DHQ Dispatch Bag

[Joe Riley]

Would FDR have used the atom bomb?​

Secretary of War Henry Stimson specifically said in "The Decision to Use the Bomb” (February 1947) Harper Magazine:

At no time, from 1941 to 1945, did I ever hear it suggested by the President, or by any other responsible member of the government, that atomic energy should not be used in a war. All of us of course understood the terrible responsibility involved in our attempt to unlock the doors to such a devastating new weapon; President Roosevelt particularly spoke to me many times of his own awareness of the catastrophic potentialities of our work. But we were at war, and the work must be done. I therefore emphasize that it was our common objective, throughout the war, to be the first to produce an atomic weapon and use it. The possible atomic weapon was considered to be a new and tremendously powerful explosive, as legitimate as any other of the deadly explosive weapons of modern war. The entire purpose was the production of a military weapon; on no other ground could the wartime expenditure of so much time and money have been justified. The exact circumstances in which that weapon might be used were unknown to any of us until the middle of 1945, and when that time came, as we shall presently see, the military use of atomic energy was connected with larger questions of national policy.

One of the more humorous relies said: "Yes but he would have dropped it on Eleanor."

 

[Joe Riley]

Independence Day: 14 Cool Behind-The-Scenes Facts You May Not Know​

"On this day, in an alternate 1996, an alien force invaded Earth, leveled its major cities, and put humanity’s back against the wall. At least that’s what happened in director Roland Emmerich’s summer blockbuster landmark Independence Day, a movie that to this day still defines the pop culture impact the ‘90s had on filmmaking. Some may say that this happening was an inexplicable accident, but if you dig deep enough into the behind-the-scenes facts surrounding the film’s production, you can see just why its appeal has endured through over 20 years. Today, we celebrate this sci-fi classic that would not go quietly into history, as we present to you some cool facts you may or may not have known about the day we fought back." READ MORE

 

[Joe Riley]

Horsepower: James Watt and the Transition from Horse to Steam​

 

[Joe Riley]

The Most Important Invention of the 20th Century: Transistors​

 

[Joe Riley]

The Surprising and Forgotten History of Helium​

 

[Joe Riley]

The French Navy Ship Insere and the Statue of Liberty​

The copper statue, “Liberty Enlightening the World,” designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was loaded into the French navy transport ship Insere as 350 individual pieces, packaged in more than 200 crates. The Insere is often referred to as a frigate, but arrived in New York serving as a cargo vessel, without guns aboard. The ship was a propeller driven steam ship with three masts, around 215 feet long with 30 feet of beam. Here is how the New York Times reported her arrival in an article dated June 18, 1885.

“A pilot boat sailing around in search of one of the big transatlantic steamers, about 10 miles off Sandy Hook Lightship, on Tuesday night, ran close under the bows of an odd-looking, bark rigger propeller, with her hull painted white, and a high funnel between the main and the mizzen masts. The man on lookout shouted down the companionway to the pilots that he thought it was a tramp. The vessel was hailed and a voice answered, “What ship?”

“Isere, from Rouen” came back though the darkness, in broken English.

“It’s all right,” said Pilot Henderson, getting into a small boat and heading for the vessel; “she’s got that big Liberty aboard.”

The ship, which appears to have arrived on June 16th, could not cross the harbor bar because a gale blew up, so she anchored offshore. The voyage had been rough at times. Again, from the NY Times:

Capt. De Saune … said that the Insere had been tossed about in rough weather between Rouen and Fayal. To make bad matters worse, the coal gave out and she had to make sail. After leaving Fayal the weather was lovely and the steamer made rapid time.

The colossal statue weighs 220 tons, and is packed away below decks in 212 boxes, some of them 20 feet long. It took 17 days to stow them away so as to prevent shifting when the vessel rolled and tossed in the tremendous billows. The work was well done, for Lieut. Amet said that not a box moved from its place, though in the early part of the voyage there was ample provocation. READ MORE

 

[Joe Riley]

"Insere" primarily refers to a conjugated form of the French verb insérer, meaning "to insert". It can also be the imperative form of "insere" in Old English or early Modern English, derived from the Latin insere, meaning "to graft on" or "to plant". The ship named Insere was a French propeller-driven steam ship.

 

[Joe Riley]