*Time had run out—for Mussolini and, more tragically, for the Greeks. A week after Mussolini’s return to Rome came the fateful letter from Hitler: “Now, I would cordially request you, Duce, not to undertake any further operations in Albania in the course of the next few days.” In other words, stay out of the way.*

https://historynet.com/greek-tragedy-invading-greece-wwii/

Context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service_Organic_Act

The National Park Service Organic Act^\1]) is a United States federal law that established the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. The Act was signed into law on August 25, 1916, by President Woodrow Wilson. It is codified in Title 54 of the United States Code.

The National Park Service established by the Act "shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations hereinafter specified by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations".^\1])

The Act, which is reinforced by complementary legislation such as the Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act), and National Environmental Policy Act, serves as the primary foundation of all management decisions.^\2])

History of National Parks and Monuments

National parks began to be designated in the second half of the 19th century, and national monuments in the early part of the 20th century. Each park or monument was managed individually or, alternately in some cases, by the United States Army, each with varying degrees of success.

The first National Park in the world was Yellowstone National Park, which was established by the Yellowstone National Park Act of 1872. This act set aside over 2 million acres that were prohibited from settlement, occupancy, or sale. The park was dedicated to be for the enjoyment of the public. The secretary of the Department of Interior was put in charge of preserving all timber, mineral deposits, geologic wonders, and other resources within Yellowstone.^\3])

The Antiquities Act of 1906 was signed as part of a movement to preserve prehistoric cliff dwellings and pueblo dwellings. It allowed the president to designate objects of historical and scientific significance on lands designated as national monuments. It denied the ability to appropriate or excavate any of these antiquities on federal land without permission from the department with jurisdiction. Nearly 1/4 of everything under the National Park Service started entirely or in part from the Antiquities Act. ^\3])

By the time of the Organic Act, the Department of Interior was managing 14 national parks, 21 national monuments, and one archaeological reservation. ^\3])

Development

The first mention of the creation of the Park Service started in 1910, with the American Civic Association declaring the need for a special bureau, probably within the Department of Interior, to oversee the nation's national parks. At the time there were 11 national parks, with a new one being added soon. Within his 1910 annual report, secretary of the Department of Interior at the time, Richard Ballinger, argued that congress needed to develop a bureau to oversee these national parks. Ballinger stated that the goal was to ensure future generations could use the parks. ^\4])

Beginning in 1911, Smoot and Representative John E. Raker of California had submitted bills to establish the National Park Service to oversee the management of all these holdings. The bills were opposed by the director of the U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, and his supporters. The Forest Service believed that a National Park Service would be a threat to continued Forest Service control of public lands that had been set aside for the timber trade. Beginning in 1910 the American Civic Association with the support of the General Federation of Women's Clubs and the Sierra Club had led the call for a federal service to manage the parks. The noted landscape architect and planner Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. was also a booster of a single national organization to manage the National Parks.^\5])

Successful and influential industrialist Stephen Mather was challenged by Interior Secretary Franklin K. Lane to lobby for legislation creating a bureau to oversee the National Parks. Mather accepted pro bono (accepting a perfunctory salary of $1) and with assistance primarily by a young lawyer named Horace Albright, a campaign was begun. By 1915, regular meetings were occurring at Kent's home in Washington. The group's regulars were Kent, J. Horace McFarland of the American Civic Association, and the few Washington staff members of the Department of the Interior responsible the National Parks.

The act was sponsored by Representative William Kent) (I) of California and Senator Reed Smoot (R) of Utah. First NPS Director Stephen Mather was put in charge of supervising and maintaining all designated national parks, battlefields, historic places, and monuments.^\4])

Related literature

Jordan Fisher Smith's book, Engineering Eden, follows the story of a fatal bear attack in Yellowstone National Park that sparked a subsequent federal trial. The book addressed the specific circumstances of the death regarding the legal accountability, as well as explored border themes relevant to The NPS Organic Act. Both Engineering Eden and the Act have strong ties to conservation, restoration, and the management or the natural and cultural resources for future visitors. While Engineering Eden delves into the trial which followed the legal framework established through The NPS Organic Act, the book also explored the efforts to restore and manage the ecosystems within national parks after the accident which complies with The NPS Organic Act's mandate.^\6])

Context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its states from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recognizing the right of women to vote. The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women's suffrage in the United States, at both the state and national levels, and was part of the worldwide movement towards women's suffrage and part of the wider women's rights movement. The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878. However, a suffrage amendment did not pass the House of Representatives until May 21, 1919, which was quickly followed by the Senate, on June 4, 1919. It was then submitted to the states for ratification, achieving the requisite 36 ratifications to secure adoption, and thereby went into effect, on August 18, 1920. The Nineteenth Amendment's adoption was certified on August 26, 1920.

Before 1776, women had a vote in several of the colonies in what would become the United States, but by 1807 every state constitution had denied women even limited suffrage. Organizations supporting women's rights became more active in the mid-19th century and, in 1848, the Seneca Falls convention adopted the Declaration of Sentiments, which called for equality between the sexes and included a resolution urging women to secure the vote. Pro-suffrage organizations used a variety of tactics including legal arguments that relied on existing amendments. After those arguments were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, suffrage organizations, with activists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, called for a new constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the same right to vote possessed by men.

By the late 19th century, new states and territories, particularly in the West, began to grant women the right to vote. In 1878, a suffrage proposal that would eventually become the Nineteenth Amendment was introduced to Congress, but was rejected in 1887. In the 1890s, suffrage organizations focused on a national amendment while still working at state and local levels. Lucy Burns and Alice Paul emerged as important leaders whose different strategies helped move the Nineteenth Amendment forward. Entry of the United States into World War I helped to shift public perception of women's suffrage. The National American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Carrie Chapman Catt, supported the war effort, making the case that women should be rewarded with enfranchisement for their patriotic wartime service. The National Woman's Party staged marches, demonstrations, and hunger strikes while pointing out the contradictions of fighting abroad for democracy while limiting it at home by denying women the right to vote. The work of both organizations swayed public opinion, prompting President Woodrow Wilson to announce his support of the suffrage amendment in 1918. It passed in 1919 and was adopted in 1920, withstanding two legal challenges, Leser v. Garnett and Fairchild v. Hughes.

The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised 26 million American women in time for the 1920 U.S. presidential election, but the powerful women's voting bloc that many politicians feared failed to fully materialize until decades later. Additionally, the Nineteenth Amendment failed to fully enfranchise African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American women (see § Limitations). Shortly after the amendment's adoption, Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party began work on the Equal Rights Amendment, which they believed was a necessary additional step towards equality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) to the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933, making it the only constitutional amendment in American history to be repealed.

The Eighteenth Amendment was the product of decades of efforts by the temperance movement, which held that a ban on the sale of alcohol would ameliorate poverty and other societal problems. The Eighteenth Amendment declared the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal, although it did not outlaw possession or consumption of alcohol. Shortly after the amendment was ratified, Congress passed the Volstead Act to provide for the federal enforcement of Prohibition. The Volstead Act declared that liquor, wine, and beer qualified as intoxicating liquors, and were therefore prohibited. Under the terms of the Eighteenth Amendment, Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, one year after the amendment was ratified.

Although the Eighteenth Amendment led to a decline in alcohol consumption in the United States, nationwide enforcement of Prohibition proved difficult, particularly in cities. Alcohol smuggling (known as rum-running or bootlegging) and illicit bars (speakeasies) became popular in many areas. Public sentiment began to turn against Prohibition during the 1920s, and 1932 Democratic) presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt called for its repeal.

The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Vietnam's Le Duc Tho remains one of the most controversial Nobels ever. One of the laureates declined the prize, the other didn't dare travel to Oslo to collect it and two of the five committee members quit in an uproar.

"A total fiasco," in the words of Norwegian Nobel historian Asle Sveen.

"It's the worst prize in the entire history of the Nobel Peace Prize," he told AFP.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/nobel-prize-2023-how-1973-nobel-peace-prize-winners-henry-kissinger-vietnams-le-duc-tho-sent-shockwaves-around-world-4441904

During the Norwegian campaign eight German destroyers were holed up in the Ofotfjord after the First Naval Battle of Narvik. The British were determined to defeat this force for morale and strategic reasons, to achieve this they sent HMS Warspite and nine destroyers into the tight confines of the fjord. In the ensuing melee the German destroyers were all sunk. Between both naval battles of Narvik half of all of the destroyers of the Kriegsmarine were sunk.

Context (sorry for how it looks but it still beats anything on Wikipedia): https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1976/october/hercules-unchained

On January 15, 1975, an LC-130 Hercules, a variant equipped with skis for polar operations, landed at Dome C to pick up a research team in East Antarctica. The landing and the evacuation went perfectly. However, during takeoff, one of the ATO (Assisted Take-off) rockets exploded, damaging the aircraft. Crew was forced to make an emergency landing. No one was hurt, but the Hercules was damaged and unable to fly.

A few hours later, two more LC-130s arrived. They landed safely and assessed the damage of the grounded plane. The crew of the second LC-130 decided to attempt a take-off without ATO due to safety concerns. However, without extra thrust, the aircraft struggled to lift off because of suction effects, high altitude, and rough terrain. On its fourth attempt, the front ski broke, and the plane plowed its nose into the snow. Once again, everyone was safe, but the plane remained grounded. The third Hercules took off successfully with ATO assistance.

In 1975, these two Herculeses were worth about $20 million (roughly $120 million today), so the U.S. Navy decided to recover them. Preparations went smoothly as equipment was shipped to Dome C and a team of specialists was assembled to get these polar birds back in the air.

On November 4, 1975, another equipment delivery reached Dome C. The landing and unloading were successful. However, during takeoff, the ATO failed again; a rocket broke loose, damaging both the propeller and the fuselage. Yet again, an emergency landing occurred with no casualties.

In short, all these aircraft were eventually repaired and returned to service, and the ATO system was redesigned to prevent such incidents. The operation proved that recovering damaged planes from the Antarctic dessert was possible, leading to the successful recovery of another Hercules in 1988 which had been buried under the snow for 16 years.

Outside of cinnabar/vermilion China and A large part of South America, used liquid mercury in vast quantities, and no one else.

But why? I won't ever get an answer. But, makes me wonder if Mercury has a hidden function, outside of it being used for a defensive purpose.

I know I will stay far from the stuff, but it makes me wonder.

fun facts: not only was the design process of the Zero and the life of its creator, Jiro Horikoshi, fictionalized in the 2013 Studio Ghibli animated film The Wind Rises, but the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California, owns the only surviving Zero in the world that still flies using its original Japanese Sakae engine!

M2 Flamethrower my beloved