HAPPY NEW YEAR! As a light-hearted start here’s a look at events that happened on New Year’s Day in the past.
1935 – The very first Orange Bowl pitted Bucknell University against the University of Miami. Bucknell won 26-0. Meanwhile the first Sugar Bowl saw Tulane defeat Temple 20-14.
1915 – With World War One raging a German U-Boat struck in the English Channel, sinking the ship the Formidable and killing 547 people.
1902 – In the first Rose Bowl game Michigan defeats Stanford 49-0.
1946 – Japanese soldiers at Corregidor learned from news reports that World War Two had ended months ago and finally came out of hiding to surrender.
1801 – The asteroid (now a dwarf planet) Ceres is discovered by the Italian Giuseppe Piazzi. Continue reading
ARTHUR R.”RAY” BROOKS – Captain Ray Brooks graduated from MIT in 1917 and immediately volunteered to serve in the World War that the U.S. had just entered. Brooks got his first 3 kills with the 139th Squadron and 6 more after transferring to the 22nd Aero Squadron. FOUR of Captain Brooks’ kills came in one dogfight as he tackled a squadron of 8 Fokker planes single-handedly. Seriously.
Nearly 200 American men served in the French Foreign Legion during World War One. Some were expatriates already living in Europe while others joined up to fight the Germans, Austro-Hungarians and Ottoman Muslim Turks. They had to join the French Foreign Legion because – though the war started in August of 1914 – the United States did not enter the conflict until April of 1917. 
With Veterans Day fast approaching Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some more World War One history since that conflict gets much less attention than World War Two. 
FRANK LUKE – This 21 year old copper miner from Arizona managed 18 kills in 17 days before meeting his own end. In addition to shooting down enemy planes Frank Luke specialized in bringing down the much tougher targets: lighter than air craft. Pilots had to thread their way through relentless anti-aircraft fire AND rockets to accomplish a kill on such craft, making it sort of the fighter pilot equivalent of stealing bases in baseball. 
The Fourth of July is rapidly approaching! Some people get puzzled about the actual Thirteen Original Colonies of America. They know for instance that Daniel Morgan’s Kentucky Rifles were one of the most storied units of the war and saw action from Canada to the American South. Yet, Kentucky is not listed as one of the original colonies.
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG! Here’s a look at the overlooked final year of fighting in America’s Revolutionary War. 
