TheList 7002

The List 7002

To All,

Another quick List

Good Monday morning November 11, 2024

Today is Veteran's Day. I AGAIN want to wish all my fellow Veterans a wonderful day with your loved ones and friends and your brothers in arms. Here is more of a regular list but still has some Veteran's Day posts

Another great day here. My daughter and granddaughter returned home last night after a trip north to play four games of lacrosse in two days. There were 40 teams and about 16 or 18 per team so in each team. My granddaughter was voted the best player of the tournament and got a lot of attention from coaches from different colleges and a couple of offers from around the country.

On a sad note My older of two dogs is not doing well this morning and we ae concerned. He never does not eat and he is not eating

Regards,

Skip

 

Three Important days that we celebrate and the meaning of each. Yes it is a repeat.

 

ARMED FOPRCES DAY

The third Saturday in May

The day to appreciate Americans currently serving in uniform

 

VETERANS DAY

November 11

The day to honor Americans who once served in uniform

 

MEMORIAL DAY

Last Monday in May

The day to remember Americans who never got to take the uniform off

 

 

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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)

 

November 11

 

1861 Thaddeus Lowe conducts an aerial observation of Confederate positions from balloon boat G.W. Parke Custis. This observation paves the way for the Navy's present effective use of the air as an element of sea power.

 

1870 The Navy expedition to explore the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Southern Mexico, commanded by Capt. Robert W. Shufeldt, enters the Coatzacoalcos River to begin a survey for a possible inter-oceanic canal. Support is provided by the gunboat Kansas and the screw tug Mayflower.

 

1918 Fighting ceases on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month when an armistice is signed between Germany and the Allied nations, regarding this day as the end of World War I. In Nov. 1919, President Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.

 

1920 Lenah S. Higbee becomes the first woman to be awarded the Navy Cross for her service as a nurse in World War I. Named in her honor, USS Higbee (DD 806) is commissioned in 1945 and is the first U.S. Navy combat ship to bear the name of a female member of U.S. Navy service.

 

1943 Task Force 38 and Task Group 50.3 attack Japanese shipping at Rabaul, where the Japanese destroyer Suzunami is sunk and damage is inflicted to enemy destroyers Naganami, Urakaze, and Wakatsuki. This raid is the first use of SB2C Curtiss Helldivers i

 

1966 Gemini 12 is launched with former aviator Edwin Buzz Aldrin and Cmdr.

James A. Lovell, Jr., the command pilot. The mission lasts three days, 22 hours, and 34 minutes and includes 59 orbits at an altitude of 162.7 nautical miles. Recovery is done by HS-11 helicopter from USS Wasp (CVS 18).

 

1981 USS Ohio (SSBN 726) is commissioned.

 

2017 The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Nimitz (CVN 68), and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) strike groups conducted a three-carrier strike force exercise in the Western Pacific. The strike force worked together in international waters in order to demonstrate the U.S. Navy's unique capability to operate multiple carrier strike groups as a single, coordinated combat-ready force.

 

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Thanks to Barrett

I'm going out on a limb here, but bear with me. Memorial Day and Veterans Day always involve reflexive tributes to those who "defended our freedom."

But there's a b-i-g difference between freedom and security. Absent Britain long ago, no foreign enemy has possessed the ability to deprive us of our freedom. The Soviets could've destroyed us but they couldn't conquer us. And In the world wars the enemy couldn't even get here.

Only Americans can deprive Americans of their freedom(s), and frequently it appears that some of them are succeeding. But here's the thing: generations of Americans have left these shores bound for places some of them never heard of, risking and often losing their lives TO RETURN FREEDOM TO CONQUERED NATIONS WHO HAD LOST IT. That is a magnificent testament to the character of the American nation, and IMO it does not get one tiny smidgen of the recognition it deserves, hence this post.

A heartfelt salute to those who served over the centuries, in war or in peace, and often both.

 

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Thanks to Barrett

Fingers Ensch interview

Over 200k views in about 3 weeks!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzdZmWcxRuM&ab_channel=AmericanVeteransCenter

 

Great interview…..I was on the USS Midway with Jack and still see him at the Bubba Breakfast once ina while….. Skip

 

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Thanks to Dutch ,Marathon and  Wild Bill!

Dogs enjoying summer …. Skinny Dippin

 

 This is just to cute.  Enjoy!  😁

 

   https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/150/478/790/playable/7a73743bcd9e81b7.mp4

 

 

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Thanks to Super

Veteran Salute

 

To all who have gone into the JAWS OF THE TIGER IN DEFENSE OF THE USA!  I thank you for your service!  God bless and protect you and yours!

 

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Thanks to Dan

 

11 NOV 43 – The Battle of the Solomon Sea -- 35 v 100+

 

 Two carrier task groups -- TG 50.3 and TG 50.4 -- combine with a total of five carriers to launch the largest carrier-based attack to date.  The targets are Japanese Imperial Navy ships and aircraft defending the Japanese Fortress at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea with over 100,000 troops.  

 

 TG 50.4 with carriers USS Saratoga and Princeton strike first from the northeast.  Due to weather at the target, the strike has limited success. The Japanese defend the first attack with 68 airborne Zero fighters.  TG 50.3 with carriers USS Bunker Hill, Essex, and Independence strike second from the southwest.  The second attack with over 185 aircraft empties the flight decks of the three carriers leaving them and their nine destroyers vulnerable to attack for more than six hours.  During this vulnerability window, four shore-based fighter squadrons – two Navy -- VF-17 with F4U Corsairs and VF-33 with F6F Hellcats and two Marine -- VMF-212 and VMF-212 with F4U Corsairs – protect TG 50.3 from Japanese counter attacks.

 Following the largely successful second attack, the Japanese counter-attack with one of the largest anti-carrier attacks of the war consisting of 27 Val dive bombers 14 Kate torpedo planes, 67 Zero fighters and a number of G4M2 Betty twin-engine bombers.  The ensuing engagement of 35 US Navy fighters v 100+ Japanese aircraft is known as The Battle of the Solomon Sea. 

 

LCDR Tommy (Big Hog) Blackburn was the commanding officer of the Skull and Cross Bone Squadron of Navy Fighting Squadron 17.  Two months earlier logistical -- not operational -- constraints required the VF-17 Corsairs detach from the USS Bunker Hill and begin combat operations ashore on the Solomon Islands of Guadalcanal and then Odonogo, New Georgia. 

 At 0400 on 11 November 1943, twenty-three F4U Corsairs from VF-17 and twelve F6F Hellcats from VF-33 launch from ashore and proceed 150 miles out to sea to rendezvous with TG 50.3.  They provide air cover during and after the 0530 dawn launch.  Shortly before his planned ship-board recovery at 0830, Blackburn scores the first kill when he bags a Tony.  The two Marine fighter squadrons relieve VF-17 and VF-33 and they recover, rearm and refuel aboard the Bunker Hill, Essex and Independence in preparation for the Japanese counter-attack.  Blackburn took great pride that all of his VF-17 pilots recovered uneventfully and without a wave off or incident despite the two months ashore.  

 

 At 1030 VF-17 and VF-33 launch and relieve the two Marine squadrons overhead who return uneventfully to shore.  On the side of Blackburn's "Big Hog" aircraft is another Japanese "meatball" flag signifying the morning's first kill – freshly painted while his aircraft was checked out, refueled and rearmed aboard the Bunker Hill.  While aboard, Blackburn learns that a massive Japanese counter-attack would begin at 1300.  The enemy was only thirteen minutes late. 

 Chaos reigns as thirty-five Corsairs and Hellcats along with ship launched 5-inch proximity fuses and dense 40-mm and 20-mm fires shredded what would have been an overwhelming Japanese air strike earlier in the war of 100+ airplanes.  The Japanese lost all 14 Kates, 17 of 22 Vals, several Betty bombers and dozens of fighters.   No US ships were damaged and only ten sailors were injured aboard the carriers.

 During the battle LCDR Roger Hedrick, Blackburn's XO, bagged a Zeke.  He then chased another Zeke into a cloud.  It suddenly reappeared from the cloud.  Hedrick quickly pumped six rounds into the aircraft before realizing it was not a Zeke but a Corsair AND the one flown by his commanding officer, Blackburn.  Three rounds penetrated the Big Hog aircraft just in front of Blackburn's cockpit and three rounds penetrated just behind Blackburn's cockpit.  Blackburn remembers, "Fortunately Big Hog had been inside the convergence distance of his guns.  Otherwise those six rounds would have gone through me." Once safely ashore Blackburn thanked Hedrick for being such a lousy shot.   

 VF-17's scorecard for 11 November includes 18.5 kills in a single day led by Ensign Ira (Ike) Kepford with 4.5 kills.  Blackburn remembers, "Ike drilled right on through the intense friendly AA fire to burn a Kate just as it seemed ready to launch its fish only 1,000 yards from Bunker Hill." Low on gas Kepford made an unplanned second recovery aboard the Bunker Hill to refuel and rearm before safely returning ashore at Odango after 11 hours flight time.  For his actions, that day, Kepford was awarded his first Navy Cross. 

 From Vice Admiral Jim Stockdale's introduction to The Jolly Rogers: The Story of Tommy Blackburn and Navy Fighting Squadron VF-17:

 VF-17's combat record in the Solomons was unbeatable.  That one squadron, in seventy-six combat days, had a confirmed kill score of 154.5 Japanese airplanes with a kill to loss ratio of over eleven.  Thirteen pilots of VF-17 made ace in this period.  This, by a factor of more than a third, exceeds the scores of the Black Sheep Squadron made famous in the modern television serial…. But inspiration is what I'm writing these few pages about, and that was the legacy Tom left all fighter pilots.  He saw his war in a heroic, go-for-the-jugular, romantic context.

 

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Thanks to Interesting Facts

 

Gas stations make more money from convenience items than from selling gas.

 

In much the same way that movie theaters make higher profits from concessions than they do from tickets, gas stations make more money from convenience items than they do from selling gas. The profit margins on gasoline are extremely (and surprisingly) low, so much so that filling stations barely make any money just from selling fuel. That's even true when gas prices are higher (as they most definitely have been of late), because competition for customers is so fierce that retailers are often loath to be the first one to raise their prices. On average, the net profit margin on gasoline is just 1.4%, whereas the average across all industries is 7.7%. That profit margin is lower than the average one at car dealerships (3.2%) and grocery stores (2.5%), both of which are known for relatively low margins. The reason gas makes so little profit has to do with the supply chain — actually getting the fuel to your local 76 is a tremendously involved process.

 

That all changes once you step inside a gas station's convenience store (about 80% of them have one). Despite only bringing in some 30% of most gas stations' revenue, items like lottery tickets, potato chips, and drinks are responsible for 70% of the profit. So while they might not like higher gas prices any more than you do, gas station owners probably don't mind how much you spend on impulse buys.

 

Long before most of us were driving (or alive, for that matter), gas only set motorists back a few pennies per gallon. When the Revenue Act of 1932 added a federal tax of $0.01 to the sale of gasoline in the midst of the Great Depression, gas stations didn't want to pass along the full price of the tax, fearing lost customers (in some cases, the tax would have added 10% to the total cost at the pump). Instead, they added the 9/10 of a penny fraction we still see today, despite gas now costing dollars rather than cents — and the fact that the tax has gone up. Originally passed as a temporary measure and intended to expire in 1934, the federal gas tax is now 18.4 cents per gallon.

 

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This Day in U S Military History

 

Feast Day of St. Martin of Tours, Patron Saint of Chaplains and Logisticians: When Sulpicius Severus first met Martin of Tours he was stunned. Not only did the bishop offer him hospitality at his residence — a monk's cell in the wilderness instead of a palace — but Martin washed Sulpicius' hands before dinner and his feet in the evening. But Sulpicius was just the kind of person Martin showed the greatest honor to — a humble man without any rank or privilege. People of nobility and position were turned away from his abbey by chalk cliffs, out of fear of the temptation to pride. From that visit, Sulpicius became Martin's disciple, friend, and biographer. Little is known of many of the saints who died in the early years of Christianity but thanks to Sulpicius, who wrote his first biography of Martin before the saint died and who talked to most of the people involved in his life, we have a priceless record of Martin's life.

 

1620 – The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the Separatists, sometimes referred to as the "Saints", fleeing from religious persecution by King James of England. They traveled aboard the Mayflower in 1620 along with adventurers, tradesmen, and servants, most of whom were referred to, by the Separatists as "Strangers". The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard ship by most adult men. The Pilgrims used the Julian Calendar, also known as Old Style dates, which, at that time, was ten days behind the Gregorian Calendar. Signing the covenant were 41 of the ship's 101 passengers, while the Mayflower was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor within the hook at the northern tip of Cape Cod.

 

1865 – Dr. Mary Edward Walker, 1st Army female surgeon, was awarded Medal of Honor by Pres. Andrew Johnson for her work as a field doctor for outstanding service at the Battle of Bull Run, at the Battle of Chickamauga, as a Confederate prisoner of war in Richmond, Va., and at the Battle of Atlanta.

 

1885 – George Smith Patton, one of the great American generals of World War II, is born in San Gabriel, California. Patton came from a family with a long history of military service. After studying at West Point, he served as a tank officer in World War I, and his experience in that conflict, along with his extensive military study, led him to become an advocate of the crucial importance of the tank in future warfare. After the American entrance into World War II, Patton was placed in command of an important U.S. tank division and played a key role in the Allied invasion of French North Africa in 1942. In 1943, Patton led the U.S. Seventh Army in its assault on Sicily and won fame for out-commanding Montgomery during the so-called Race to Messina. Although Patton was one of the ablest American commanders in World War II, he was also one of the most controversial. He presented himself as a modern-day cavalryman, designed his own uniform, and was known to make eccentric claims that he was a direct descent from great military leaders of the past through reincarnation. During the Sicilian campaign, Patton generated considerable controversy when he accused a hospitalized U.S. soldier suffering from battle fatigue of cowardice and then personally struck him across the face. The famously profane general was forced to issue a public apology and was reprimanded by General Dwight Eisenhower. However, when it was time for the invasion of Western Europe, Eisenhower could find no general as formidable as Patton, and the general was again granted an important military post. In 1944, Patton commanded the U.S. Third Army in the invasion of France, and in December of that year his expertise in military movement and tank warfare helped crush the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes. During one of his many successful campaigns, General Patton was said to have declared, "Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance." On December 21, 1945, he died in a hospital in Germany from injuries sustained in an automobile accident near Mannheim.

 

1918 – At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiýgne, France. The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure. On June 28, 1914, in an event that is widely regarded as sparking the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was shot to death with his wife by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Ferdinand had been inspecting his uncle's imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite the threat of Serbian nationalists who wanted these Austro-Hungarian possessions to join newly independent Serbia. Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the problem of Slavic nationalism once and for all. However, as Russia supported Serbia, an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war was delayed until its leaders received assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II that Germany would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe's great powers collapsed. On July 29, Austro-Hungarian forces began to shell the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and Russia, Serbia's ally, ordered a troop mobilization against Austria-Hungary. France, allied with Russia, began to mobilize on August 1. France and Germany declared war against each other on August 3. After crossing through neutral Luxembourg, the German army invaded Belgium on the night of August 3-4, prompting Great Britain, Belgium's ally, to declare war against Germany. For the most part, the people of Europe greeted the outbreak of war with jubilation. Most patriotically assumed that their country would be victorious within months. Of the initial belligerents, Germany was most prepared for the outbreak of hostilities, and its military leaders had formatted a sophisticated military strategy known as the "Schlieffen Plan," which envisioned the conquest of France through a great arcing offensive through Belgium and into northern France. Russia, slow to mobilize, was to be kept occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces while Germany attacked France. The Schlieffen Plan was nearly successful, but in early September the French rallied and halted the German advance at the bloody Battle of the Marne near Paris. By the end of 1914, well over a million soldiers of various nationalities had been killed on the battlefields of Europe, and neither for the Allies nor the Central Powers was a final victory in sight. On the western front–the battle line that stretched across northern France and Belgium–the combatants settled down in the trenches for a terrible war of attrition. In 1915, the Allies attempted to break the stalemate with an amphibious invasion of Turkey, which had joined the Central Powers in October 1914, but after heavy bloodshed the Allies were forced to retreat in early 1916. The year 1916 saw great offensives by Germany and Britain along the western front, but neither side accomplished a decisive victory. In the east, Germany was more successful, and the disorganized Russian army suffered terrible losses, spurring the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917. By the end of 1917, the Bolsheviks had seized power in Russia and immediately set about negotiating peace with Germany. In 1918, the infusion of American troops and resources into the western front finally tipped the scale in the Allies' favor. Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies on November 11, 1918. World War I was known as the "war to end all wars" because of the great slaughter and destruction it caused. Unfortunately, the peace treaty that officially ended the conflict–the Treaty of Versailles of 1919–forced punitive terms on Germany that destabilized Europe and laid the groundwork for World War II.

 

1921 – Exactly three years after the end of World War I, the Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia during an Armistice Day ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding. Two days before, an unknown American soldier, who had fallen somewhere on a World War I battlefield, arrived at the nation's capital from a military cemetery in France. On Armistice Day, in the presence of President Harding and other government, military, and international dignitaries, the unknown soldier was buried with highest honors beside the Memorial Amphitheater. As the soldier was lowered to his final resting place, a two-inch layer of soil brought from France was placed below his coffin so that he might rest forever atop the earth on which he died. The Tomb of the Unknowns is considered the most hallowed grave at Arlington Cemetery, America's most sacred military cemetery. The tombstone itself, designed by sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, was not completed until 1932, when it was unveiled bearing the description "Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God." The World War I unknown was later joined by the unidentified remains of soldiers from America's other major 20th century wars and the tomb was put under permanent guard by special military sentinels. In 1998, a Vietnam War unknown, who was buried at the tomb for 14 years, was disinterred from the Tomb after DNA testing indicated his identity. Air Force Lieutenant Michael Blassie was returned to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and was buried with military honors, including an F-15 jet "missing man" flyover and a lone bugler sounding taps.

 

Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

 

*LINDSTROM, FLOYD K.

Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Mignano, Italy, 11 November 1943. Entered service at: Colorado Springs, Colo. Birth: Holdredge, Nebr. G.O. No.: 32, 20 April 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 11 November 1943, this soldier's platoon was furnishing machinegun support for a rifle company attacking a hill near Mignano, Italy, when the enemy counterattacked, forcing the riflemen and half the machinegun platoon to retire to a defensive position. Pfc. Lindstrom saw that his small section was alone and outnumbered 5 to 1, yet he immediately deployed the few remaining men into position and opened fire with his single gun. The enemy centered fire on him with machinegun, machine pistols, and grenades. Unable to knock out the enemy nest from his original position, Pfc. Lindstrom picked up his own heavy machinegun and staggered 15 yards up the barren, rocky hillside to a new position, completely ignoring enemy small arms fire which was striking all around him. From this new site, only 10 yards from the enemy machinegun, he engaged it in an intense duel. Realizing that he could not hit the hostile gunners because they were behind a large rock, he charged uphill under a steady stream of fire, killed both gunners with his pistol and dragged their gun down to his own men, directing them to employ it against the enemy. Disregarding heavy rifle fire, he returned to the enemy machinegun nest for 2 boxes of ammunition, came back and resumed withering fire from his own gun. His spectacular performance completely broke up the German counterattack. Pfc. Lindstrom demonstrated aggressive spirit and complete fearlessness in the face of almost certain death.

 

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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for November 11, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY

11 November

 

1918: Armistice ending World War I declared. During the conflict, the Army Air Service dropped 138 tons of bombs and had verified credits for 765 aircraft and 76 balloons. Marine Corps aviation also grew to 36 aircraft by this time. (10) (12)

 

1935: Capts Albert W. Stevens and Orville A. Anderson flew a 3.7-million-cubic-foot helium balloon, Explorer II, from Rapid City to a record of 72,395 feet, where they gathered scientific data on the upper atmosphere. They also earned the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Gold Medal. (9) (24)

 

1943: The Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces made their first joint attack on Rabaul along with Navy carrier planes. (24)

 

1956: Convair's B-58 Hustler, the first supersonic bomber and delta-winged aircraft capable of 1,000 MPH speeds, completed its first flight at Fort Worth. (3) (12)

 

1957: Operation LONG LEGS. For Argentina's Aeronautics Week, Gen Curtis E. LeMay, the Vice Chief of Staff (VCSAF), flew a KC-135 6,350 miles from Westover AFB to Buenos Aires in 13 hours 3 minutes to set a FAI record for nonstop, unrefueled jet flight. In a 13 November return flight, he averaged 471.451 MPH to set a record of 11 hours 3 minutes 58 seconds for the 6,322 miles between Buenos Aires and Washington DC. (See 17 November 1957) (1) (9)

 

1966: Gemini XII (the last Gemini mission): Cmdr James A. Lovell (USN) and Maj Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., completed 94 hours 34 minutes in space. This made Lovell the individual with the most spacetime: 425 hours and 11 minutes. (12) Through 12 November, MAC aircraft moved nearly 205 tons of emergency supplies and 93 Dutch Army troops from Ypenberg, Netherlands, to Pisa, Italy to provide flood relief. (18)

 

1982: Vance Brand, Robert Overmyer, Joe Allen, and William Lenoir launched in the Space Shuttle Columbia. This was the first time four astronauts were aloft at the same time.

 

1989: The Navy commissioned the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in ceremonies at Norfolk, Va. It was the fifth Nimitz-class carrier and will be based in San Francisco. (8: Feb 90)

 

1996: Two 509 BW pilots, Captains Scott Vander Hamm and Scott Hughes, flew the second B-2A long-endurance simulator flight. The test at Whiteman AFB, which lasted 38 hours, broke the previous 34-hour record of 7 October 1996. (AFNEWS Article 970175, 18 Feb 97)

 

2004: AFFTC's Speckled Trout C-135C interrupted its mission to bring an Airman on emergency leave back to the US. At the time, the aircraft was at Incirlik AB to carry SECAF Dr. James Roche and CSAF Gen John Jumper back to the US from Iraq. (3)

 

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Thanks to Carl the Seebee

 

An aviator pal just sent these to me ......

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/27604/confessions-of-an-a-6-intruder-pilot

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/9599/a-tomcat-pilots-early-struggles-to-tame-the-mighty-f-14

 

 

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Thanks to Interesting Facts

 

The first traffic light was illuminated with gas lamps.

 

Traffic accidents were a problem long before motor vehicles dominated the road — pedestrians, horses, and carts all competed for the right of way, sometimes with fatal results. In fact, the first traffic signal in Britain predated cars: Railroad engineer John Peake Knight helped design signaling systems for trains, including semaphore signals, which employed a movable arm to indicate whether a train operator should stop. Knight proposed that these signals could work on city streets, too, with gas lamps for nighttime visibility.

 

After the plan received government approval, the first gas traffic light was installed in London on December 9, 1868, just outside the Houses of Parliament. This being Victorian England, it was ornately decorated, with a hollow cast-iron column adorned with gilding and acanthus leaves. Above the signal arms, an octagonal box with a pineapple finial contained red and green gas lamps. Automated lights were still several decades away, so the signal had to be manually operated by a police officer 24 hours a day. The light was successful at first, and drivers, for the most part, actually paid attention to it. But the very next month, a leaky pipe filled the hollow tower with gas and caused an explosion that severely injured the officer operating it. London didn't get traffic lights again until electric lights were installed in 1929.

 

TOGETHER WITH                            

 

Pet Insurance Could Help You Offset Rising Veterinary Costs

 

Veterinarians nationwide reported that corporate managers pushed clinics to focus on profit, with vets often paid based on revenue. This encouraged vets to see more pets, order more tests, and upsell services, creating a growing burden for uninsured pet owners. Pet insurance could help you offset some of these rising costs, with some providing up to 90% reimbursement. View Money's top pet insurance picks to see plans starting at only $10/month.

 

 

By the Numbers

 

Estimated daily commuters to London from outside towns in 1850

27,000

 

Traffic signals in the United States in 2004

330,000

 

 

Driving trips the average American takes every day

 

2.44

Estimated injuries caused by running red lights in 2021

 

127,000

 

DID YOU KNOW?

 

The first three-way traffic signal was invented in 1923.

 

The first electric traffic lights typically went straight from red to green and green to red with no warning signal indicating how soon the light was going to change. A Detroit police officer introduced yellow lights to one intersection in 1920, but they were far from widespread. Two years later, another three-way traffic signal was invented by Garrett Morgan, a pioneering Black inventor from Cleveland, Ohio. Morgan had already created a lifesaving precursor to the gas mask and an improved sewing machine when he witnessed a carriage accident at a problematic intersection in Cleveland. Troubled by the incident, he created a T-shaped illuminated traffic signal that had a third setting that instructed traffic in all directions to stop, which served as a warning for drivers to fully clear the intersection and also gave pedestrians a chance to cross safely. The signal was influential and widely used, and Morgan made $40,000 from it, around $700,000 in today's dollars, when he sold the patent to General Electric.

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