1918: After the Bolsheviks seize power in Russia, 31 Marines from the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn (ACR-3) land at Vladivostok, Russia to guard the American Consulate and maintain stability in the Siberian port.
1927: Five weeks after Charles Lindbergh makes his famous flight across the Atlantic, an Atlantic-Fokker C-2 tri-motor aircraft touches down in Hawaii – completing the first transpacific flight from the United States to Hawaii. Despite numerous instrument failures, the two Army Air Corps first lieutenants, pilot Lester J. Maitland and navigator Albert F. Hegenberger, rely on dead reckoning and celestial navigation, making the 2,500-mile trip from Oakland, Calif. to Honolulu in 25 hours and 50 minutes.
Atlantic-Fokker C-2 “Bird of Paradise” Lts. Maitland and Hegenberger are congratulated after landing at Wheeler Field. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Atlantic-Fokker C-2A front view
1950: At a press conference, President Harry S. Truman calls the American involvement in the Korean War a “police action,’ adding that “We are not at war.”
Meanwhile, 18 B-26 “Invader” bombers of the Fifth Air Force strike targets at Heijo Airport near the North Korean capitol of Pyongyang, destroying 25 communist aircraft on the ground and another Yak fighter in the air. Also, the cruiser USS Juneau (CLAA 119) and detroyer USS De Haven (DD 727) engage in the first naval shore bombardment of the war, destroying enemy shore installations near Bokuko Ko. And Gen. Douglas MacArthur personally witnesses P-51 “Mustang” pilots knock several Yak fighters out of the sky over Suwon Airfield while he meets with South Korean president Syngman Rhee.
USS Juneau (CLAA 119)
USS De Haven (DD 727)
1966: American warplanes bomb the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong for the first time, striking oil facilities.
2014: The Islamic State (commonly referred to as ISIS) establishes itself as a global caliphate, naming Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as its leader. The former Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group controls territory in Iraq and Syria, but after their declaration, now claim authority over all Muslims worldwide.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
