Saturday, March 30, 2019

Seward's Folly - March 30, 1867

1867 US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (2 cents an acre - Seward's Folly)

The Alaska Purchase was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, by a treaty ratified by the United States Senate, and signed by President Andrew Johnson. Reactions to the purchase in the United States were mostly positive; some opponents called it "Seward's Folly" (after Secretary of State William H. Seward), while others praised the move for weakening both the UK and Russia as rivals to American commercial expansion in the Pacific region. Alaska became a state Jan. 3rd 1959.

From Wikipedia

Monday, March 25, 2019

NATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR DAY March 25

National Medal of Honor Day on March 25 is dedicated to all Medal of Honor recipients.
It was on March 25, 1863, when the first Medals of Honor were presented.  Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton presented Medals of Honor (Army) to six members of  “Andrews Raiders” for their volunteering and participation during an American Civil War raid in April of 1862. Created in 1861, the Medal of Honor is the United States of America’s highest military honor.  It is awarded only to US military personnel, by the President of the United States in the name of Congress, for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty. There are three versions of the Medal of Honor; one for the Army, one for the Navy and one for the Air Force, with personnel of the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard receiving the Navy version. Since its creation, there have been 3,468 Medals of Honor awarded to the country’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coast guardsmen. In 1990, the United States Congress designated March 25th of each year as National Medal of Honor Day.
from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor_Day

Dull Knife and Little Wolf

Little Coyote (Little Wolf) and Morning Star (Dull Knife), Chiefs of the Northern Cheyennes


Following the defeat of Morning Star (Dull Knife) and Little Wolf by Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie at the Dull Knife Fight in November 1876, Little Wolf and Dull Knife surrendered. They were forced onto a reservation in Oklahoma's Indian Territory. Around 1878, he and Dull Knife led almost 300 Cheyenne from their reservation near Fort Reno, Oklahoma, through Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakota Territory into the Montana Territory, their ancestral home.
During the journey, they managed to elude the U.S. cavalry units which were trying to capture them. The two groups split up after reaching Nebraska, and while Dull Knife's party was eventually forced to surrender near Fort Robinson, those in Little Wolf's group made their way to Montana where they were finally allowed to remain.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Spring Equinox & Princess Summerfall Winterspring

The spring equinox (also called the March equinox or vernal equinox) falls on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 5:58 P.M. EDT. This event marks the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

At Versailles, Indiana
Sunrise 7:43 A.M. 12 Hours 10 Minutes total daylight
Sunset 7:53 P.M.
Transit
the sun reaches its highest point in the sky at 1:48 P.M.
<...................................>

Thinking of Spring here is a past post of Princess Summerfall Winterspring. (Judy Tyler)
Click HERE
The video below is of Princess Summerfall Winterspring's granddaughter. I can not find her name anywhere.



As a side note, Judy Tyler starred opposite Elvis in "Jailhouse Rock" in 1957
Above link from Wikipedia.org

Monday, March 18, 2019

Three Mile Island 1979


The Three Mile Island accident was the partial meltdown of reactor number 2 of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (TMI-2) in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg and subsequent radiation leak that occurred on March 28, 1979. It was the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history.The incident was rated a five on the seven-point International Nuclear Event Scale: Accident with wider consequences
Read More

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Saint Patrick's Day


Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (for provincial government employees), and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora around the world, especially in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival. Modern celebrations have been greatly influenced by those of the Irish diaspora, particularly those that developed in North America. However, there has been criticism of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations for having become too commercialised and for fostering negative stereotypes of the Irish people.

Read MORE

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Monday, March 11, 2019

Daylight Saving Time

Ham Radio operators need to be on the same time no mater their location. We use GMT time. This is Greenwich Mean Time, or Zulu time. This time never changes with the seasons . It is the same time in Perth, Australia as it is in Louisville, Ky USA. If I tell a Ham in Australia to call me at 09:00 December 22 GMT, both will be on the same day and time. I have a clock that displays the sun's travail across the world. I find this display very helpful in finding propagation of radio waves. At a glance, I can see where the sun is and where the terminator is located. (daylight - dark) (twilight)
Time is 9:35am March 11, 2019 local

The main purpose of Daylight Saving Time (called "Summer Time" in many places in the world) is to make better use of daylight. We change our clocks during the summer months to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. Countries have different change dates.
The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin.
Read MORE

Friday, March 08, 2019

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370


Disappearance on 8 March 2014 with 239 on board.
Cause unknown, some debris found.
Read MORE

Tuesday, March 05, 2019

Hula hoop facts


A hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck. The modern hula hoop was invented in 1958 by Arthur K. "Spud" Melin and Richard Knerr, but children and adults around the world have played with hoops throughout history. Hula hoops for children generally measure approximately 70 centimetres (28 in) in diameter, while those for adults measure around 1 metre (40 in). Traditional materials for hoops include willow, rattan (a flexible and strong vine), grapevines and stiff grasses. Today, they are usually made of plastic tubing.

I have used Hula Hoops for the separation of antenna wires for Ham Radio. The smaller size works best for fan dipols but are a little hard to find now. ..... Jack WB9OTX

from wikipedia
click for photo By

Sunday, March 03, 2019

Just Buzzards

photo by Jack Demaree

I am a bird watcher. I scan the skies and view the feeders in my yard. This year (Winter 2018 -19) I have noticed the buzzards did not migrate South. A few have stayed all Winter long.

Buzzards migrate to get food; they go to where food is available. So it really depends on the winter weather. They migrate to as close as Kentucky to as far as South America.
This little tid-bit of information is of not much value but I just thought you might want to know it. After all I am retired and have little to do but post on this Blog.
See some photos I have taken from my back yard
.......... Jack

NASA.gov

https://www.nasa.gov/

A rearward view of the International Space Station backdropped by the limb of the Earth. In view are the station's four large, gold-coloured solar array wings, two on either side of the station, mounted to a central truss structure. Further along the truss are six large, white radiators, three next to each pair of arrays. In between the solar arrays and radiators is a cluster of pressurised modules arranged in an elongated T shape, also attached to the truss. A set of blue solar arrays are mounted to the module at the aft end of the cluster.
By NASA/Crew of STS-132 - http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-132/hires/s132e012208.jpg
(http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-132/html/s132e012208.html), Public Domain, Link

I have talked with members aboard the Space Station via Ham Radio ..... Jack WB9OTX