useless facts

[Jimbuna]

Latin America has flowers that look like lips.

[Platapus]

President Ronald Reagan designated July 16, 1983, a one-time commemoration known as National Atomic Veterans Day. It honored atomic veterans, or “American military service members who participated in nuclear tests between 1945 and 1962, served with United States military forces in or around Hiroshima and Nagasaki through mid-1946 or were held as prisoners of war in or near Hiroshima or Nagasaki,” according to the White House.

President Joe Biden brought back National Atomic Veterans Day on July 16, 2021. And in December of that year, he signed legislation into law making it an annual commemoration of atomic veterans’ service.

[Jimbuna]

George H.W. Bush loved skydiving.

[Platapus]

The current world record for the fastest speed on a snowmobile is 172.2 mph (277.13 kph).


Yikes!

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

George H.W. Bush loved skydiving.

He should have! his first time was nearly 'for keeps'

With his engine on fire, Bush flew several miles from the island, where he and one other crew member on the TBM Avenger bailed out of the aircraft. However, the other man's chute did not open and he fell to his death. It was never determined which man bailed out with Bush. Both Delaney and White were killed in action. While Bush anxiously waited four hours in his inflated raft, several fighters circled protectively overhead until he was rescued by the lifeguard submarine, USS Finback. During the month he remained on Finback, Bush participated in the rescue of other pilots.

Considering my 1st Lt. USAF dad bailed out of 3 crippled, battle fatigued B-29 aircraft serving in the Ferry Command; didn't participate in invading Japan thanks to the A-bomb; and was deemed "essential to the war effort" and deferred making K-ration instant-coffee by 1950; which probably kept him from getting shot down in an out-dated/obsolete B-29 over Korea by Migs!!?? Bottom line: thank goodness for good 'chute-packers! I arrived in '51 and am posting this by dumb luck alone(a really useless fact!??)

Although the Superforts are remembered today as the bombers which raised hell over Japan in the war's closing months,the earlier operations in 1944 were not always a great success,particularly those launched from China.The B29 was an immature aircraft at the time with a number of teething troubles,not least engine fires and failures. There were times when losses through mechanical failure outweighed those in combat.If you were one of these early B29 crewmen,you weren't expected to survive your tour,it was as simple that,and very few did.This would all have been easier to take if the raids that were being mounted were doing serious damage,but unfortunately they weren't doing that either.The bombers would drop thier loads from extremely high altitudes on these early missions,and bombing accuracy was accordingly abysmal.What wasn't appreciated at the time was that the bombers flying at such extreme altitudes were flying up in the jetstream,facing winds of incredible speeds which the bombsights couldn't compensate for,hence the woeful accuracy.It also put extra strain on the already dubious reliability of the B29, which contributed to the poor reliability these early 29's experienced.All this makes it very hard to come up with accurate figures for the number of bombers the Japanese brought down,and how many were lost,atleast in part,to mechanical failures.

http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/to...ses_damage.htm Case in point:

Our Gal (44-61932) - When 40 to 70 MiGs attacked a B-29 formation, aircraft 44-61932 was damaged to the degree that the crew bailed out over Wonsan Harbor near Tri-yom-do on October 24, 1951. US Navy aircraft flew RESCAP over the crew. All but two were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

Bill Clinton is a Grammy winner.

[Platapus]

Ohh winner


(wipes off glasses)

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

George W. Bush is an artist.

[Jimbuna]

Barack Obama was nicknamed "O'bomber" by his high school basketball team.

[Platapus]

in 1943, Mary Babnik Brown donated her 34 inch long hair to the war effort in WWII. Brown's hair was used in scientific equipment to make precise measurements of humidity, paramount in the production of military aircraft and other war equipment.


It is a myth that her hair was used in the Norton Bombsite, despite Reagan sending her a personal letter, in 1987, thanking her for donating and helping with the bombsite.

[Jimbuna]

Donald Trump is a germaphobe.

[Platapus]

Jacqueline Cochran was the first woman to break the sound barrier on 18 May 1953.



She still holds more distance and speed records than any pilot living or dead, male or female.

[Jimbuna]

Joe Biden overcame a debilitating stutter by reciting poetry

[Jimbuna]

George Washington was a redhead.