Everybody knows about the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 60s, which began with the Russian Sputnik and ended with the American moon landing. But in reality, the first man-made object to enter outer space was not Russian, and not American either. It was German. Wernher Von … Continue reading The First Space Launch →

For Europeans, the Second World War started on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. For the United States, it began with the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But for Asians, the war began on June 7, 1937, at the Marco Polo Bridge in China. The Second Sino-Japanese War, which would grow … Continue reading The Marco Polo Bridge Incident →

France joined the Space Race in the 1950s, and one of her missions was a test flight involving the first (and so far only) cat to enter space. It did not end well for the cat. In the aftermath of the Second World War, France, under the leadership of General Charles De Gaulle, was eager … Continue reading The French Space Cat Felicette →

The history of the domestic cattle goes back at least 10,000 years. There are well over 1000 distinct breeds of Cattle in the world today, and somewhere between 1 and 1.5 billion individual animals, making them, by some counts, the fourth most numerous mammal in existence behind Sheep, Rats, and Humans. Particular breeds have been specifically engineered … Continue reading The Story of the Cow →