Time line in Space Exploration: On this Date: January 4 Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) Borne DATE: January 04, 1643 English scientist and mathematician. in 1687 he wrote what is probably the single greatest intellectual achievement of all time, establishing the basic laws of force, motion, and gravitation and inventing a new branch of mathematics in the process (calculus). He did all this to show how the force of gravity is the reason that planet’s orbits follow Kepler’s equations. 1797 - Wilhelm Beer, German amateur who helps to construct 1st moon map is born 1958 -- Sputnik 1 reenters atmosphere & burns up 1959 - Luna 1 1st craft to leave Earths gravity 1963 -- Soviet Luna (4) reaches Earth orbit but fails to reach Moon 2004 – Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC. 2007 – NASA announces that Cassini-Huygens found methane lakes on Titan, a moon of Saturn. 2010 – NASA’s Kepler telescope detects its first five exoplanets. Today in Naval History: January 4 1861 – 40 Marines left Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. to garrison Ft. Washington. 1863 - Blockading ship USS Quaker City captures sloop Mercury carrying dispatches emphasizing desperate plight of the South. 1865 – A landing party under Acting Master James C. Tole from U.S.S. Don captured several torpedoes and powder on the right bank of the Rappahannock River about six miles from its mouth. The success of Confederate torpedo warfare beginning with the destruction of U.S.S. Cairo (see 12 December 1862) had led to increased efforts in this new area of war at sea, first under the genius of Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, then under Commander Hunter Davidson. Throughout the remaining months of the war–and for some time thereafter Southern torpedoes (or mines) would take a heavy toll of Union shipping. 1910 - Commissioning of USS Michigan (BB-27), the first U.S. dreadnought battleship. 1942 – Japanese forces begin the evacuation of Guadalcanal. The Japanese base at Munda is bombarded by the US TF 67. A second group of cruisers and destroyers is in support. 1943 – US Task Force 67, commanded by Admiral Ainsworth, bombards the Japanese base at Munda, on New Georgia. A second group of cruisers and destroyers is in support of the effort. Proximity fuses for antiaircraft ammunition is used for the first time by one of the vessels involved in the bombardment. 1944 – Admiral Sherman’s carrier group attacks Kavieng. The Japanese destroyer Fujimitsu is damaged 1945 – RAF Operation Lentil - Attack on oil installations at Pangkalan Brandan, Sumatra Aircraft from aircraft carriers Indomitable, Indefatigable and Victorious carried out an airstrike on oil installations at Pangkalan Brandan, Sumatra during Operation Lentil. The strike was originally planned for 20 December 1944 but was aborted due to bad weather. 1945 -- US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after kamikaze attack The combined Air Groups attacked on 4 January 1945, Avengers and Fireflies bombing and rocketing, while Corsairs, Fireflies and Hellcats carried out a sweep over enemy airfields before the strike as well as providing close escort for the strike aircraft. The strike was a complete success with only one Avenger being lost, and the crew being recovered. 1989 - Aircraft (VF-32) from USS John F. Kennedy shoot down 2 hostile Libyan Migs. 2007 – Bush replaces key military Leadership in Iraq: Navy Admiral William J. Fallon replaces General John Abizaid as CENTCOM commander and General David Petraeus replaces General George Casey as Commander of Multinational Force Iraq Today in Coast Guard History: January 4 1980-Coast Guard forces narrowly averted an environmental disaster when the 300-foot barge Michelle F, with more than 2.8 million gallons of No. Six industrial fuel aboard grounded one-half mile offshore from the Brigantine Wildlife Refuge. Much of her cargo was offloaded before she was successfully refloated. 2012-CGC Healy, under the command of CAPT Beverly Havlik, embarked on an Arctic domestic icebreaking mission to escort the Russian tanker vessel Renda through 800 miles of Bering Sea pack ice to deliver 1.3 million gallons of fuel to ice-bound Nome, Alaska. After 10 days of intense, close aboard ice escorting, the two vessels safely arrived on 14 January 2012 and began a successful 60-hour, over-the-ice fuel transfer while hove to in the ice 468 yards offshore of Nome. Today in Aviation History: January 4 1944 – Operation Carpetbagger: U.S. aircraft begin dropping supplies to guerrilla forces throughout Western Europe. The action demonstrated that the U.S. believed guerrillas were a vital support to the formal armies of the Allies in their battle against the Axis powers. Virtually every country that experienced Axis invasion raised a guerrilla force; they were especially effective and numerous in Italy, France, China, Greece, the Philippines, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union. Also referred to as a “partisan force,” a guerrilla army is defined roughly as a member of a small-scale “irregular” fighting force that relies on the limited and quick engagements of a conventional fighting force. Their main weapon is sabotage-in addition to killing enemy soldiers, the goal is to incapacitate or destroy communication lines, transportation centers, and supply lines. In Italy, the partisan resistance to fascism began with assaults against Mussolini and his “black shirts.” Upon Italy’s surrender, the guerrillas turned their attention to the German occupiers, especially in the north. By the summer of 1944, resistance fighters immobilized eight of the 26 German divisions in northern Italy. By the end of the war, Italian guerillas controlled Venice, Milan, and Genoa, but at a considerable cost—all told, the Italian resistance lost roughly 50,000 fighters. Perhaps the most renowned wartime guerrilla force was the French Resistance – also known as the “Free French” force – which began as two separate groups. One faction was organized and led by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who left France upon the Vichy/Petain armistice with Germany but rallied his forces via the British airwaves. The other arm of the movement began in Africa under the direction of the commander in chief of the French forces in North Africa, Gen. Henri Giraud. De Gaulle eventually joined Giraud in Africa after tension began to build between de Gaulle and the British. Initially, de Gaulle agreed to share power with Giraud in the organization and control of the exiled French forces, but Giraud resigned in 1943, apparently unwilling to stand in de Gaulle’s shadow or struggle against his deft political maneuvering. The Allies realized that guerrilla activity was essential to ending the war and supported the patriots with airdrops. The American support was critical, because guerrillas fought admirably in difficult conditions. Those partisans who were captured by the enemy were invariably treated barbarically (torture was not uncommon), as were any civilians who had aided them in their mission. Tens of thousands of guerillas died in the course of the war, but were never awarded the formal recognition given the “official” fighting forces, despite the enormous risks and sacrifices. 1953 – Fifth Air Force mounted a 124-plane strike against the Huichon supply center. 1989 -- US F-14s shoot down 2 Libyan jet fighters over Mediterranean
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 22:06:23 +0000
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