“So here’s a hand my trusty friend” – Bro. Robert Burns (1759-1796) During the latter part of January many lodges hold events celebrating the birthday of Bro. Robbie Burns (25 January 1759). The kilt will be worn, the haggis will be addressed, the pipes will play, and the Immortal Memory of Scotland’s favourite son will be toasted with…
Mobile radio telephone service
May 13: On this day in 1946, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted Southwestern Bell a license for radio-telephone service, which enabled those in St. Louis to be the first in the nation to make and receive phone calls in their car. Covering a 75-mile radius of downtown calls to an auto had to be…
Brother James Buchanan’s Lodge Petition
Shown here is the actual petition for membership of Brother James Buchanan, written in his own hand, dated 1816! It reads: “To the Worshipful Master, Wardens, and Brethren of Lodge No. 43 Ancient York Masons, The petition of the subscriber respectfully showeth that having long entertained a favourable opinion of your ancient institutions, he is…
Witch Strike!
Beware of low flying witches! They really need to get ADS-B systems on their broomsticks…
R2-D2 on the Blackbird
Once the SR-71 reached cruising speed and altitude, it was time to focus on the mission, which was to collect information about hostile and potentially hostile nations using cameras and sensors. The pilot’s job was to handle the aircraft and watch over the automatic systems to ensure they were doing their jobs properly. Meanwhile, the…
The United Colonies Free and Independent States
On July 2, 1776, with the passing of the Lee Resolution, the Continental Congress declared “the United Colonies Free and Independent States.”In a letter to his wife Abigail dated July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote from Philadelphia reflecting on what this declaration will hold for the future:“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the…
Famous Freemasons: Bro. Gordon Cooper
Brother Gordon Cooper was one of the original seven Mercury astronauts – the first manned mission to space. He also acted as the command pilot for Gemini 5. Cooper was fond of carrying Masonic items to space. He reportedly carried a Masonic coin, a Masonic flag, and a Scottish Rite banner on various missions. He…
Faith of the Heart
“On this date in 1963 Captain Joe Walker flew the North American X-15A to an altitude of 271,000 feet. Having flown higher than 50 miles, he qualified for astronaut wings.” Only The Space Shuttle ‘flew’ Faster Than This Rocket Plane Designed With A Slide Rule Queue the theme song/video to Star Trek ‘Enterprise’ …
Christmas song for Unix hackers
better !pout !crybetter watchoutlpr whysanta claus < north pole >towncat /etc/passwd >listcheck listcheck listcat list | grep naughty >nogiftlistcat list | grep nice >giftlistsanta claus < north pole >townwho | grep sleepingwho | grep awakewho | egrep ‘bad|good’for (goodness sake) { be good} (by Frank Carey, AT&T Bell Laboratories, 1985)
Concorde vs SR-71 Blackbird
I was controlling a westbound Concorde just entering my airspace when I received details of an SR-71 coming eastbound on a route that would conflict with Concorde. The SR-71 did not always fly supersonically, it was doing less than Mach1 on this day, but it was still at a very high altitude. I had been…