Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 38
March 10, 2022
John Glenn Sets Airspeed Record
In July 1957 Marine Corps Major John Glenn flew a Vought F8U Crusader, from Los Alamitos Naval Air Station in California to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York in three hours, 23 minutes, setting a transcontinental speed record: 725.55 mph.
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March 7, 2022
Distant Early Warning Line
The Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line was the northernmost of three radar lines in Canada and Alaska.
Designed to provide enough warning time of a nuclear attack to enable launching an effective counterattack, the DEW line was placed far north of the joint Canadian-United States Pinetree Line and the Mid-Canada Line which were hampered by southerly location and migrating birds.
With construction given the highest national priority, the 63-base line reached operational status in 1957.
The Mid-Canada Line was shut down in the early 1960s, and much of the Pinetree Line was given over to civilian use.
In 1985 the United States and Canada agreed to transition the DEW line to the new North Warning System (NWS) and most of the original DEW stations were deactivated, while a small number were upgraded with all-new equipment.
Source: Wikipedia
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March 3, 2022
Have Gun – Will Travel
Have Gun – Will Travel was an American Western series that was originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963.
The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons, and it is one of the few shows in television history to spawn a successful radio version.
Source: Have Gun – Will Travel – Wikipedia
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February 28, 2022
President Eisenhower Illness
Although Dwight Eisenhower was the first American president to release information about his health while in office, his physicians and staff often misled the public about his condition.
Eisenhower began chain smoking cigarettes at West Point. As president, health issues forced him to give up smoking and make some dietary changes, but he still drank alcohol.
Eisenhower had seven heart attacks, a stroke and surgery for bowel obstruction from 1955 until his death in 1969.
However, the last three years of Eisenhower’s second term in office were ones of relatively good health.
Source: Wikipedia
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February 24, 2022
WEST SIDE STORY
The musical West Side Story, conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, was inspired by William Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet.
Set in the mid-1950s in a multiracial, blue-collar neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. Tony, a former member of the white gang Jets and best friend of the gang’s leader, falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the Puerto Rican Sharks.
With its dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems the show marked a turning point in musical theatre.
The original 1957 Broadway production ran for 732 performances before going on tour. The production was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 1958, winning two.
A 1961 musical film adaptation starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and won ten, including Best Picture.
A 2021 film adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Source: Wikipedia
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February 21, 2022
Hurricane Audrey
Hurricane Audrey, one of the srongest tropical storms ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, was also among the deadliest tropical cyclones in U.S. history, killing at least 416 people in its devastation of the southwestern Louisiana coast in June 1957.
Once storms develop sustained wind speeds of more than 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph), names are generally assigned to them by weather services.
Before it became standard practice to give personal first names to tropical cyclones, they were named after places, objects, or the saints’ feast days on which they occurred.
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February 17, 2022
American Bandstand
American Bandstand premiered locally in late March 1952 as Bandstand on Philadelphia television station WFIL-TV as a television adjunct to a radio show of the same name on WFIL radio,.
In August 1957, the show was picked up nationally by ABC, becoming American Bandstand .
Source: Wikipedia
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February 14, 2022
Mayflower II arrives in Plymouth, Massachusetts
The Mayflower II, a reproduction of the 17th-century ship Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620, was built in Plymouth / Devon, England during 1955–1956.
Mayflower II was launched from Plymouth England on September 22 1956—a rainy day start for her transatlantic voyage to Plymouth Massachusetts.
Her captain set a course southwards to follow the trade winds in a wide southerly loop before sailing up the east coast of America.
Weathering a strong gale near Bermuda, the Mayflower II finally made land at Provincetown, Massachusetts on June 12 1957.
Source: Wikipedia
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February 10, 2022
Ford Edsel
In 1957 the Ford Motor Company introduced the Edsel, named after Henry Ford’s son.
Although the Edsel had many innovations still in use today, including self-adjusting brakes and a powerful V-8 engine, the car was one of Ford’s biggest financial failures. The company creased Edsel production in 1960.
Source: Wikipedia
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February 7, 2022
Mao Zedong: Handling of Contradictions
On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People (关于正确处理人民内部矛盾的问题) was a 1957 essay by Mao Zedong that made a distinction between “contradictions amongst the people” and “counter-revolutionary contradictions.”
The stated policy was to “isolate the few” who were determined to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party and “win over the many” who were supportive of it .
Mao’s February 1957 speech, associated with the “Hundred Flowers” campaign that encouraged citizens to express their opinions of the Communist Party, seemed to suggest a degree of liberalization. However, government policy soon transitioned into an anti-Rightist campaign that began in July 1957 and lasted until 1959.
Source: Wikipedia
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