http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/30/us/doolittle-raid-japan-us-bomber-attack-b-25-mitchell-dick-cole/index.html



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At Georgia's Perry-Houston County Airport on Friday a B-25 named Show Me sat at the end of Runway 36. Its powerful propeller twin engines shook the seats as the bomber waited to takeoff -- a little bit like Jimmy Doolittle and his raiders did in 1942 aboard the USS Hornet.

Eighty men volunteered for that mission -- what turned out to be a one-way air attack -- vengeance for Japan's strike on Hawaii that crippled the US Navy fleet and left 2,403 dead.
For them, Pearl Harbor was their 9/11.

After four months, it was time for payback.

<snip>

On April 18, 1942, Doolittle and co-pilot Richard E. "Dick" Cole sat in the cockpit of their B-25 going over a preflight check list with the engines running.

"I was setting the engine cowl flaps and watching to make sure the engines didn't overheat," said Cole, now 101 years old and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.

"It was a bit hectic," he said, because crews were scrambling. The mission launch was moved up by 12 hours because of fears that Tokyo had been tipped off.

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A typical B-25 takeoff uses about 2,000 feet of runway. But the Hornet's deck allowed the planes as little as 300 feet to get airborne — otherwise they'd drop off the edge and crash into the ocean.

Amazingly, the mission pilots had been trained to be able to take off as slowly as 75 mph with as little as 250 feet of runway.

<snip>

With the natural winds, combined with speed from the moving ship, the B-25s only needed to get up to about 23 mph to fly off the Hornet, Cole said. Japan was about 650 miles away.

A flag on the deck green-lighted the takeoff. It was time.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_and_Franklin:_The_White_House_Years

Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years is a 1977 American made-for-television film and a sequel to Eleanor and Franklin (1976). Originally airing on March 13, 1977, it was part of a two-part biopic directed by Daniel Petrie based on Joseph P. Lash's Pulitzer prize-winning biography chronicling the lives of the 32nd U.S. President and the First Lady. Joseph Lash was a secretary and confidant of Eleanor and wrote other books on the couple.

Eleanor and Franklin focused on their respective childhoods, school years, courtship and the lead up to his election. Seven members of the original cast returned for the sequel, including the two main characters portrayed by Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann. It won 7 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Special of the Year. Daniel Petrie, who won Director of the Year – Special for the first installment, won the same exact award again. Both films were acclaimed and noted for historical accuracy.

Edward Herrmann – Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), 32nd President of the United States

Jane Alexander – Eleanor Roosevelt, 34th First Lady of the United States

Priscilla Pointer – Marguerite Missy LeHand. Long-time secretary to Franklin and considered part of the family.

Walter McGinn – Louis Howe, intimate friend to both Roosevelts and political advisor to Franklin

Rosemary Murphy – Sara Delano Roosevelt, Franklin's mother

Blair Brown – Anna Roosevelt, Eleanor and Franklin's eldest child

David Healy – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, uncle to Eleanor and 5th cousin to Franklin

Peggy McCay – Grace Tully, long-time friend/secretary to Eleanor and became Franklin's top secretary after Missy died.

Donald Moffat – Harry Hopkins, one of Franklin's closest advisers and architect of the New Deal. He was an important liaison between FDR, Winston Churchill, and Stalin meeting personally with the leaders and setting up negotiations during World War II.

Toni Darnay – Malvina Thompson, Eleanor's personal secretary

Barbara Conrad (Barbara Smith Conrad) – Marian Anderson, an American contralto singer. The Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow her to perform before an integrated audience in their Constitution Hall, spurring First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to resign from the organization and to aid in arranging for Anderson to sing from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Anderson went on to sing at the inaugurations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.

Morgan Farley – William Plog, managed the Roosevelts' Hyde Park estate

Mark Harmon – Robert Dunlap, a soldier

Anna Lee – Laura Delano, FDR's cousin

Linda Kelsey – Lucy Mercer, mistress of FDR

Colin Hamilton – Ike Hoover, Chief Usher of the White House; served both Roosevelt presidents

Ray Baker – James Roosevelt, oldest son of the Roosevelts who served as a secretary in his father's White House and went on to become a U.S. Marine serving in World War II. He later became a Congressman from California for 10 years.

Brian Patrick Clarke – John Aspinwall Roosevelt, youngest child of the Roosevelts

Don Howard – Elliot Roosevelt, son of the Roosevelts who served in World War II

Joseph Hacker – Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., son of the Roosevelts who also served in the war

Charles Lampkin – Irvin McDuffie, FDR's African-American valet during the White House years

Arthur Gould-Porter – Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Robert Karnes – United States Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, frequent opponent of FDR in the courts. He also swore him in first 3 of the 4 times he was inaugurated.

David Lewis – United States Supreme Court Justice Melville Weston Fuller, who swore in Teddy Roosevelt.

Gregory Koontz – Curtis Roosevelt, eldest grandson of the Roosevelts; Anna's son from first marriage

Davy Muxlow – John Roosevelt Boettiger, Roosevelt's grandson and Anna's son from second marriage

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/23/monty-pythons-terry-jones-has-been-diagnosed-with-dementia/

The comedy genius behind Monty Python Terry Jones has been diagnosed with dementia.

The news came as Bafta Cymru announced he had been given a special award for outstanding contribution to film and television.

A representative for the writer and director said: "Terry has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a variant of frontotemporal dementia.

"This illness affects his ability to communicate and he is no longer able to give interviews. Terry is proud and honoured to be recognised in this way and is looking forward to the celebrations."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/14/us/evel-knievel-jump-eddie-braun-snake-river/index.html


Stuntman Eddie Braun, left, and Kelly Knievel in 2015 with Braun's "Evel Spirit" rocket.

(CNN)On September 8, 1974, Evel Knievel climbed into a steam-powered "rocket cycle" and blasted off a cliff over Idaho's Snake River.

He failed to reach the other side when his craft's parachute deployed too soon and landed him -- largely unhurt -- at the bottom of the canyon, but the much-hyped stunt only added to Knievel's daredevil legend.

Now, 42 years later, veteran Hollywood stuntman Eddie Braun plans to pay homage to the late Knievel by making the jump himself. After years of planning, Braun says he will attempt the Snake River Canyon leap on Saturday with the same type of aircraft and technology.

<snip>

Some people, including Kelly Knievel and a Twin Falls city councilman, have been vocal about their doubts that Braun can pull it off.

"I wouldn't get in a piece of tin and blast off over a cliff," Knievel told CNN. "If he makes it, he'll be honoring my dad's legacy. If he splats his brains out in the canyon it'll be a different story."

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt#Presidency_.281901.E2.80.9309.29



On September 6, President McKinley was shot by an anarchist acting alone while in Buffalo, New York. Initial reports suggested that his condition was improving, so Roosevelt, after visiting the ailing president, embarked for the west. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt rushed back. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was sworn in at the Ansley Wilcox House.

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