew up in poverty, with brutal fathers and adoring mothers.

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The Two Times a Year I Fly My Flag

Doug Watt
Doug Watt
108
 

Actually, I fly my flag more than two times a year. Two times a year I do fly my flag for Poland. I fly it for Polish Jews on April 19th for the Jewish Ghetto Uprising in Warsaw, and then again on August 1st for the Polish Home Army, Warsaw Uprising.

The Warsaw Jewish Ghetto Uprising, April 19, 1943.

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The Learning Curve #200

Stanford’s Arnold Rampersad on Jackie Robinson

11

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts DFER’s Alisha Searcy and Mike Goldstein interview Stanford University Prof. Arnold Rampersad, author of Jackie Robinson: A Biography. He discusses the life and legacy of Robinson, the hall of fame baseball player and history-changing civil rights leader. Prof. Rampersad talks about Jackie Robinson’s journey from rural Georgia, his athletic triumphs at UCLA, and his struggles against poverty and racism. He continues by exploring Robinson’s military service, his time in the Negro Leagues, and Branch Rickey’s pivotal role in helping Jackie break Major League Baseball’s color barrier. Prof. Rampersad highlights Robinson’s historic MLB career, his profound impact on civil rights, and his enduring legacy.

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[Member Post]

John H.
John H.
45
 

Why I don’t have in my house a P.J. O’Rourke library, or even a single book of his, is hard to explain. I can however quote him pretty reliably. I do think he did once write a short piece about a package tour to some land long fashionable with American pinkos. Could’ve been the Soviet […]

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On Buffery

Jeff Ditzler
Jeff Ditzler
2615
 

I have reached the age where, according to sages on the Internet, I either have to develop an interest in cooking meats or find a war to become fascinated with.  My landlord doesn’t want me to have a grill too close to the house, so it looks like I’ll have to pick a war.  What are my options?

The Blue Chips. By far the two most popular wars for history buffs to get interested in are the Civil War and World War II.  The Civil War has the advantage of taking place within the United States, so you can see the battlefields without a passport; World War II has the advantage, now sadly diminishing, of taking place within living memory.  Both have the advantage of being clear victories for the right side.  While the Confederates were not evil on the level of the Nazis or Imperial Japan, I believe there’s a consensus that the United States is better off without slavery and with sweet potato pie.

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[Member Post]

Doug Watt
Doug Watt
26
 

As we get ready to celebrate the 248th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain I thought I would share the story of someone who fought in WWII. The Declaration of Independence has some roots in the Magna Carta although the Magna Carta may have been more concerned with protecting the rights of […]

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[Member Post]

John H.
John H.
104
 

For reasons hard to summarize, logically anyway, I conceived an interest in the life and times of Charles de Gaulle. I think my broad ignorance of France, plus this guy’s apparent success at whatever he was supposed to do, motivated me to read up. My local library has no biography of him. It does however […]

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