history
lake oahe
from indigenous rights, environmental movement posted in history by pete_nice
The fourth largest reservoir by volume in the United States, Lake Oahe, is the product of the Oahe Dam on the Missouri River.
Native American culture runs deep in these parts: the western part of the lake is split into the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The legendary Sioux leader, Sitting Bull, may be buried at two possible sites near the lake.
In the 1960s, the US Army Corps of Engineers initiated 5 dams that flooded 200,000 acres of the habitable land in this area. As of 2015, the poverty rate is still associated with the history of this event.
In 2016, the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) made repeated attempts to cross Lake Oahe to bring crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in the northwestern corner of North Dakota to the oil refinery at Pakota, Illinois.
Many Bothans died to bring you this information.
nike missile site ms-70
from cold war, nuclear weapons posted in history by prof_improbable
During the Cold War from 1959 until 1972, the Twin Cities were protected by four missile battery sites. This is one of those four locations. The actual Nike-Hercules missile (or a reproduction of one) can be seen in a park in nearby St. Bonifacius.
The missiles were stored on underground rails and were brought to the surface by elevators. They were meant to bring down long-range enemy bombers.
All of the Nike sites were decommissioned on Feb. 4th, 1978.
uss pueblo
from north korea, totalitarianism posted in history by pete_nice
The USS Pueblo started life on the shores of Lake Michigan, at the Kewaunee Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, on April 16, 1944.
After several twists and turns, she found herself as a "spy ship" hovering around the Tsushima Strait in the Sea of Japan. On January 23, 1968, the North Koreans attempted to assassinate the president of South Korea. Feeling a bit overzealous, they sent a sub out to capture the Pueblo as well.
For 11 months, 82 crewmen were held in captivity. They were subjected to a show trial and found their images used for propaganda, so they constantly gave the middle finger to the camera, telling the North Koreans it meant "Good Luck" in Hawaiian.
The crew was released in December of 1968. Today, the Pueblo is moored in the Potong River in Pyongyang as a museum ship against the imperialist capitalist overlords.
Currently, it is the only US Navy ship commissioned that is being held captive.
wreckage of u-2 spy plane
from the cold war posted in history by pete_nice
On May Day (May 1) in 1960, Francis Gary Powers was flying a mission in a Lockheed U-2 spy plane when a series of missiles brought down his plane near Svedlovsk. The plane crashed but was not destroyed, and and a sensationalized trial led to Powers being convicted and sentenced to 3 years of prison and 7 years hard labor (he was traded for a Soviet spy after 21 months).
Today, the wreckage of the U-2 can be viewed at the Central Armed Forces Museum (formerly known as The Museum of the Soviet Army).
We'd like it back now, please and thank you.
durham county courthouse
from civil rights movement, american civil war posted in history by pete_nice
Outside of the Durham County Courthouse, a statue was erected by the Daughters of the American Confederacy in 1924 to celebrate the soldiers of the Confederate South during the American Civil War.
The statue just kind of loomed there, in front of the institutional housing of regional justice, until August 14th, 2017.
On that day, a group of activists reacting to the events of Charlottesville, VA a couple days prior, took it upon themselves to remove the monument.
From The Atlantic: "In what might seem a blunt metaphor for the fate of Confederate symbols in progressive Southern cities like Durham, the statue tumbled down with barely any effort, crumpling at the feet of its imposing granite pedestal."