January 15, 201412 yr Author 15 January 1949 Mao's communist Red Army defeats nationalist forces at Ten-tsin (Tianjin), marking the end of the Tianjin Campaign and sealing the fate of the KMT in northern China.
January 16, 201412 yr Author 16 January 1979 The Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, flees to Egypt at the height of the Iranian Revolution. Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar opens the way for Ayatollah Khomeini to return.
January 17, 201412 yr Author 17 January 1991 At 2:38 AM, Operation Desert Storm is launched with the words "Party in ten", spoken by AH-64A Apache pilot 1st Lt Tom Drew. This meant that in 10 seconds, AGM-114 Hellfire laser guided missiles would be impacting their targets - a pair of critical early warning radar sites (comprising a co-located 'Squat Eye' and 'Flat Face', and a 'Spoon Rest') - in southern Iraq. The missiles (and subsequently, 2.75 inch rockets and 30mm Chain Gun ammo) were fired by Task Force Normandy, which all-helo force comprised eight Apaches (with a ninth as backup), a UH-60A Black Hawk, and two USAF MH-53J Enhanced Pave Low IIIs.
January 20, 201412 yr Author 20 January 1981 Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States. Within 20 minutes of his inaugural address, the remaining 52 American hostages held in Iran since November 1979, are released.
January 21, 201412 yr Author 21 January 1968 A B-52G (callsign 'Hobo 28', serial 58-0188), from the 380th Strategic Bomb Wing at Plattsburgh AFB, NY, suffers an onboard fire while flying a 'Chrome Dome' strategic alert mission near Thule, Greenland. Unable to extinguish the fire, the crew bail out of the aircraft (with one fatality) and it crashes onto the frozen sea about 12 km west of Thule. It is a 'Broken Arrow' incident, as the aircraft is carrying four 1.1 megaton B28FI Mod 1 nuclear bombs. Project 'Crested Ice' is launched to remove debris and contain environmental damage, but some components are never recovered.
January 23, 201412 yr Author 23 January 1983 Having failed to boost into a high altitude 'storage' orbit, the Soviet nuclear powered radar ocean reconnaissance satellite (RORSAT) Kosmos 1402 tumbles into the Indian Ocean. Most of the satellite is burned up, excepting the nuclear fuel core containing about 100 lbs of enriched uranium. The core eventually plunges into the South Atlantic, about 1,000 miles east of Brazil, on 7 February.
January 24, 201412 yr Author This time of year seems ripe for nuclear 'incidents' 24 January 1961 Suffering a massive fuel leak, a Boeing B-52G Stratofortress breaks up in mid air over Goldsboro, North Carolina, while flying an Operation Coverall nuclear alert mission. Two crew are killed, and the remainder successfully bail out. The bomber's payload of two Mark 39 Mod 2 nuclear bombs are dropped in the process. One bomb deploys its retarding parachute and falls to earth relatively intact. However, three of the four safety mechanisms which prevent the bomb from detonating are unlocked. The second bomb plunges into the soft earth. Parts of the bomb, including portions of its thermonuclear assembly, are recovered but the bulk of the bomb remains buried some 180 feet underground in a North Carolina field.
January 27, 201412 yr Author 27 January 1943 The USAAF carries out its first bombing raid against Nazi Germany. 1st and 2nd Bombardment Wings of the Eighth Air Force launch 64 B-17s and 27 B-24s against the naval base at Wilhelmshaven. 53 B-17s conduct their strike between 1110 and 1113 hrs local time, dropping over 137 tons of bombs. Two other B-27s attack the U-boat base at Emden at 1135. The B-24s are unable to locate the target due to a combination of bad weather and navigational errors, and return to base. One B-17 and two B-24s are lost, with 32 B-17s and 11 B-24s damaged.
January 28, 201412 yr Author 28 January 1932 Five years before the start of the devastating Second Sino-Japanese war, the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan clashed in a short conflict that commenced on this date. It also marked the first major aircraft carrier action in the Far East, with Japanese carrier borne aircraft attacking Shanghai.
January 29, 201412 yr Author 29 January 1964Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece (imho) film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released. <---- You might have noticed that we're fans of the film here at HarpGamer. I also highly recommend the book upon which the movie is based, Red Alert.
January 30, 201412 yr Author 30 January 1862 ... the first ironclad, turreted warship, the USS Monitor, is launched in Brooklyn. The vessel was designed by Swedish inventor John Ericsson. Intercepts blog, DefenseNews
January 31, 201412 yr Author 31 January 1915 At the Battle of Bolimow, fought between the German Ninth Army and the Russian Second Army, the Germans launch their first large scale use of poison gas. They fire 18,000 six inch shells containing xylyl bromide, a rather nasty kind of tear gas, but most of it is blown back towards German lines and rendered ineffective by the cold weather.
February 1, 201412 yr Author 1 February 1958 The United States launches its first satellite, the Explorer 1, into a medium Earth orbit.
February 3, 201412 yr Author 3 February 1944 US forces complete their capture of the Marshall Islands.
February 4, 201412 yr Author 4 February 1899 Fighting erupts between the United States and Filipino revolutionary forces, marking the start of the Philippine-American war, though the First Philippine Republic would not officially declare war until June. The conflict continues until June 1902, paving the way for Philippine independence.
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