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Franz Machen
Matrosengefreiter Franciszek Machoń (18 March 1918 – 1968), known as Franz Machon and later as Frank J. Machon, was the only survivor of the sunken , and one of few World War II U-boat survivors. His story strikes remarkable similarities with Klaus Bargsten of . After his capture, Machon agreed to help the United States Navy observe behaviour characteristics of fellow German prisoners of war. Early life Machon was born in Kattowitz (Katowice) to John and Anna Machon, two Polish commoners. In his early years he worked as a streetcar conductor while attending school. He married a woman named Mary Munik (Maria Munik) who gave birth to a son (his son was 15 months old when he was captured). After the Nazi invasion of Poland, Machoń was drafted into the Pioneer Corp. He later requested a transfer to the Kriegsmarine in Hamburg for submarine training. ''U-512'' Sinking On 2 October 1942, several hundred kilometers north of Cayenne (at position ), was intercepted by depth char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most populous city in Poland, while its urban area is the most populous in the country and one of the most populous in the European Union. Katowice has a population of 286,960 according to a 31 December 2021 estimate. Katowice is a central part of the Metropolis GZM, with a population of 2.3 million, and a part of a larger Upper Silesian metropolitan area that extends into the Czech Republic and has a population of 5-5.3 million people."''Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
99th Bombardment Squadron
The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, the unit suffered many casualties, yet tenaciously held its defensive position. In March 1945, the 99th advanced into the Rhineland, crossing the Rhine River at Remagen on March 11. After fighting in the Ruhr area, the unit moved southward into Bavaria, where it was located at the end of the war. The 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. The insignia was devised upon the 99th's formation in 1942, when the division was headquartered in the city of Pittsburgh. The blue and white checkerboard in the division's insignia is taken from the coat of arms of William Pitt, for whom Pittsburgh is named. The division was also known as the "Battle Babies" during 1945, a sobriquet c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1968 Deaths
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * January 10 – John Gorton is sworn in as 19th Prime Minister of Australia, taking over from John McEwen after being elected leader of the Liberal Party the previous day, following the disappearance of Harold Holt. Gorton becomes the only Senator to become Prime Minister, though he immediately transfers to the House of Representatives through the 1968 Higgins by-election in Holt's vacant seat. * January 15 – The 1968 Belice earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000. * January 21 ** Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8. ** 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash: A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland, discharging 4 nuclear bombs. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1918 Births
This year is noted for the end of the World War I, First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – 1918 flu pandemic: The "Spanish flu" (influenza) is first observed in Haskell County, Kansas. * January 4 – The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia, Sweden, German Empire, Germany and France. * January 9 – Battle of Bear Valley: U.S. troops engage Yaqui people, Yaqui Native American warriors in a minor skirmish in Arizona, and one of the last battles of the American Indian Wars between the United States and Native Americans. * January 15 ** The keel of is laid in Britain, the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be laid down. ** The Red Army (The Workers and Peasants Red Army) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birchington-on-Sea
Birchington-on-Sea is a village#United Kingdom, village in the Thanet District, Thanet district in Kent, England, with a population of 9,961. The village forms part of the civil parish of Birchington. It lies on the coast facing the North Sea, east of the Thames Estuary, between the seaside resorts of Herne Bay, Kent, Herne Bay and Margate. As a seaside resort, the village is a tourist and retirement destination. The village's Minnis Bay is a family beach with attractions such as sailing, windsurfing, a paddling pool and coastal walking routes. Its three smaller beaches are surrounded by chalk cliffs, cliff stack (geology), stacks and caves. The village was first recorded in 1240. Its parish church, All Saints', dates to the 13th century and its churchyard is the burial place of the 19th-century Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Quex Park, a local 19th century manor house, is home to the Powell-Cotton Museum and a twelve-bell tower built for change ringing. The mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bee Sting
A bee sting is the wound and pain caused by the stinger of a female bee puncturing skin. Bee stings differ from insect bites, with the venom of stinging insects having considerable chemical variation. The reaction of a person to a bee sting may vary according to the bee species. While bee stinger venom is slightly acidic and causes only mild pain in most people, allergic reactions may occur in people with allergies to venom components. Honey bee stings A honey bee that is away from the hive foraging for nectar or pollen will rarely sting, except when stepped on or roughly handled. Honey bees will actively seek out and sting when they perceive the hive to be threatened, often being alerted to this by the release of attack pheromones (below). Although it is widely believed that a worker honey bee can sting only once, this is a partial misconception: although the stinger is in fact barbed so that it lodges in the victim's skin, tearing loose from the bee's abdomen and leading to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous member state of the European Union. Warsaw is the nation's capital and largest metropolis. Other major cities include Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Szczecin. Poland has a temperate transitional climate and its territory traverses the Central European Plain, extending from Baltic Sea in the north to Sudeten and Carpathian Mountains in the south. The longest Polish river is the Vistula, and Poland's highest point is Mount Rysy, situated in the Tatra mountain range of the Carpathians. The country is bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west. It also shares maritime boundaries with Denmark and Sweden. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wirek
Wirek (german: Antonienhütte) is a district in the centre of Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. In 2006 it had an area of 5.9 km2 and was inhabited by 20,595 people. On January 12, 2006 a part of it was split off to form a new district, Czarny Las. History Originally, the area belonged to Kochłowice. First a settlement called Nowa Wieś (lit. ''New Village'') was established. Wirek would later be developed around ''Antonienhütte'' ironworks, opened in 1805, and became a separate municipality in 1828. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the settlement grew owing to industrial development. A school was opened in 1856; a Roman Catholic church in 1874; and a year later, a rail connection with Chebzie was constructed. The municipality lost its independence in 1870. In 1921, Wirek became part of Polish Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. In 1924 Nowa Wieś again absorbed Wirek. A town hall was built in years 1929–1930. During World War II, it was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabirds
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine (ocean), marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding ecological niche, niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous geological period, period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. In general, seabirds live longer, Reproduction, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in Bird colony, colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual bird migration, migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airplane
An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectrum of uses for airplanes includes recreation, transportation of goods and people, military, and research. Worldwide, commercial aviation transports more than four billion passengers annually on airliners and transports more than 200 billion tonne-kilometersMeasured in RTKs—an RTK is one tonne of revenue freight carried one kilometer. of cargo annually, which is less than 1% of the world's cargo movement. Most airplanes are flown by a pilot on board the aircraft, but some are designed to be remotely or computer-controlled such as drones. The Wright brothers invented and flew the first airplane in 1903, recognized as "the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight". [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanker (ship)
A tanker (or tank ship or tankship) is a ship designed to transport or store liquids or gases in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and gas carrier. Tankers also carry commodities such as vegetable oils, molasses and wine. In the United States Navy and Military Sealift Command, a tanker used to refuel other ships is called an oiler (or replenishment oiler if it can also supply dry stores) but many other navies use the terms tanker and replenishment tanker. Tankers were first developed in the late 19th century as iron and steel hulls and pumping systems were developed. As of 2005, there were just over 4,000 tankers and supertankers or greater operating worldwide. Description Tankers can range in size of capacity from several hundred tons, which includes vessels for servicing small harbours and coastal settlements, to several hundred thousand tons, for long-range haulage. Besides ocean- or seagoing tankers there are also specialized ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels, or inflated air chambers (such as pontoons), and are typically not propelled by an engine. Rafts are an ancient mode of transport; naturally-occurring rafts such as entwined vegetation and pieces of wood have been used to traverse water since the dawn of humanity. Human-made rafts Traditional or primitive rafts were constructed of wood or reeds. Modern rafts may also use pontoons, drums, or extruded polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a ... blocks. Inflatable rafts up to the 20th century used flotation chambers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
