MATTHEW BOURGEOIS

STAFF WRITER

   09/09:  In 1776, the Continental Congress renamed the United Colonies the infamous United States of America that is known throughout the world. In the world of technology, the first “bug” was found in a naval computer system. The moth was removed with tweezers by Admiral Grace Hopper in 1945.

   09/10: In 1776, George Washington appointed Nathan Hale as one of the first spies in the U.S during the Revolutionary War. In 1945, Mike the headless chicken, was decapitated in Colorado and survived for 18 more months before choking to death. In sports, Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees was the first man to hit three Home Runs in a single game at Griffith Stadium.

   09/11: This day holds a sense of loss in the hearts of those before us, as it should for ourselves. On September 11, 2001, 19 Islamic extremists hijacked four Boeing 747 passenger jets and treated them as guided missiles. Two such jets were directed on the World Trade Center, in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington D.C, and one was crashed into a field on the outskirts of Shanksville, pen- some say due to the valiant efforts of people aboard the aircraft that regained control of the plane.

   Over 3,000 Americans lost their lives that day, and it was this massive death toll that spurred the U.S government into it’s war on terror.

   A decade later on May 2, Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda (the group responsible), was killed by SEAL team 6. It is on this day we bow our heads and raise our thoughts to the men and women serving this country, keeping us safe from threats near and far.

   09/12: In England, 1624, the first submarine was publicly tested in honor of King James I. the sub and a pair of others like it were made by Dutch engineer Cornelis Drebbel.   According to works of the time, all subs were functional with oarsman and room for cargo. In 1776, Nathan Hale departs from Harlem Heights Camp for one of the first spy missions of the U.S. 

   In more recent time, the 9-12 project performed several marches in the US to protest government spending.

   In response to the invasion of Poland, the French Army advances into Germany. On this day they reach their furthest penetration which was five miles.

   09/13: On the coast of our own little town in 1861, the first naval engagement of the Civil War was fought when the Union frigate “Colorado” sinks the privateer “Judah.”

   The first powered flight in Europe took place in France, 1906. The flight lasted 197 feet at a height of almost 200 feet, and the pilot, Albertos Dumon, won an Arcdecon of  3,ooo francs.

   IBM introduced the first commercial computer that used hard drives with magnetic discs. The machine weighed over a ton.

   The Soviet Union’s Luna 2 probe was the first space probe to reach the Earth’s moon.