History Dispatches

There are many ways that we deliver mail today: car, truck, ship, plane, on foot. But one thing mail doesn't do is travel via rocket. Except for when the US Post Office tried to do so in 1959 by loading 3,000 letters onto a cruise missile. This is the story of Rocket Mail.

Sources

https://www.postalmuseum.org/blog/experimenting-with-rockets/

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/collections/object-spotlight/regulus-missile-mail-letter

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/fad-to-fundamental-airmail-in-america-historic-airplanes-unusual-and-experimental/missile

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mail-delivery-rocket-never-took-180963557/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Missilemail.jpg

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In France in August of 1572, the marriage of the King’s sister - a Catholic - to a prominent Protestant prince was supposed to unite the nation’s warring factions. However, militant Catholics in Paris would instead launch a shocking attack on their rivals. When the killing ended, tens of thousands of Protestants would be slaughtered - and the Wars of Religion were reignited. This is the story of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/event/Massacre-of-Saint-Bartholomews-Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bartholomew%27s_Day_massacre

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_masacre_de_San_Bartolom%C3%A9,_por_Fran%C3%A7ois_Dubois.jpg

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In the city of Halicarnassus, the king Mausolus died around 350 BC. His wife then embarked on construction of a tomb so grand that it would rival the pyramids. Fourteen stories tall, three layers, immaculate sculptures, and enough grandeur to humble the grumpiest Roman, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus has gone down as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Sources

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Turkey/_Periods/Greek/_Texts/LETGKB/Mausoleum*.html#note:short_description_by_Pliny

https://turkisharchaeonews.net/site/mausoleum-halicarnassus

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

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philips_Galle,_Mausol%C3%A6et_i_Halikarnassos,_1572,_KKSgb10002-5,_Statens_Museum_for_Kunst.jpg

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Public art is a common site in many cities. But not many pieces of public art are in such a prominent place, nor are they so weird as Blucifer - a 32-foot tall statue of a blue mustang with fiery red eyes right outside Denver International Airport. A statue that not only looks like a demon, but is rumored to be inhabited by one - and killed its creator. This is the story of Blucifer.

Sources

https://www.cpr.org/2019/11/04/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-blucifer-the-demon-horse-of-dia/

https://www.uncovercolorado.com/blucifer-blue-mustang-statue-denver-airport/

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

Image: Courtesy of Nick North

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In Part 2 of our look at the creation of Star Wars - we talk about the challenges involving the casting, design, production and marketing of the film.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(film)

https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/george-lucas-star-wars-facts

https://everything-everywhere.com/the-history-of-star-wars/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Star_wars2.svg

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