Tomahawk (missile)

The Tomahawk () Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship- and submarine-based land-attack operations.
Designed at APL/JHU, it was initially produced in the 1970s by General Dynamics as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. The missile's modular design accommodates a wide variety of warhead, guidance, and range capabilities. At least six variants and multiple upgraded versions have been introduced since then, including air-, sub-, and ground-launched variants and conventional and nuclear-armed ones. As of 2019, only non-nuclear, sea-launched variants assembled by Raytheon are currently in service.
The U.S. Navy contracted with APL/JHU to design BGM-109 Tomahawk missile, the project was headed by James Walker at Applied Physics Laboratory near Laurel, Maryland. Since then, it has been upgraded several times with guidance systems for precision navigation. In 1992–1994, McDonnell Douglas Corporation was the sole supplier of Tomahawk Missiles and produced Block II and Block III Tomahawk missiles and remanufactured many Tomahawks to Block III specifications. In 1994, Hughes outbid McDonnell Douglas Aerospace to become the sole supplier of Tomahawk missiles. It is now manufactured by Raytheon. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense purchased 149 Tomahawk Block IV missiles for $202.3 million.
The Tomahawk was most recently used by the U.S. Navy against Syrian chemical weapons facilities when 66 were launched in the 2018 missile strikes against Syria.
Variants.
There have been several variants of the missile, including:
Ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCM) and their truck-like launch vehicles were employed at bases in Europe; they were withdrawn from service to comply with the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Many of the anti-ship versions were converted into TLAMs at the end of the Cold War. The Block III TLAMs that entered service in 1993 can fly 3 percent farther using their new turbofan engines and use Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to strike more precisely. Block III TLAM-Cs retain the Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) II navigation system, allowing three kinds of navigation: GPS-only, which allow for rapid mission planning, with some reduced accuracy, DSMAC-only, which take longer to plan but terminal accuracy is somewhat better; and GPS-aided missions that combine DSMAC II and GPS navigation for greatest accuracy. Block IV TLAMs have an improved turbofan engine that allows them to get better fuel economy and change speeds in flight. The Block IV TLAMs can loiter better and have an electro-optical sensors that allow real-time battle damage assessment. The Block IVs can be given a new target in flight and can transmit an image, via satcom, immediately before impact to help determine whether the missile is on target and the likely damage from the attack.
Upgrades.
A major improvement to the Tomahawk is network-centric warfare-capabilities, using data from multiple sensors (aircraft, UAVs, satellites, foot soldiers, tanks, ships) to find its target. It will also be able to send data from its sensors to these platforms.
"Tomahawk Block II" variants were all tested during January 1981 to October 1983. Deployed in 1984, some of the improvements included: an improved booster rocket, cruise missile radar altimeter, and navigation through the Digital Scene Matching Area Corellator (DSMAC). DSMAC was a highly accurate rudimentary AI which allowed early low power computers to navigate and precisely target objectives using cameras on board the missile. With its ability to visually identify and aim directly at a target, it was more accurate than weapons using estimated GPS coordinates. Due to the very limited computer power of the day, DSMAC did not directly evaluate the maps, but instead would compute contrast maps and then combine multiple maps into a buffer, then compare the average of those combined images to determine if it was similar to the data in its small memory system. The data for the flight path was very low resolution in order to free up memory to be used for high resolution data about the target area. The guidance data was computed by a mainframe computer which took spy satellite photos and estimated what the terrain would appear like during low level flight. Since this data would not match the real terrain exactly, and since terrain changes seasonally and with changes in light quality, DSMAC would filter out differences between maps and use the remaining similar sections in order to find its location regardless of changes in how the ground appeared. It also had an extremely bright strobe light it could use to illuminate the ground for fractions of a second in order to find its position at night, and was able to take the difference in ground appearance into account.
"Tomahawk Block III" introduced in 1993 added time-of-arrival control and improved accuracy for Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator (DSMAC) and jam-resistant GPS, smaller, lighter WDU-36 warhead, engine improvements and extended missile's range.
"Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System (TTWCS)" takes advantage of a loitering feature in the missile's flight path and allows commanders to redirect the missile to an alternative target, if required. It can be reprogrammed in-flight to attack predesignated targets with GPS coordinates stored in its memory or to any other GPS coordinates. Also, the missile can send data about its status back to the commander. It entered service with the US Navy in late 2004. The Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System (TTWCS) added the capability for limited mission planning on board the firing unit (FRU).
"Tomahawk Block IV" introduced in 2006 adds the strike controller which can change the missile in flight to one of 15 preprogrammed alternate targets or redirect it to a new target. This targeting flexibility includes the capability to loiter over the battlefield awaiting a more critical target. The missile can also transmit battle damage indication imagery and missile health and status messages via the two-way satellite data link. Firing platforms now have the capability to plan and execute GPS-only missions. Block IV also has an improved anti-jam GPS receiver for enhanced mission performance.
Block IV includes Tomahawk Weapons Control System (TTWCS), and Tomahawk Command and Control System (TC2S).
On 16 August 2010, the Navy completed the first live test of the Joint Multi-Effects Warhead System (JMEWS), a new warhead designed to give the Tomahawk the same blast-fragmentation capabilities while introducing enhanced penetration capabilities in a single warhead. In the static test, the warhead detonated and created a hole large enough for the follow-through element to completely penetrate the concrete target. In February 2014, U.S. Central Command sponsored development and testing of the JMEWS, analyzing the ability of the programmable warhead to integrate onto the Block IV Tomahawk, giving the missile bunker buster effects to better penetrate hardened structures.
In 2012, the USN studied applying Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) technology into the Tactical Tomahawk.
In 2014, Raytheon began testing Block IV improvements to attack sea and moving land targets. The new passive radar seeker will pick up the electromagnetic radar signature of a target and follow it, and actively send out a signal to bounce off potential targets before impact to discriminate its legitimacy before impact. Mounting the multi-mode sensor on the missile's nose would remove fuel space, but company officials believe the Navy would be willing to give up space for the sensor's new technologies. The previous Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile, retired over a decade earlier, was equipped with inertial guidance and the seeker of the Harpoon missile and there was concern with its ability to clearly discriminate between targets from a long distance, since at the time Navy sensors did not have as much range as the missile itself, which would be more reliable with the new seeker's passive detection and millimeter-wave active radar homing. Raytheon estimates adding the new seeker would cost $250,000 per missile. Other upgrades include a sea-skimming flight path. The first Block IV TLAMs modified with a maritime attack capability will enter service in 2021.
A supersonic version of the Tomahawk is under consideration for development with a ramjet to increase its speed to Mach 3. A limiting factor to this is the dimensions of shipboard launch tubes. Instead of modifying every ship able to carry cruise missiles, the ramjet-powered Tomahawk would still have to fit within a 21-inch-diameter and 20-foot-long tube.
In October 2015, Raytheon announced the Tomahawk had demonstrated new capabilities in a test launch, using its onboard camera to take a reconnaissance photo and transmit it to fleet headquarters. It then entered a loitering pattern until given new targeting coordinates to strike.
By January 2016, Los Alamos National Laboratory was working on a project to turn unburned fuel left over when a Tomahawk reaches its target into an additional explosive force. To do this, the missile's JP-10 fuel is turned into a fuel air explosive to combine with oxygen in the air and burn rapidly. The thermobaric explosion of the burning fuel acts, in effect, as an additional warhead and can even be more powerful than the main warhead itself when there is sufficient fuel left in the case of a short-range target.
Tomahawk Block V was introduced in 2021 with improvements to navigation and in-flight targeting. Block Va, the Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST) which allows the missile to engage a moving target at sea, and Block Vb outfitted with the JMEWS warhead for hard-target penetration, will be released after the initial batch of Block V is delivered in March 2021. All Block IV Tomahawks will be converted to Block V standard, while the remaining Block III missiles will be retired and demilitarized.
In 2020, Los Alamos National Laboratory reported that it would use corn ethanol to produce domestic fuel for Tomahawk missiles, which also does not require harsh acids to manufacture, compared to petroleum-based JP-10.
Launch systems.
Each missile is stored and launched from a pressurized canister that protects it during transportation and storage, and also serves as a launch tube. These canisters were racked in Armored Box Launchers (ABL), which were installed on the four reactivated "Iowa"-class battleships , , , and . The ABLs were also installed on eight , the four , and the nuclear cruiser . These canisters are also in vertical launching systems (VLS) in other surface ships, capsule launch systems (CLS) in the later and s, and in submarines' torpedo tubes.
All ABL equipped ships have been decommissioned.
For submarine-launched missiles (called UGM-109s), after being ejected by gas pressure (vertically via the VLS) or by water impulse (horizontally via the torpedo tube), a solid-fuel booster is ignited to propel the missile and guide it out of the water.
After achieving flight, the missile's wings are unfolded for lift, the airscoop is exposed and the turbofan engine is employed for cruise flight. Over water, the Tomahawk uses inertial guidance or GPS to follow a preset course; once over land, the missile's guidance system is aided by terrain contour matching (TERCOM). Terminal guidance is provided by the Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) system or GPS, producing a claimed circular error probable of about 10 meters.
The Tomahawk Weapon System consists of the missile, Theater Mission Planning Center (TMPC)/Afloat Planning System, and either the Tomahawk Weapon Control System (on surface ships) or Combat Control System (for submarines).
Several versions of control systems have been used, including:
On August 18, 2019, the United States Navy conducted a test flight of a Tomahawk missile launched from a ground-based version of the Mark 41 Vertical Launch System. It was the United States' first acknowledged launch of a missile that would have violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from which the Trump administration withdrew on August 2.
Munitions.
The TLAM-D contains 166 sub-munitions in 24 canisters: 22 canisters of seven each, and two canisters of six each to conform to the dimensions of the airframe. The sub-munitions are the same type of Combined Effects Munition bomblet used in large quantities by the U.S. Air Force with the CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition. The sub-munitions canisters are dispensed two at a time, one per side. The missile can perform up to five separate target segments which enables it to attack multiple targets. However, in order to achieve a sufficient density of coverage typically all 24 canisters are dispensed sequentially from back to front.
Navigation.
TERCOM – Terrain Contour Matching. A digital representation of an area of terrain is mapped based on digital terrain elevation data or stereo imagery. This map is then inserted into a TLAM mission which is then loaded onto the missile. When the missile is in flight it compares the stored map data with radar altimeter data collected as the missile overflies the map. Based on comparison results the missile's inertial navigation system is updated and the missile corrects its course. TERCOM was based on, and was a significant improvement on, "Fingerprint," a technology developed in 1964 for the SLAM.
DSMAC – Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation. A digitized image of an area is mapped and then inserted into a TLAM mission. During the flight the missile will verify that the images that it has stored correlates with the image it sees below itself. Based on comparison results the missile's inertial navigation system is updated and the missile corrects its course.
Operational history.
United States Navy.
In the 1991 Gulf War, 288 Tomahawks were launched, 12 from submarines and 276 from surface ships. The first salvo was fired by the destroyer on January 17, 1991. The attack submarines and followed.
On 17 January 1993, 46 Tomahawks were fired at the Zafraniyah Nuclear Fabrication Facility outside Baghdad, in response to Iraq's refusal to cooperate with UN disarmament inspectors. One missile crashed into the side of the Al Rasheed Hotel, killing two civilians.
On 26 June 1993, 23 Tomahawks were fired at the Iraqi Intelligence Service's command and control center.
On 10 September 1995, launched 13 Tomahawk missiles from the central Adriatic Sea against a key air defense radio relay tower in Bosnian Serb territory during Operation Deliberate Force.
On 3 September 1996, 44 ship-launched UGM-109 and B-52-launched AGM-86 cruise missiles were fired at air defense targets in southern Iraq.
On 20 August 1998, 79 Tomahawk missiles were fired simultaneously at two targets in Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for the bombings of American embassies by Al-Qaeda.
On 16 December 1998, 325 Tomahawk missiles were fired at key Iraqi targets during Operation Desert Fox.
In early 1999, 218 Tomahawk missiles were fired by U.S. ships and a British submarine during 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia against targets in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
In October 2001, about 50 Tomahawk missiles struck targets in Afghanistan in the opening hours of Operation Enduring Freedom.
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, more than 802 Tomahawk missiles were fired at key Iraqi targets.
On 3 March 2008, two Tomahawk missiles were fired at a target in Somalia by a US vessel during the Dobley airstrike, reportedly in an attempt to kill Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, an al Qaeda militant.
On 17 December 2009, two Tomahawk missiles were fired at targets in Yemen. One TLAM-D struck an alleged Al-Qaeda training camp in al-Ma’jalah in al-Mahfad, a region of the Abyan governorate of Yemen. Amnesty International reported that 55 people were killed in the attack, including 41 civilians (21 children, 14 women, and six men). The US and Yemen governments refused to confirm or deny involvement, but diplomatic cables released as part of United States diplomatic cables leak later confirmed the missile was fired by a U.S. Navy ship.
On 19 March 2011, 124 Tomahawk missiles were fired by U.S. and British forces (112 US, 12 British) against at least 20 Libyan targets around Tripoli and Misrata. As of 22 March 2011, 159 UGM-109 were fired by US and UK ships against Libyan targets.
On 23 September 2014, 47 Tomahawk missiles were fired by the United States from and , which were operating from international waters in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, against ISIL targets in Syria in the vicinity of Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah and Abu Kamal, and against Khorasan group targets in Syria west of Aleppo.
On 13 October 2016 five Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched by at three radar sites in Yemen held by Houthi rebels in response to anti-ship missiles fired at US Navy ships the day before.
On 6 April 2017, 59 Tomahawk missiles were launched from and , targeting Shayrat Airbase near Homs, in Syria. The strike was in response to a chemical weapons attack, an act allegedly carried out by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. U.S. Central Command stated in a press release that Tomahawk missiles hit "aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, defense systems, and radars". Initial U.S. reports claimed "approximately 20 planes" were destroyed, and that 58 out of the 59 cruise missiles launched had "severely degraded or destroyed" their intended target. A later report by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis claimed that the strike destroyed about 20% of the Syrian government's operational aircraft. Syrian state-run media claimed that nine civilians, including four children living in nearby villages were killed and another seven wounded as a result of the strike after missiles fell on their homes, but The Pentagon said civilians were not targeted. According to the satellite images the runways and the taxiways have been undamaged and combat flights from the attacked airbase resumed on 7 April a few hours after the attack, although U.S. officials did not state that the runway was a target.
An independent bomb damage assessment conducted by ImageSat International counted hits on 44 targets, with some targets being hit by more than one missile; these figures were determined using satellite images of the airbase 10 hours after the strike. However, the Russian defense ministry contends that the combat effectiveness of the attack was "extremely low"; only 23 missiles hit the base destroying six aircraft, and it did not know where the other 36 landed. Russian television news, citing a Syrian source at the airfield, said that nine planes were destroyed by the strikes (5 Su-22M3s, 1 Su-22M4, and 3 Mig-23ML) and that all planes were thought to have been out of action at the time. Al-Masdar News reported that 15 fighter jets were damaged or destroyed and that the destruction of fuel tankers caused several explosions and a large fire. However, Lost Armour's online photographic database, for vehicle losses in the War in Syria, has images of 10 destroyed aircraft at Shayrat airbase. Some observers conclude that the Russian government—and therefore also the Syrian government—was warned and Syria had enough time to move most of the planes to another base. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike damaged over a dozen hangars, a fuel depot, and an air defense base.
On April 14, 2018, the US launched 66 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syrian targets near Damascus and Homs, as part of the 2018 bombing of Damascus and Homs. These strikes were done in retaliation for alleged Douma chemical attack. The United States Department of Defense said Syria fired 40 defensive missiles at the allied weapons but did not hit any targets. The Russian military said that Syrian air defenses shot down 71 of the 103 missiles launched by the US and its allies.
Royal Navy.
In 1995 the US agreed to sell 65 Tomahawks to the UK for torpedo-launch from their nuclear attack submarines. The first missiles were acquired and test-fired in November 1998; all Royal Navy fleet submarines are now Tomahawk capable, including the "Astute"-class. The Kosovo War in 1999 saw the Swiftsure-class HMS "Splendid" become the first British submarine to fire the Tomahawk in combat. The UK subsequently bought 20 more Block III to replenish stocks. The Royal Navy has since fired Tomahawks during the 2000s Afghanistan War, in Operation Telic as the British contribution to the 2003 Iraq War, and during Operation Ellamy in Libya in 2011.
In April 2004, the UK and US governments reached an agreement for the British to buy 64 of the new generation of Tomahawk missile—the Block IV or TacTom missile. It entered service with the Royal Navy on 27 March 2008, three months ahead of schedule. In July 2014 the US approved the sale to the UK of a further 65 submarine-launched Block IV's at a cost of US$140m including spares and support; the Block III missiles were on British books at £1.1m and the Block IV at £0.87m including VAT.
The Sylver Vertical Launching System on the new Type 45 destroyer is claimed by its manufacturers to have the capability to fire the Tomahawk, although the A50 launcher carried by the Type 45 is too short for the weapon (the longer A70 silo would be required). Nevertheless, the Type 45 has been designed with weight and space margin for a strike-length Mk41 or Sylver A70 silo to be retrofitted, allowing Type 45 to use the TLAM Block IV if required. The new Type 26 frigates will have strike-length Mk41 VLS tubes. SYLVER user France is developing MdCN, a version of the Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missile that has a shorter range but a higher speed than Tomahawk and can be launched from the SYLVER system.
United States Air Force.
The Air Force is a former operator of the nuclear-armed version of the Tomahawk, the BGM-109G Gryphon.
United States Army.
In November 2020, the U.S. Army selected the Tomahawk to fulfill its Mid-Range Capability (MRC), giving it a land-based long-range missile capable of striking ground and sea targets. The Army plans to use the Tomahawk alongside a ground-based SM-6 and field them by late 2023.
Canada.
According to infographics released by Royal Canadian Navy, their new frigates (CSC) will be equipped with the missile.
Other users.
The Netherlands (2005) and Spain (2002 and 2005) were interested in acquiring the Tomahawk system, but the orders were later cancelled in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
In 2009 the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States stated that Japan would be concerned if the TLAM-N were retired, but the government of Japan has denied that it had expressed any such view.
The SLCM version of the Popeye was developed by Israel after the US Clinton administration refused an Israeli request in 2000 to purchase Tomahawk SLCM's because of international Missile Technology Control Regime proliferation rules.
As of March 12, 2015 Poland has expressed interest in purchasing long-range Tomahawk missiles for its future submarines.


2009 Mount Redoubt eruptive activity

Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano began erupting on March 22, 2009, and activity continued for several months.
During the eruptions, which lasted for several months, reports found ash clouds reaching as high as above sea level. In response, the National Weather Service issued a series of ash fall advisories. The Mat-Su Valley, Anchorage, Valdez and large portions of the Kenai Peninsula all received coatings of tephra. The 2009 eruptions of Mount Redoubt represented the most seismic activity occurring on the mountain in twenty years.
Renewed concerns over the Drift River Terminal Facility.
The 2009 eruptions of Mount Redoubt renewed concerns over the safety of the nearby tank farm which holds crude oil, known as the Drift River Terminal Facility. During the earlier, 1989-90 eruptions of Redoubt, the facility was inundated and damaged by lahars. Dikes built after the 89/90 activity protected the tanks, although an aircraft hangar and runway were flooded and damaged by the flooding and related debris. In late March the US Coast Guard decided to move the millions of gallons located at the facility to prevent an ecological disaster. The plan called for then refilling the tanks with "harmless" ballast water to prevent them from being dislodged by flooding.
However, on April 5, the Coast Guard stated that filling the empty tanks with ballast water was not possible, because it would create a hazardous waste that the neither the facility nor the Coast Guard was prepared to deal with afterward. Instead, the oil was removed and the empty tanks remained vulnerable to damage from further flooding. In the meantime, oil production in Cook Inlet was suspended, because the tank farms were out of commission while Mount Redoubt remained in an eruptive state.
When the eruptions subsided, the tanks were undamaged and the facility was cleared of debris and subsequently reopened.
Eruptive activity.
As of April 4, 2009, AVO had recorded twenty-six volcanic eruptions and/or explosions at Redoubt volcano, although they singled out nineteen of them as most notable. The AVO refers to an "eruption" as any event which discharges ash into the atmosphere, while adding the term "explosion" for more vigorous events. The AVO did not rate and compare each eruption, although the 9:24 am eruption on March 26 reached an altitude of 65,000 feet making it the highest volcanic ash cloud to date during the 2009 phase of activity. The eruption on April 4 was described as being the biggest eruption to date. There were also periods when the volcano emitted notable amounts of steam but did not erupt.
The AVO reported that Redoubt erupted or exhibited other notable activity at the following times, with all ash cloud heights in feet above sea level:
Aftermath of 2009 eruptions and prognosis for future activity.
On April 11, 2009, the Alaska Volcano Observatory released the following statement into the public domain on their USGS affiliated website regarding the aftermath of the 2009 eruptions of Mount Redoubt, and a prognosis for future activity.
The 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano continues. A lava dome is currently growing in the summit crater, accompanied by intermittent emissions of volcanic gases and minor amounts of ash. Additional explosive events are likely and could send ash to greater than 30,000 feet above sea level. Such a cycle of dome growth and explosive dome destruction may continue for many months. The potential for lahars (volcanic mudflows) and other flooding down the Drift River Valley remains, as does the potential for trace to minor ash fall on communities near Redoubt (e.g., the Kenai Peninsula Borough, The Municipality of Anchorage, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and possibly more distant areas).
The 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano began with a minor explosion of steam and ash just after 13:00 AKDT on March 15. Major explosive events began at approximately 22:40 March 22 AKDT, and since then AVO has recorded more than 19 separate explosions. Plume heights, as measured by radar and confirmed by pilot reports, have exceeded 50,000 feet (15 km) above sea level on multiple occasions. To date, the largest explosion occurred at 05:55 AKDT April 4, lasted more than 30 minutes, and is comparable in size to the largest event of the 1989/1990 Redoubt eruption.
Three major lahars (volcanic mudflows), on March 23, March 26, and April 4, have inundated the Drift River Valley and its downstream coastal fan. All of these reached the Cook Inlet and affected the Drift River Oil Terminal (DROT). The peak discharge rates of these lahars remains under investigation, but all are considered significant, and the April 4 event may have exceeded the size of any lahar observed during the 1989/1990 eruption. Smaller lahars that did not impact DROT have also occurred.
Several of Redoubt's recent explosions have resulted in measurable ash fall over populated areas as distant as Delta Junction (340 miles northeast of Redoubt), with more significant ash fall in more proximate areas, including the Susitna Valley, the Kenai Peninsula and the Anchorage bowl. On the afternoon of March 28, ash fall in Anchorage closed the airport from 17:00 until 07:00 the next morning (March 29). The maximum ash fall measured so far in a populated area is about 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) near Seldovia following the April 4 explosion. A measurement of about 1/8 inch (3 mm) following the explosion on March 26, was recorded near Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, about 30 miles (48 km) south of the volcano. Trace ash fall has also been observed between explosive events during times when the volcano is emitting a continuous low altitude (< 15,000 feet ASL) gas and ash plume.
A rich variety of seismic signals have been recorded at Redoubt throughout the eruption and in the preceding months of unrest. These seismic events include: (1) typical "rock-breaking" earthquakes; (2) volcanic "tremor", indicative of steam and other volcanic gases or fluids vigorously propagating through cracks; (3) large, far-reaching, "cigar-shaped" signals resulting from volcanic explosions; (4) ground shaking from lahars as they pass nearby seismometers; and (5) small, repetitive, self-similar events associated with the slow extrusion of lava (this kind of extrusion is often referred to as "dome building"). More than 1700 earthquakes have been located since mid-January, and many more occurred that were either too small or of such a character as to make location impossible. Typically, the magnitudes of these events are small, the average being around M0.5. However, on April 9 a magnitude 3.3 earthquake occurred about 2.5 miles (4 km) E/NE of Redoubt's summit, possibly resulting from a crustal adjustment to the ongoing withdrawal from Redoubt's subterranean magma reservoir.
Since the fall of 2008, AVO has flown 13 gas measurement flights, and of these, 5 have occurred since the eruption began on March 15, 2009. Elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) emission rates (up to 2000 tonnes/day) were measured in October–November, 2008. Starting in late January 2009, and coincident with a strong increase in seismicity, gas emission rates rose to a level (> 5000 tonnes/d) suggesting significant unrest at the volcano, and emissions stayed at this level until the eruption began. Since that time, emissions of both CO2 and sulfur dioxide (SO2) have been very elevated, sometimes reaching levels in excess of 10,000 tonnes/d. These volcanic gas emission rates are among the largest ever measured in Alaska, though such high values are consistent with an openly degassing volcanic system that is actively extruding lava. Based on measurements and observations from Redoubt's previously observed eruptions, these gas emission rates are likely to drop substantially when the eruption wanes.
The combination of gas and ash emission from Redoubt since the beginning of the eruption has on occasion resulted in a brownish-yellow volcanic haze in the Cook Inlet region. The volcanic haze contains small quantities of ash, water vapor, sulfur aerosols, and liquid droplets suspended in the air. The main concerns for human health in volcanic haze consist of ash, sulfur dioxide gas (SO2), and sulfuric acid droplets (H2SO4), which forms when volcanic SO2 oxidizes in the atmosphere. Volcanic haze can be both an eye and respiratory irritant. The State of Alaska Epidemiology Bulletin No. 5 summarizes the health effects associated with volcanic emissions and is available on the web at http://www.epi.hss.state.ak.us/bulletins/docs/b2006_05.pdf.
Visual and satellite observations show that by March 27, a deep crater about a half mile (800 m) across formed in the middle of the summit amphitheater, likely from one or more of the explosions during the early stage of the eruption. By April 4, a north/south elongated lava dome, about a half mile (800 m) long had grown out of the new crater, at an elevation of around 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level. Most if not all of this dome was destroyed during the large explosion of April 4. A large amount of ice and snow has been removed from the upper Drift Glacier. The Drift River Valley has also been mostly denuded of snow and is covered with lahar deposits. The latest observations, as of about April 9, show a growing lava dome in about the same place as the previous dome. This new dome is about a quarter mile (400 meters) in diameter, and roughly circular as viewed from above.
The 2009 Redoubt eruption began with a series of large explosions on March 22–23, followed by less-energetic dome growth in the summit crater. On April 4, another large explosion occurred, which was in turn followed by growth of the current dome. There will likely be additional explosive events during the coming days to months, but their exact nature, as well as timing, remains uncertain. Because the dome sits at the lip of a steep slope leading out of the crater it can become unstable, and (as in 1990) collapse into the Drift River valley, producing avalanches of hot lava blocks, pyroclastic flows, lahars, and ash columns tens of thousands of feet tall, which can carry ash to Alaska communities. During periods between explosions, residents and pilots may also notice occasional sulfur smell and hazy conditions due to low-level ash and volcanic gas emissions.
Disruption of oil production and state oil revenue.
In late May 2009, it was reported that the continued shutdown of oil production in Cook Inlet due to the eruption of Mount Redoubt was costing the state of Alaska approximately US$1.5 million a month in tax revenue.


Kalavryta

Kalavryta () is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the river Vouraikos, south of Aigio, southeast of Patras and northwest of Tripoli. Notable mountains in the municipality are Mount Erymanthos in the west and Aroania or Chelmos in the southeast. Kalavryta is the southern terminus of the Diakopto-Kalavryta rack railway, built by Italian engineers between 1885 and 1895.
History.
Kalavryta is built near the ancient city of Cynaetha.
During the late Middle Ages, the town was the centre of the Barony of Kalavryta within the Frankish Principality of Achaea, until it was reconquered by the Byzantines in the 1270s. After that it remained under Byzantine control until the fall of the Despotate of the Morea to the Ottoman Turks in 1460. With the exception of a 30-year interlude of Venetian control, the town remained under Turkish rule until the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, in whose early stages Kalavryta figures prominently: it was here that on 21 March 1821 the flag of the revolt was raised at the monastery of Agia Lavra by bishop Germanos III of Old Patras.
At the end of 1943, near Kalavryta, 81 German soldiers, led by Hauptmann Johannes Schober, were captured by Greek partisans. Four Germans were killed on the spot. Three were taken to hospital at Kalavryta but were later shot by the furious partisans. The rest were initially treated as prisoners of war until most were shot dead and some plunged over the cliff near Mazi from the force of the shots. Two German prisoners survived the execution and raised the alarm on the following day 8 December 1943.
On 13 December 1943, in retribution for the killing of the captured German soldiers, the Massacre of Kalavryta took place. German troops ordered all male residents of Kalavryta, aged 14 years and up, to gather in a field just outside the village. Some 1 300 women and girls were locked in a school which was then set on fire while the men were looking on from a hill outside the village. Fortunately for the women, an Austrian soldier unlocked the door of the building and the women and girls managed to escape. The Germans shot the soldier who had set them free. Then 696 boys and men were machine-gunned. Only 13 survived. After that, they burnt down the town before they left and the next day they burnt down the monastery of Agia Lavra, the birthplace of the Greek War of Independence. After the war, the federal government of Germany offered gestures of atonement in the form of free school books for the high school, scholarships for orphans of the massacre and the building of a retirement home. However, German commanders, including Major Ebersberger who carried out the destruction of Kalavryta and Hauptmann Dohnert who led the firing party, were never brought to justice for their crimes.
The Kalavryta region also became the site of fighting during the Greek Civil War. On 11 April 1948, Kalavryta was seized by the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) after the former overpowered the town's garrison. DSE released 17 leftists held in the local gendarmerie building, while also emptying the national guard and United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration warehouses; taking 400 million drachmas and large quantities of food and military equipment in the process.
Landmarks.
In Kastria, in the municipal unit of Kleitoria, there is the famous cave system "Spilaio ton Limnon" ("Cave of the Lakes") which is filled with beautiful lakes and strange rock formations. Kalavryta has a ski centre which is located east of town, on the slopes of Chelmos. The monastery of Agia Lavra is located on a hill southwest of Kalavryta. Another famous monastery nearby is Mega Spilaio which is located northeast.
Administration.
The municipality Kalavryta was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:
The municipality has an area of 1,058.147 km2, the municipal unit 531.797 km2.
Subdivisions.
The municipal unit of Kalavryta is divided into the following communities:
Province.
The province of Kalavryta () was one of the provinces of Achaea. It had the same territory as the present municipality. It was abolished in 2006.


Roscoe Sarles

Roscoe Sarles (4 January 1892 – 17 September 1922) was an American racecar driver active in the formative years of auto racing.
Biography.
He was born on January 4, 1892 in New Albany, Indiana.
Sarles was burned to death on September 17, 1922 when his car crashed at the Kansas City Speedway.
Indianapolis 500 results.
Finishing Positions in AAA championships.
1919 4th, 1920 5th, 1921 2nd, 1922 6th


Beretta A303

The Beretta A303 is a semi-automatic shotgun, developed by the Italian arms manufacturing company Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta.


MAP75 Armoured Personnel Carrier

The MAP75 Armoured Personnel Carrier (a.k.a. MAP 'seven five') is a Rhodesian 4x4 heavy troop-carrying vehicle (TCV) first introduced in 1978 based on a Mercedes-Benz truck chassis. It remains in use with the Zimbabwe National Army.
General description.
The MAP75 consists of an all-welded body with a fully enclosed troop compartment built on a modified Mercedes-Benz 7.5 ton Series LA1113/42 truck chassis ('Rodef 45'). Adapted from the Crocodile Armoured Personnel Carrier, the open-topped hull or 'capsule' is faceted at the sides, which were designed to deflect small-arms' rounds, and a flat deck reinforced by a v-shaped 'crush box' meant to deflect landmine blasts. Three inverted U-shaped 'roll bars' shorter than those on the Crocodile were fitted to protect the fighting compartment from being crushed in case the vehicle turned and roll over after a mine detonation. However, the reduced height of the 'roll bars' often hampered the crew's movements inside the vehicle, though the problem was rectified only in the post-war Zimbabwean versions by fitting higher bars.
Access to the vehicle's interior is made by means of two medium-sized doors at the vertical hull rear whilst two square hatches placed low at the hull sides allowed for rapid debussing, an innovation that reflected the vehicle's combat offensive role.
Protection.
The hull was made of ballistic 10mm mild steel plate; front windscreen and side windows had 40mm bullet-proof laminated glass.
Armament.
Rhodesian MAP75s were usually armed with a FN MAG-58 7.62mm Light Machine Gun (LMG), sometimes installed on a locally produced one-man MG armoured turret to protect the gunner. Vehicles assigned to convoy escorting duties ('E-type') had a Browning M1919A4 7.62mm medium machine gun mounted on an open-topped, cylinder-shaped turret (dubbed 'the dustbin'). Twin Browning MG pintle mounts placed behind the driver’s compartment were often added on 'Seven fives' employed for 'externals'. The Zimbabwean vehicles after 1980 sported pintle-mounted Soviet-made 12.7mm and 14.5mm Heavy Machine Guns (HMG) instead.
Combat history.
The MAP75 TCV was employed late in the war by the elite units of the Rhodesian Security Forces – the Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR), the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), and the Rhodesian SAS – on their cross-border covert raids ('externals') against ZIPRA and ZANLA guerrilla bases in the neighboring Countries, such as the September 1979 raid on the ZANLA's New Chimoio base in Mozambique (Operation "Miracle").
After independence, the MAP75 entered service with the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) in early 1980 and equipped both the 1st and 2nd Battalions, RAR, which participated in the large military exercises conducted at Somabula Plain, Matabeleland that same year. ZNA's 'Seven Fives' were thrown into action in November 1980 against ZIPRA troops at the 1st Battle of Entumbane and later at the February 1981 2nd Battle of Entumbane (near Bulawayo, Matabeleland), and later again after February 1982 by helping to put down the Super-ZAPU insurgency in Matabeleland. During the Mozambican Civil War, 'Seven Fives' were also employed by the ZNA forces in Mozambique guarding the Mutare-Beira oil pipeline in 1982-1993 from RENAMO guerrilla attacks. The MAP75 served with the ZNA contingent sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2002.
Pop culture.
The post-war "Puma" version made some appearances in television and film productions shot in Zimbabwe and set in the Apartheid era of the 1970s-1980s. In one such film, the 1987 British movie "Cry Freedom", ZNA Pumas appear on several scenes portraying South African Defence Force (SADF) and South African Police (SAP) armoured vehicles.


Ring airfoil projectile


Topkapi Dagger

The Topkapi Dagger is a renowned emerald studded curved dagger, a jambiya , of mid-18th century origin. It is preserved and publicly displayed at the treasury of the Topkapi Palace Museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. One side of the handle of the dagger is set with three large Colombian emeralds whose size and prominence make it an outstanding and valuable object. It is also decorated with many small diamonds.
The dagger was one of several valuable gifts that was carried by an embassy of Sultan Mahmud I (1730-54) to the Shah of Iran but returned when the then Shah Nadir Shah was assassinated before it could be delivered.
A fictional plot to steal the dagger became the theme of the 1964 film "Topkapi" .


Lanfeust Quest

Lanfeust Quest is a French comics series version of the adventures of Lanfeust. Written in Japanese reading direction, small format, black and white and a lot more distinctive style, this revised version of Lanfeust of Troy is illustrated by Ludo Lullabi.
Tomes.
Volume 1.
Released in December 2007
Volume 2.
Released in June 2008
Volume 3.
Released in January 2009
Volume 4.
Released in July 2009
Volume 5.
Released in January 2010
Review.
- "Intended for a wider market, this version only hang Humor is less present, the baddest and the presence hero 's Hébus is almost anecdotal Critics see it as a marketing release ... changes to the specifics of the format make it a 'next' interesting for those who love this series / world which is well developed ..."
- "Lanfeust Quest is not a simple transposition of the Franco-Belgian series Lanfeust of Troy Manga. While the original frame remains but Arleston and Ludo Lullabi achieve perfect adaptation taking into account the specificities of support ..."
- "... Definitely adapting Lanfeust manga format is a success that we look forward to continuing to read."
- "... The authors now seem to have finished their moult transition to manga, adapting happily to the codes of shounen, that fits the character of Lanfeust and his little band ..."
- "... It must be said, the designs are superb Ludo Lullabi perfectly mastered his designs and the new character design is a success no box is sloppy and rendering is very dynamic ..."
Adaptation.
In 2011, it was revealed that Gaumont Animation was developing a 26-episode computer-animated television series based on the comics for M6. The following year, India's DQ Entertainment agreed to co-produce the show. Canal J joined as a broadcast partner that June. In France, M6 premiered the series September 25, 2013, followed by Canal J's broadcast on March 1, 2014, and sister channel Gulli on January 4, 2016.
Australia's ABC3 began airing an English version on July 11, 2014. That same month, Disney Channels Worldwide acquired the series for broadcast in Germany, Spain, Turkey, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Middle East and Africa. The show has also aired on Portugal's Biggs, Singapore's Okto and Spain's Clan.
Reception.
On bdgest.com, M. Antoniutti gave volume 1 a grade of 4 out of 10.


7mm Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum

Remington introduced the 7mm Short Action Ultra Magnum (SAUM) cartridge in 2002 to compete with the 7mm Winchester Short Magnum cartridge. It was designed specifically for the Remington Model Seven Magnum rifle, and intended primarily for long-range hunting use. The difference in velocity between the 7mm SAUM cartridge and the 7mm Winchester Short Magnum (WSM) is less than 50 feet per second; they are almost ballistic twins. Both the 7mm SAUM and the 7mm WSM achieve optimal ballistic results when using bullet weights from 120 to 160 grains.
The 7mm SAUM suffered from being released later than the 7mm WSM, and very few manufacturers chambering rifles in this caliber. The low demand for factory ammunition in 7mm SAUM has resulted in a sharp increase in the cost of 7mm SAUM as of mid 2014.
Currently 7mm SAUM is experiencing a rebound in popularity with custom rifle builders and handloaders, as it is able to drive the long (180 grain class) bullets fast enough for long range target shooting.
The 7mm SAUM is a popular choice in f-class shooting, and has been used to take home multiple championships in this discipline.
The 7mm SAUM fills also fills a niche in extended long range competitions (700-2100 yards) where it is a popular choice.
References.
C.I.P. TDCC sheet 7 mm Rem. SA Ultra Mag.


Crooked knife

The crooked knife sometimes referred to as a "curved knife", "carving knife," or "mocotaugan," from the Cree term "môhkotâkan," is a woodworking knife, typically with a curved end. The crooked knife is a common tool found amongst the native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands as well as non-native woodworkers. The "crooked" in "crooked knife" refers to its unusual shape with the handle set at an oblique angle to the blade. The blade can be straight or curved, long or short and can be made of a steel forged specifically for the knife, or from reused hardened steel from another source. The shape of the blade, whether curved or straight, is a function of the carving purpose of the user: straight for whittling wood, making splints for baskets and incising, curved for hollowing out bowls and masks and ladles, as well as myriad other usages.
The 1971 documentary "César et son canot d'écorce" ("César's Bark Canoe") illustrates the use of a crooked knife in the construction of a birch-bark canoe.
Description and Usage.
John McPhee states, "The blade was bent near its outer end (enabling it to move in grooves and hollows where the straight part could not). The grip, fashioned for convenience of a hand closing over it, was bulbous. The blade had no hinge and protruded rigidly - but not straight out. It formed a shallow V with the grip."
Adney and Chapelle state, "The knife, held with the cutting edge toward the user, was grasped fingers-up with the thumb of the holding hand laid along the part of the handle projecting away from the user. This steadied the knife in cutting. Unlike a jackknife, the crooked knife was not used to whittle but to cut toward the user, and was, in effect, a one-hand drawknife."
According to Henri Vaillancourt, "The original crooked knife was made out of a beaver's tooth."


Sealed round

A sealed round is a munition which is typically stored in some kind of container (usually a cylinder or box, but the container may in fact be the outside of the munition), so that the munition does not require any sort of maintenance and is stored in this container until use. The advantage of this type of system is that such munitions can be stored for long periods without needing to be periodically checked and possibly repaired. Typically these, like all munitions, still do have a shelf-life—but it is often quite long. Bullets have been sealed rounds ever since the cartridge case was invented.
Anti-aircraft missiles.
Many surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and air-to-air missiles (AAMs), which are traditionally very maintenance-intense systems, are moving to this type of system. Examples of modern missile systems which feature sealed rounds include:
The MIM-104, S-300P and S-300V missiles are stored in cylinders, which they are ejected out of upon launch. The 9M33 missiles are stored in boxes in the factory and launched out of them. The AIM-54C missiles are not stored in any kind of container, but are sealed unlike the earlier AIM-54A and AIM-54B which exchanged fluids with the host aircraft. In this case, the advantage of low maintenance has been exchanged for the disadvantage of lower capability, but this is not the case with the other examples.
Anti-tank weapons.
Many infantry anti-tank weapons use sealed rounds, some—such as the US M72 LAW, the Russian RPG-18 and the Swedish AT4—also use the container as the launcher, so that the whole system is discarded after firing.


Bushmaster BA50 Rifle

The Bushmaster BA50 is a bolt action, magazine fed rifle designed to shoot the .50 BMG cartridge. It has a 22- (carbine) or 30 inch, match grade Lothar Walther free-floating barrel with a 1 in 15 inch twist rate (standard for the .50 BMG cartridge). The rifle weighs 30 pounds (without a magazine or ammunition) and has a muzzle brake to help tame the recoil. Bushmaster literature says that the rifle recoils like a .243 Winchester. The barrel has a MIL-STD-1913 rail (Picatinny style) for mounting a rifle scope.
The BA50 was the original design of Cobb Manufacturing. Bushmaster purchased the design and upgraded it and released it as the Bushmaster BA50.
Bushmaster states that the rifle is capable of shooting 1 minute of angle (MOA) with M33 ball ammunition.
In 2020 Remington, who owns Bushmaster, rebranded the rifle to be released as the "R2Mi."


7mm Winchester Short Magnum

The 7mm Winchester Short Magnum (also known as the 7mm WSM) is a centrefire cartridge developed in partnership with Browning Arms Company and Winchester ammunition, making its debut and introduced to the shooting public in 2001. It is a member of the Winchester Short Magnum family of cartridges.
Specifications.
The 7mm WSM is similar to the .300 WSM with the case necked down to handle .284" bullets. However, the distance from the case head to the datum line on the shoulder is longer for the 7WSM, preventing accidental chambering or firing of the .284" 7mm bullet in .270 WSM's .277" bore.
Performance.
The 7mm WSM cartridge achieves its useful purpose as an excellent cartridge for larger mule deer, sheep, black bear and elk.
Winchester claims a muzzle velocity (MV) of 3,225 ft/s with a 140 grain bullet for their 7mm WSM cartridge; the claimed muzzle energy (ME) is 3,233 ft. lbs. With a 160 grain bullet the Winchester figures are 2990 ft/s and 3176 ft. lbs. at the muzzle. The lighter, shorter 7mm bullets are preferred in these short case magnums.
Popularity.
The 7mm WSM has failed to gain the same popularity as the other cartridges in the WSM family. Some people erroneously believe the short case necks make the 7mm WSM poorly suited to heavier bullets, limiting the cartridge's usefulness on larger game. It is no different in this respect than the popular 300 Winchester Magnum.
Cost is another factor limiting popularity. Ammunition prices are higher than those of the 7mm Remington Magnum and the .280 Remington, both of which have similar performance to the 7mm WSM, with the 280 Rem having slightly less muzzle energy and the 7mm Rem Mag being roughly equal.


William Crawford (soldier)

William Crawford (2 September 1722 – 11 June 1782) was an American soldier and surveyor who worked as a western land agent for George Washington. Crawford fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. He was tortured and burned at the stake by American Indians in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre, a notorious slaughter of Indians by militia near the end of the American Revolution.
Biography.
Early career.
In 1722, Crawford was born in Spotsylvania County, Colony of Virginia, at a location which is now in Berkeley County, West Virginia. He was a son of William Crawford and his wife Honora Grimes, who were Scots-Irish farmers. After his father's death in 1736, his mother married Richard Stephenson. Crawford had a younger brother, Valentine Crawford, plus five half-brothers and one half-sister from his mother's second marriage.
In 1742 Crawford married one Ann Stewart, who bore him one child, a daughter also named Ann, in 1743. Apparently she died in childbirth or soon after, and on 5 January 1744 he married Hannah Vance, said to have been born in Pennsylvania in 1723. She bore him a son named John (20 April 1744 – 22 September 1816; he married one Effie Grimes) and at least two daughters, Ophelia "Effie" (2 September 1747 – 1825, who married Captain William McCormick [Feb 2, 1738–August 15, 1816]), and Sarah (1752–10 Nov 1838, who married 1) Major William Harrison [c 1740–13 June 1782], and 2) Lt. Col Uriah Springer [18 Nov 1754–21 Sep 1826]}. There may also have been another daughter, Nancy, born in 1767, who had apparently died when he wrote his will in 1782.
In 1749, Col. William Crawford became acquainted with George Washington, then a young surveyor somewhat younger than Crawford. He accompanied Washington on surveying trips and learned the trade. In 1755, Crawford served in the Braddock expedition with the rank of ensign. Like Washington, he survived the disastrous Battle of the Monongahela. During the French and Indian War, he served in Washington's Virginia Regiment, guarding the Virginia frontier against Native American raiding parties. In 1758, Crawford was a member of General John Forbes's army which captured Fort Duquesne, where Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, now stands. He continued to serve in the military, taking part in Pontiac's War in 1763.
In 1765 Crawford built a cabin on the Braddock Road along the Youghiogheny River in what is now Connellsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. His wife and three children joined him there the following year. Crawford supported himself as a farmer and fur trader. When the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix with the Iroquois opened up additional land for settlement, Crawford worked again as a surveyor, locating lands for settlers and speculators. Governor Robert Dinwiddie had promised bounty land to the men of the Washington's Virginia Regiment for their service in the French and Indian War. In 1770 Crawford and Washington travelled down the Ohio River to choose the land to be given to the regiment's veterans. The area selected was near what is now Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Crawford also made a western scouting trip in 1773 with Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia. Washington could not accompany them because of the sudden death of his stepdaughter.
At the outbreak of Dunmore's War in 1774, Crawford received a major's commission from Lord Dunmore. He built Fort Fincastle at present Wheeling, West Virginia. He also led an expedition which destroyed two Mingo villages (near present Steubenville, Ohio) in retaliation for Chief Logan's raids into Virginia. During the expedition, Crawford's men rescued two captives held by American Indians, killing six and capturing 14 Indians.
Crawford's service to Virginia in Dunmore's War was controversial in Pennsylvania, since the colonies were engaged in a bitter dispute over their borders near Fort Pitt. Crawford had been a justice of the peace in Pennsylvania since 1771, first for Bedford County, then for Westmoreland County when it was established in 1773. Arthur St. Clair, another Pennsylvania official, called for Crawford to be removed from his office, which was done in January 1775. Beginning in 1776, Crawford served as a surveyor and justice for Virginia's short-lived Yohogania County.
American Revolution.
When the American Revolutionary War began, Crawford recruited a regiment for the Virginia Line of the Continental Army. On 11 October 1776, the Continental Congress appointed him colonel of the 7th Virginia Regiment. Crawford led his regiment in the Battle of Long Island and the retreat across New Jersey. He crossed the Delaware with Washington and fought at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. During the Philadelphia campaign, he commanded a scouting detachment for Washington's army.
After the war on the western frontier intensified in 1777, Crawford was transferred to the Western Department of the Continental Army. He served at Fort Pitt under Generals Edward Hand and Lachlan McIntosh. Crawford was present at the Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778, and helped to build Fort Laurens and Fort McIntosh that year. Resources were scarce on the frontier, however, and Fort Laurens was abandoned in 1779. In 1780, Crawford visited Congress to appeal for more funds for the western frontier. In 1781, he retired from military service.
Crawford Expedition.
In 1782, General William Irvine persuaded Crawford to come out of retirement and lead an expedition against enemy Indian villages along the Sandusky River. Before leaving, on 16 May he made out his will and testament. His son John Crawford, his son-in-law William Harrison, and his nephew and namesake William Crawford also joined the expedition.
After his election as commander of the expedition, Crawford led about 500 volunteers deep into American Indian territory with the hope of surprising them. However, the Indians and their British allies at Detroit had learned about the expedition in advance, and brought about 440 men to the Sandusky to oppose the Americans. After a day of indecisive fighting, the Americans found themselves surrounded. During a confused retreat, Crawford and dozens of his men were captured. The Indians executed many of them in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre earlier in the year, in which 96 peaceful Christian Indian men, women, and children had been murdered by Pennsylvanian militiamen. Crawford's execution was brutal; he was tortured for at least two hours before he was burned at the stake. His nephew and son-in-law were also captured and executed. The war ended shortly thereafter, but Crawford's horrific execution was widely publicized in the United States, worsening the already strained relationship between Native Americans and European Americans.
Legacy.
In 1982, the site of Colonel Crawford's execution was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1877, the Pioneer Association of Wyandot County erected an 8.5 ft (2.6 m) Berea sandstone monument near the site. The Ohio Historical Society also has an historical marker nearby.
Crawford County, Ohio, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Crawford County, Michigan and Crawford County, Indiana are named for William Crawford. So too is Colonel Crawford High School in North Robinson, Ohio.
There is a replica of Crawford's cabin in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.


Forgotten Winchester

The Forgotten Winchester is a Winchester Model 1873 rifle that archaeologists discovered in 2014 leaning against a juniper tree in Great Basin National Park in Nevada. The gun was manufactured in 1882, but nothing is known of its abandonment. The bottom of its stock was buried in 4-5 inches of accumulated soil and vegetation, and a round of ammunition stored in its buttstock dated between 1887 and 1911, indicating that it had been resting there for many years. A post about the weathered gun on the park's Facebook page captured the public's imagination and went viral because of the mystery of who left the gun propped against the tree and why they never returned for it.
Discovery.
Prior to the rifle's discovery, the National Park Service had started a $280,000 fuels reduction project around Strawberry Creek Campground to prevent campfires from sparking wildfires in the surrounding forest. As part of the project, the Park Service sent staff from their cultural resources office to search the project area for artifacts, which is when archaeologist Eva Jensen found the rifle leaning against a tree above the campground. The discovery was fortunate because less than two years later the Strawberry Fire swept through the area and consumed the juniper tree the rifle had been leaning against.
Conservation and description.
The rifle is a Winchester Repeating Arms Company Model 1873, the same type featured in the 1950 film "Winchester '73". The rifle's serial number indicates that it was manufactured in 1882. Winchester mass-produced this model of .44-40 caliber rifle that became known as the "Gun that Won the West," making 25,000 of them in 1882 alone. The park service sent the gun to the Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming for analysis and conservation. A team of researchers took the firearm to a local hospital to be X-rayed under the patient name "Rifle". While the chamber and ammunition tube were not loaded, the X-rays revealed a live .44-Winchester centerfire caliber cartridge in a compartment inside the buttstock. This cartridge was manufactured by the Union Metallic Cartridge Company sometime between 1887 and 1911. The X-ray also showed that a crack in the stock had been repaired with metal pins. The conservators used hydroxypropyl cellulose to preserve the wooden gunstock and prevent it from further deterioration.
The Forgotten Winchester is on permanent display in the Lehman Caves Visitors Center of Great Basin National Park.


Malakand camp

The Malakand camp is a military training camp in Pakistan that is said to have been run by al Qaeda.
Government witness Mohammad Junaid Babar testified at Mohammad Momin Khawaja's trial in Ottawa about Khawaja's account of his attendance at the Malakand camp and "The Times" of London reported that several United Kingdom citizens alleged to have played key roles in jihadi attacks in the UK were trained at the Malakand camp by key Al Qaeda figures including Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi.


Rotation of ammunition

Rotation of ammunition is a term used with reference to guns.
Projectiles intended for RML (rifled muzzle-loading) guns were at first fitted with a number of gun-metal studs arranged around them in a spiral manner corresponding to the twist of rifling. This was defective, as it allowed, as in the old smooth-bore guns, the powder gas to escape by the clearance (called "windage") between the projectile and the bore, with a consequent loss of efficiency; it also quickly eroded the bore of the larger guns.
Later the rotation was effected by a cupped copper disc called an "automatic gas-check" attached to the base end of the projectile. The powder gas pressure expanded the rim of the gas check into the rifling grooves and prevented the escape of gas; it also firmly fixed the gas check to the projectile, thus causing it to rotate. A more regular and efficient action of the powder gas was thus ensured, with a corresponding greater range and an improvement in accuracy.
With the earlier Armstrong (RBL or rifled breech loading) guns the projectiles were coated with lead (the late Lord Armstrong's system), the lead being forced through the rifling grooves by the pressure of the exploded powder gas. The lead coating is, however, too soft with the higher velocities of modern B.L. guns.
Vavasseur devised the plan of fitting by hydraulic pressure a copper "driving band" into a groove cut around the body of the projectile. This is now universal. It not only fulfills the purpose of rotating the projectile, but renders possible the use of large charges of slow-burning explosive. The copper band, on being forced through the gun, gives rise to considerable resistance, which allows the propelling charge to burn properly and thus to exert its enormous force on the projectile.
The laws which govern projectile designs are not well-defined. Certain formulae are used which give the thickness of the shell walls for a known chamber pressure in the gun, and for a particular stress on the shell material. The exact proportions of the shell depend, however, greatly on experimental knowledge.


Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km²) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted use since its establishment in 1891; it has also been known as Navy Yard Puget Sound and Bremerton Navy Yard.
It is bordered on the south by Sinclair Inlet, on the west by the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap, and on the north and east by the city of Bremerton, Washington. It is the Pacific Northwest's largest naval shore facility and one of Washington state's largest industrial installations. PSNS & IMF provides the Navy with maintenance, modernization, and technical and logistics support, and employs 14,000 people.
History.
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was established in 1891 as a Naval Station and was designated Navy Yard Puget Sound in 1901. During World War I, the Navy Yard constructed ships, including 25 subchasers, seven submarines, two minesweepers, seven seagoing tugs, and two ammunition ships, as well as 1,700 small boats. During World War II, the shipyard's primary effort was the repair of battle damage to ships of the U.S. fleet and those of its allies.
Following World War II, Navy Yard Puget Sound was designated Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It engaged in an extensive program of modernizing carriers, including converting conventional flight decks to angle decks. During the Korean War, the shipyard was engaged in the activation of ships. In the late 1950s, it entered an era of new construction with the building of a new class of guided missile frigates. In 1965, USS "Sculpin" (SSN 590) became the first nuclear-powered submarine to be maintained at PSNS. The shipyard was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992. The historic district includes 22 contributing buildings and 42 contributing structures, as well as 49 non-contributing buildings, structures, and objects.
Installations.
Perhaps the most visible feature of the shipyard is its huge green hammerhead crane, built in 1933. The PSNS hammerhead crane is tall and wide with a lifting capacity of 250 tons.
Historic districts.
The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard contains five historic districts:
These five units are a comprehensive representation of the historic features of the naval shipyard.
Operations.
Ship-Submarine Recycling Program.
In 1990 the Navy authorized the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) to recycle nuclear-powered ships at PSNS. Approximately 25% of the shipyard's workload involves inactivation, reactor compartment disposal, and recycling of ships. It has pioneered an environmentally safe method of deactivating and recycling nuclear-powered ships. This process places the U.S. Navy in the role of being the world's only organization to design, build, operate, and recycle nuclear-powered ships. On 15 May 2003 PSNS and IMF were consolidated into what is now known as PSNS & IMF.
PSNS is the only U.S. facility certified to recycle nuclear ships. During all this period Puget Sound Naval Shipyard has scrapped more than 125 submarines and some cruisers.
Reserve fleet.
The shipyard contains a portion of the United States Navy reserve fleet, a large collection of inactive U.S. Navy vessels, including the aircraft carrier . "Kitty Hawk" is mothballed, meaning that she is stored in case she is needed by the Navy in the future.
Environmental issues.
Gorst Creek Ravine near Port Orchard, Washington was a hazardous waste dump for the Navy's shipyard waste between 1969 and 1970, when the site was not permitted by local authorities to take waste. After several collapses since 1997 the landfill could blow out Highway 3. The landfill is an "ongoing source of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and metals flowing downstream with the potential to affect groundwater wells, sport fisheries and the Suquamish Tribe's fish hatchery. In October 2014, the US EPA ordered the Navy to fix the problems.


Tronox

Tronox Limited is an American worldwide chemical company involved in the titanium products industry with approximately 7,000 employees. Following its acquisition of the mineral sands business formerly belonging to South Africa's Exxaro Resources, Tronox is the largest fully integrated seller and marketer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment, which provides brightness to applications such as coatings, plastics and paper. Tronox also sells titanium ore – the main feedstock of titanium dioxide - and zircon directly to customers.
Tronox is the third-largest titanium feedstock producer, with approximately 10% of global titanium ore production; and the second-largest producer of zircon, with approximately 20% of global production. The company also has an electrolytic and speciality chemicals business that services the paper and battery industries. Formerly a part of the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation and based in Oklahoma City since it was spun off from its parent in 2005, the company announced in June 2012 that it was moving its headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut.
The company was spun off in part to offload its parent company Kerr-McGee's legacy of generations of environmental dumping of toxic waste across 22 states. According to one report, "Kerr-McGee, rather than pay for the environmental mess it created, decided to shift the liabilities between 2002 and 2006 into Tronox. Kerr-McGee, meanwhile, kept its valuable oil and gas assets." Tronox did not reveal the massive hidden liabilities to investors, and after they became known, Tronox dropped to a penny stock in 2009. In response, shareholders sued Anadarko Petroleum (successor to Kerr-McGee) for keeping the scope of the environmental disaster a secret. In addition the US federal government sued Anadarko to pay for the cleanup, and in April 2014 settled on the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history, over $5 billion.
History.
The company went public in 2005, when Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee, which had previously owned the company entirely, issued shares via an initial public offering on November 21, 2005. It became an independent company in March 2006.
In the first quarter of 2006, Tronox replaced Meade Instruments on the S&P SmallCap 600 index, when Kerr-McGee distributed the rest of its stock in Tronox under its former NYSE symbol TRX.B, a class B security. TRX.B started regular-way trading on March 31, 2006.
In 2008, the company's stock price declined significantly, and both classes of stock became penny stocks.
In September 2008, the company's stock moved from the NYSE to OTC.
On 14 January 2009, Tronox filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It specified that this action did not include the company's non-USA operations.
In 2009, shareholders of Tronox sued Anadarko Petroleum (successor to Kerr-McGee) for having misled investors about the large environmental and other debts Tronox would inherit from its parent corporation. The environmental pollution included polluting Lake Mead in Nevada with rocket fuel, leaving behind radioactive waste piles throughout the territory of the Navajo Nation and dumping carcinogenic creosote in communities throughout the East, Midwest and South at its wood-treating facilities.
In 2009, the Huntsman Corporation announced it would buy certain of Tronox's assets, such as its factories. In late 2009, Tronox terminated this deal.
Tronox emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 14, 2011.
Tom Casey became CEO in October 2011.
On June 15, 2012, Tronox announced that it had completed the acquisition of Exxaro Mineral Sands and combined both entities under Tronox Limited, an Australian holding company. Describing the benefits of the combination, Tronox Limited CEO Tom Casey said, "We now have the ability to sell into a lucrative titanium feedstock market while assuring our titanium dioxide customers that we have the supply to deliver quality products at reasonable prices."
In April 2014, the federal government reached a $5 billion settlement with Anadarko (successor to Kerr-McGee) in the largest environmental contamination case in American history. According to one report, "Kerr-McGee, rather than pay for the environmental mess it created, decided to shift the liabilities between 2002 and 2006 into Tronox. Kerr-McGee, meanwhile, kept its valuable oil and gas assets." The cost to clean up the mess inherited by Tronox from Kerr-McGee was estimated by the courts to be over $5 billion. There are contaminated sites in 22 states and the Navajo Nation. "Among the dozens of locations targeted for cleanup under the settlement is a former chemical manufacturing site in Nevada that has led to contamination in Lake Mead, abandoned uranium mines in and around the Navajo Nation, and a Superfund site in Gloucester, N.J., polluted by thorium."
On 10 April 2019, Tronox acquired the Saudi Arabian titanium dioxide pigment manufacturer Cristal Global.
Kerr-McGee spin-off.
Kerr-McGee spun off its chemical business circa 2005-2006 after demands were made by corporate raider and major Kerr-McGee shareholder Carl Icahn.
Among other things, Tronox inherited several radioactive waste sites from Kerr-McGee. These include the Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site and the Rare Earths Facility. They are, as of 2014, still undergoing cleanup.
It also inherited the Henderson, Nevada "BMI" site. This site had supplied Magnesium and other chemicals beginning around World War II. It eventually leaked perchlorate (used in rocket fuel) into the water table, which subsequently contaminated Lake Mead and the Colorado River, which supply water to millions of people.
Exiting bankruptcy in February 2011, Tronox's Chapter 11 plan created the Anadarko litigation trust to pursue Tronox's lawsuit against Anadarko and Kerr-McGee. Tronox has transferred an 88% share of its interest in the lawsuit to the federal government.


.405 Winchester

The .405 Winchester (also known as the .405 WCF) is a centerfire rifle cartridge introduced in 1904 for the Winchester 1895 lever-action rifle. It remains to this day one of the most powerful rimmed cartridge designed specifically for lever-action rifles; the only modern lever action cartridges that exceed its performance are the .50 Alaskan, .450 Alaskan, .475 Turnbull, .348 Turnbull and the .450 Marlin. The .405 was highly regarded by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt during his safari in East Africa.
Description and Ballistics.
The original Winchester factory load consisted of a 300gr. soft point or metal patch (Full Metal Jacket) bullet at 2200 feet per second. When the Winchester M1895 was discontinued in 1936, the cartridge was considered obsolete. Catalog listings of the cartridge ceased in 1955. However, during the 100 year anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt's presidential administration in 2001, Winchester reintroduced the M1895 in .405 Winchester, and revived the cartridge.
In addition to the Winchester Model 1895, the .405 Winchester was also available in the Winchester Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle, the Remington-Lee bolt-action rifle (from 1904 to 1906), and a number of British and European double rifles. The cartridge was also available in the Ruger No.1 Tropical single-shot rifle.
Winchester's advertising campaigns during the first decade of the twentieth century took full advantage of Theodore Roosevelt's frequent praise of the .405 Winchester, as well as the Winchester 1895 which chambered it. Roosevelt famously referred to this rifle as his "'medicine gun' for lions." This quote comes from Roosevelt's account of a lion hunt in the seventh chapter of his book "African Game Trails":
Although it is often said that Roosevelt called the .405 M1895 his "big medicine," this phrase is never used in "African Game Trails", and is possibly the erroneous combination of his "medicine gun" quote with his "big stick" speech of 1901. Writer of historical fiction Wilbur Smith attributes the "medicine gun" term to the Roosevelts in his book "Assegai".
Since the .405 Winchester's introduction, many hunters have used it on African big game, including Rhino and Buffalo; however it is generally considered best used against light skinned game, due to the bullet's low sectional density. The velocity of the cartridge is also low by contemporary standards, which makes shooting at long range challenging due to the allowance the shooter must make for bullet drop.
Wildcats.
The .277 Elliott Express and .357 Elliott Express are two of a series of wildcats developed by O.H. Elliott & Company of South Haven, Michigan, based on the .405 Winchester cartridge. This custom gunsmith manufactured his own rifle barrels.


Capsquare

In artillery, capsquares, or capsquires, are strong plates of iron which come over the trunnions of a cannon, keeping it in its carriage. They are fastened by hinges to the paizeplate, so that it could be lifted up and down. They form a part of an arch in the middle, to receive a third part of the thickness of the trunnions; for two thirds of them are let into the carriage, and the other end is fastened by two iron wedges, which are called the forelocks, and keys.


Mineral Revolution

The Mineral Revolution is a term used by historians to refer to the rapid industrialisation and economic changes which occurred in South Africa from the 1870s onwards. The Mineral Revolution was largely driven by the need to create a permanent workforce to work in the mining industry, and saw South Africa transformed from a patchwork of agrarian states to a unified, industrial nation. In political terms, the Mineral Revolution had a significant impact on diplomacy and military affairs. Finally, the policies and events of the Mineral Revolution had an increasingly negative impact on race relations in South Africa, and formed the basis of the apartheid system, which dominated South African society for a century.
Economy.
Mining.
The Mineral Revolution began with the discovery of diamonds at the town of Kimberley in 1867. The discovery of diamonds led to a rush of prospectors descending on the town, whose population skyrocketed as increasing numbers of prospectors arrived to seek their fortune. As more diggers arrived in Kimberley, diamond-mining increased in scale, focusing in open-pit mining of three main sites. As surface deposits of diamonds were excavated, deeper pits had to be dug, propelling the Minera
To excavate deep deposits of diamonds, diggers needed machinery (particularly steam engines), credit, and a large labour force. These were unavailable to ordinary diggers, and the diamond mines were quickly taken over by the "mining capitalists" – large corporations with access to credit, machinery, and labour.
The discovery of gold at the Witwatersrand orefields in 1886 triggered a gold rush which greatly escalated this continuing trend. The orefields, which overlapped British and Afrikaner territory, were quickly excavated of all surface deposits and a similar pattern to Kimberley emerged – small diggers were bought out by large corporations. At Kimberley, the diamond mines fell under the monopoly of De Beers, while at the Rand orefields, land was bought up by Wernher, Breit & Eckstein, Consolidated Gold Mines Inc., and a number of smaller companies.
The emergence of industrial-scale mining forced major demographic shifts in South Africa's population. During the early stages of mining, labour had been primarily provided by young men from the African states, primarily Pedi men. The young men would travel to the mines during the summer to provide temporary labour and earn enough wages to buy status symbols, such as cattle or guns, before returning home. This system, though, was too unreliable to provide a permanent labour force and was not acceptable to the mining corporations. Young men arriving at the mines were often exhausted from their journey and had to be given two weeks' rest, at company expense, before they were fit to work in the mines. Workers who were not paid on time or did not like their living conditions (which were often very harsh due to bad food and disease) tended to drift away, and workers were at risk of being recalled to their own countries, as happened in 1876 when the chief of Pediland recalled all Pedi men at the mines to fight in a war against the Transvaal. The need to create a fixed, permanent labour force at Kimberley and on the Rand became the primary objective of the mining corporations and the colonial government.
The increasing scale of mining operations prompted the corporations to offer very low wages. Extracting diamonds from rocks, and processing the low-quality gold ore at the Rand, was very labour-intensive and required armies of workers. To offset the cost of employing so many workers, and to compensate for the high salaries offered to machine supervisors and administrators, the companies offered very low wages to ordinary labourers, resulting in falling living standards in urban areas.
Urbanization.
The need to create a fixed labour force resulted in the colonial government, and the mining corporations, introducing a variety of schemes to keep workers on-site for lengthy periods of time. Corporate agents travelled to African states, offering fixed contracts and prearranged wages to attract young African men to the mines.
At the mine sites, corporations introduced various schemes to keep workers on-site. This was partially motivated in Kimberley by the corporation's fear that workers were stealing diamonds and selling them on the black market. To counteract this assumed threat, De Beers introduced strip searching, whereby workers leaving the mines at the end of a shift would be undressed and searched for diamonds. A more extreme measure was taken in the early 1880s by De Beers, when the company introduced corporate compounds. These enclosed compounds were built in the style of open-air prisons, where workers were required to live by the terms of their contract, in exchange for food, accommodation, and cheap beer provided by the company. In reality, workers had to pay for things out of their paltry wages, while the compounds themselves were notorious for disease, malnutrition, and death. In 1886 white workers at the De Beers compound in Kimberley elected a local member of parliament who successfully campaigned for white employees to live in the town, but black workers, who had no vote, were forced to remain on the compounds.
Agriculture.
The growth of towns and cities across South Africa prompted changes in rural areas, as farms lost labourers to the mines and demand for food and agricultural produce increased. By the 1870s, "agrarian capitalism" had emerged, with large commercial farms buying up smallholdings and producing commercial goods for sale in the towns. This resulted in tens of thousands of black and white farmers losing their jobs, and being forced to work as wage-labourers on commercial farms or migrate to the cities in search of work. These changes greatly increased South Africa's agricultural output as commercial farms were more efficient and had greater access to farming machinery than small farms, and saw social changes in rural areas. The peasantry effectively disappeared, and a new class, the "rural gentry", emerged. These middle-class farmers, midway between the large commercial farms and smallholdings, were able to significantly increase their earnings by producing cash crops such as coffee, tobacco, sugar, and grapes, which were not labour-intensive and which fetched high prices at urban markets. Animal husbandry also increased, with increasingly large swathes of land being turned over to sheep and cattle farming.
Infrastructure.
Mass migration to towns, urban growth, and the increasing urban demand for rural produce prompted the development of South Africa's transport and communications infrastructure. Railways were greatly expanded to link towns to each other and to the countryside, and ports such as Durban and Cape Town were expanded to cope with increasing immigration and commercial activity, greatly stimulated development in South Africa.
Politics.
The Mineral Revolution had a major impact on political developments in South Africa. Cape Colony required armies of workers for the mines and support industries, and to secure a regular flow of workers to the mines, the colonial government began a series of annexations of neighbouring African states, such as Basutoland, Bechuanaland, and Pediland. In the newly annexed territories, the colonial government introduced laws such as the Hut tax, which demanded that inhabitants pay an annual tax on their dwellings, paid in British cash. As the only way to earn British currency was via employment in the mines, this created a steady flow of workers as young men travelled to the mines to earn money, which they sent back to their families to pay the tax.
The 1782 Anglo-Zulu War also had roots in the Mineral Revolution, specifically as Cape Colony wished to neutralise any potential threats to the mines. In the aftermath of the war, thousands of young Zulu men migrated to the mines in search of work, driving down wages and exacerbating the already cramped conditions in the compounds.
The 1899–1902 Second Anglo-Boer War can be traced to the Mineral Revolution. Britain's desire to control the entire Rand region (which overlapped neighbouring Transvaal), remove potential threats to the mines, and encourage industrial expansion by replacing the slow and inexperienced Afrikaner bureaucracy with British laws and regulations led to increasing tension between the British colonies and the Afrikaner states, resulting in the outbreak of war in 1899. The Second Anglo-Boer War united South Africa as a single state (initially British, but granted independence in 1910).
Environmental Impact.
Mining operations at the Rand and at Kimberley caused severe environmental damage. Open-pit mining was not only dangerous for the workers, but created deep pits which grew wider during rainfall. Urban growth placed increasing strains on water supplies and led to increasing pollution of rivers. In rural areas, commercial farming led to a steady degradation in soil quality, while increasing animal husbandry led to severe soil erosion in many places, as cattle drank scarce water supplies and pulled up the grass holding the soil together. Mechanised farming and over-grazing led by 1910 to the appearance of immense "dongas" in the countryside, which carried away soil and scarred the landscape, and contributed to dustbowls across South Africa in the early decades of the twentieth century.


Charles Parker (Michigan politician)

Charles Parker was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He was one of six members of the state House killed in the Kerns Hotel fire in Lansing on December 11, 1934. Also killed were representatives D. Knox Hanna, T. Henry Howlett, Vern Voorhees, John W. Goodwine, and Don E. Sias, along with state senator John Leidlein. The men were in Lansing for a special session of the Michigan legislature.
Born in 1877. Democrat. Member of Michigan state house of representatives from Genesee County 2nd District, 1933–34; died in office 1934. Died December 11, 1934 (age about 57 years). Interment at Smith Hill Cemetery, Otisville, Mich.


Multi-Star Signal Cartridge

The Multi-Star Signal Cartridge was a non-lethal signal flare that was developed by Germany and used by the Wehrmacht during World War II. The Multi-Star Signal Cartridge was designed to be fired from a "Leuchtpistole" or flare gun in English.
Design.
The Multi-Star Signal Cartridge was a signal flare that could be fired from the Leuchtpistole 34, Leuchtpistole 42, or Sturmpistole. The Leuchtpistole and Sturmpistole were single-shot break action smoothbore guns and the cartridge was breech loaded. The cartridge consisted of an inner light alloy projectile which contained a total of three red stars and three green stars inside of a light alloy cartridge case with propellant charge. The exterior of the cartridge was engraved with numbers and the projectile could be twisted to create six different number combinations. Each number combination corresponded to a combination of red and green stars. By twisting the projectile a series of ignition holes were either opened or closed. When fired a percussion cap in the base of the cartridge ignited the propellant which in turn ignited a delay pellet in the base of the projectile. Once the delay pellet had burned through it exploded and the flash was channeled through an ignition tube in the center of the projectile igniting and ejecting the stars in sequence.


Thomas Hedley Co.

The Thomas Hedley Co. was a British company based in Newcastle upon Tyne manufacturing soap and candles. It was founded in 1837 by two businessmen, Thomas Hedley and John Green, who set up a manufacturing facility on the city's City Road. Tyneside was able to provide a ready source of sheep, which was a source of the main ingredient (tallow) in the production of both products.
Thomas Hedley himself died in 1890 and the business was carried on by his son. In 1898 the company became a limited company by issuing shares. In 1917 and 1918 the company expanded by acquiring the soap makers James Dyson & Co. of Elland in Yorkshire, and John Pickering & Sons Limited of Birmingham, Warwickshire.
The company continued to expand its City Road site. At the time City Road was primarily a residential area, and the expansion was a slow process, as Thomas Hedley had to buy a single property at a time. The City Road site continued after the company's acquisition, in 1930, by Procter and Gamble, and Thomas Hedley's Newcastle roots prompted P&G's presence on Tyneside. Other Hedley plants were in Trafford Park, Manchester and West Thurrock, Essex.


Rushlight

A rushlight is a type of candle or miniature torch formed by soaking the dried pith of the rush plant in fat or grease. For several centuries rushlights were a common source of artificial light for poor people throughout the British Isles. They were extremely inexpensive to make. English essayist William Cobbett wrote, "This rushlight cost almost nothing to produce and was believed to give a better light than some poorly dipped candles."
One of the earliest printed descriptions of rushlights was written by English antiquary John Aubrey in 1673. Rev. Gilbert White gave a detailed description of rushlight making in "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne", Letter XXVI (1789). Rushlights were still used in rural England to the end of the 19th century, and they had a temporary revival during World War II. In parts of Wales the use of rushlights continued into the middle of the 20th century.
It is not clear whether rushlights were ever popular in the United States and Canada. Antique rushlight holders are occasionally found in North America, but most were probably imported from England; "none are known to bear the mark of an American smith." In New England, "rushlights were used little if at all in colonial days."
Rushlights should not be confused with rush-candles. A rush-candle is an ordinary candle (a block or cylinder of tallow or wax) that uses a piece of rush as a wick. Rushlights, by contrast, are strips of plant fiber impregnated with tallow or grease. The wick is not separate from the fuel in a rushlight.
Preparation.
Mature rush stalks are gathered in summer or autumn. The green epidermis or rind of each stalk is carefully peeled off to reveal the inner pith, but a single lengthwise strip of rind is left in place to provide support for the fragile pith. After drying, the rush is then steeped in any available household fat or grease. Bacon grease was commonly used but mutton fat was considered best by some, partly because it dried to a harder, less messy texture than other fats. A small amount of beeswax added to the grease would cause the rush to burn longer. On more remote Atlantic islands such as St Kilda the stomach oil produced by Fulmars was used.
Duration and quality of light.
Sources give varying accounts of the length and burn-time of the average rushlight. "The book of trades, or Library of the useful arts" indicates that the average rushlight was 12 inches (30 cm) long and burned for 10 to 15 minutes. Gilbert White reported that a rushlight 28.5 inches (72 cm) in length burned for 57 minutes; he wrote, "these rushes give a good clear light." There was much variation in the quality of rushlights; a 19th-century writer observed that "one might very well flicker and splutter for an hour, whilst a second was just as likely to flame away in ten minutes."
A differently made rushlight in which two strips of the rind were left on the rush before it was coated with tallow produced a dimmer light but burned much longer. White referred to these as "watchlights".
Fixtures.
The burning rushlight was normally held by metal clips at an angle of about 45 degrees. If the rush is held vertically it tends to have a dimmer flame. If held horizontally it may burn too quickly. However, there were some devices designed to keep the burning rush in a vertical position, including nightlights made from cylinders of tin or sheet-iron perforated with holes that would allow the light to shine out.
The rushlight holder was usually mounted on an iron tripod or a wooden block. Antique rushlight holders are now collectors' items. They were never mass-produced but were individually made by local craftsmen and blacksmiths.
In Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley mentions that Igraine hoarded her supply of rushlights during a particularly nasty blizzard that blew up in Cornwall.
In literature and culture.
One of Aesop's Fables, known in English as "the farthing rushlight" or "the vain rushlight," describes a personified rushlight bragging that it is more brilliant than the sun, moon and stars. The rushlight is then blown out by a slight breeze. The person who re-lights the rushlight advises it to be more humble.
Some versions of the Greek myth of Prometheus mention that Prometheus brought fire to men in a rushlight.
In Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," at the beginning of Act IV, Scene V, Katherina mentions a "rush-candle".
Anne Brontë mentions a rushlight in the end of chapter XXXIII of "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall". Her sister, Charlotte Brontë, twice describes the children at Lowood Institute dressing by rushlight in the early morning in "Jane Eyre" (once about a third of the way into chapter 5, and again at the beginning of chapter 6).
Washington Irving mentions a "farthing rushlight" in the short story "The Boar's Head Tavern, Eastcheap," which is part of "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." It also features as a cheap nightlight in his ghost story "Dolph Heyliger," in which the protagonist spends the night in a haunted house with nothing but a rushlight to illuminate a dilapidated room: "The rushlight, which stood in the centre of the deal table, shed a feeble yellow ray, dimly illumining the chamber, and making uncouth shapes and shadows on the walls, from the clothes which Dolph had thrown over a chair."
Ken Follett mentions rushlights numerous times in The Pillars of the Earth, as in “there might be a few people sitting up late, drinking ale by the glow of the fire or sewing by rushlights” in chapter four.
Pip spends a night staring at a nightlight in chapter XLV of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations".
"Camilla have five pound fur to buy rushlights to put her in spirits when she wake up in the night." - Chapter LVII of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations".
Several magazines are named after rushlights. "Rushlight" is a literary and visual arts journal founded in 1855 by Lucy Larcom and published by Wheaton College (Massachusetts). "The Rushlight" is a quarterly newsletter of the International Association of Collectors and Students of Historic Lighting. "Rushlight (The Belfast Magazine)" is a journal of Belfast history and folklore founded by Joe Graham.
The name "Rushlite" was used during and for a while after World War II as a trademark of J.V.Rushton of Wolverhampton. "During the war Mr Rushton started to sell his own Rushlite Batteries through Halfords shop."
Ezra Pound references rushlights at the end of Canto CXVI, the last of "The Cantos" that he completed: