Tanks for the Memories
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill crossing the Rhine River in an amphibious Buffalo vehicle crewed by British soldiers. Germany, 1945 - LIFE Photographer: George Rodger.
US Army M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle fitted with reactive armor standing in test range-type setting. Date taken: 1990. Location and photographer unknown.
M-114 armored recon vehicle. Germany, 1963 - LIFE Photographer: Ralph Crane.
An M-44 armored utility vehicle known as a "Doughboy's Friend", with a squad of troops following behind in formation. Maryland, February 1949 - LIFE Photographer: Herbert Gehr.
R34 Rigid Airship
A small British bi-plane hit the huge Airship again and again with machine gun fire until the ship's airbags were tattered and torn. For fear of igniting the highly explosive hydrogen gas that was leaking from the bullet holes, the German Zeppelin could not even use its anti-aircraft guns in defense.
This gigantic airship measured over six-hundred feet in length, and contained 1,900,000 cubic feet of lighter than air hydrogen. Five large engines, each with over 250 horsepower... propelled the airship at speeds up to sixty-two miles per hour.
Angels Flight Opening
By DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press Writer
Posted: 03/15/2010 01:46:39 AM PDT
Los Angeles - Angels Flight, the downtown Los Angeles funicular that shut down nine years ago after a deadly accident, is set to resume service with modern braking technology never envisioned when it opened in 1901.
Operators of the so-called "Shortest Railway in the World" said they will begin ferrying passengers up and down Bunker Hill on Monday at 6:45 a.m.
Service halted in 2001 after a rail car broke loose, rolled backward and smashed into another car, killing an 83-year-old man and injuring seven others. Federal investigators concluded that faulty mechanical and brake systems were to blame.
The newly restored railway features a computerized braking system and other safety features approved last week by the California Public Utilities Commission.
These "Angels Flight" photographs are from the Historic American Buildings Survey collection at the Library of Congress. Information on LOC Index Card prepared by A. Lewis Koue, National Park Service in 1964 reads as follows:
History: Built in 1901 by Colonel J.W. Eddy to serve the residential area of Bunker Hill. The last remaining cable railway, although licensed as an elevator, in Los Angeles.
Description: Two-block long line operating by cable traction on three rails except where the two cars pass and here they switch onto two double tracks. Counter-balancing cars utilized to augment power energy for operation of system.
NASA - 52 Years Old
In honor of NASA's 52nd Anniversary this year, we take a look back at the 50th Space Shuttle Mission "STS-47". Space Shuttle Endevour was launced on September 12th, 1992. Returning on September 20th, 1992, after a 7 day, 22 hour, 30 minute and 23 second mission. Traveling a distance of 3,271,844 miles. (Image Credit: NASA)
The crew are: Robert L. Gibson - Commander, Curtis L. Brown, Jr. - Pilot, Mark C. Lee - Payload Commander, N. Jan Davis - Mission Specialist, Jay Apt - Mission Specialist, Mae C. Jemison - Mission Specialist and Mamoru Mohri - Payload Specialist from the Japan NASDA. (Image Credit: NASA)
The United States Congress authorized the construction of Endeavour in 1987 to replace Challenger, which was lost in an accident in 1986. Structural spares from the construction of Discovery and Atlantis, two of the three remaining operating shuttles at the time, were used in its assembly. (Image Credit: NASA)
Space Shuttle Endeavour is one of the three currently operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA. Endeavour was the fifth and final NASA space shuttle to be built. Pictured: Space Shuttle Endeavour leaving Edwards Air Force Base for the trip back to Florida. (Image Credit: NASA)
The orbiter is named after HM Bark Endeavour, the ship commanded by 18th century explorer James Cook. The name also honores Endeavour, the Command Module of Apollo 15. Pictured: Space Shuttle Endeavour arriving in Florida. (Image Credit: NASA)
To date, the last mission for "Endeavour" was STS-123, a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The original launch target date was February 14, 2008 but after the delay of STS-122, the shuttle was launched on March 11, 2008. The mission duration was 15 days and 18 hours, setting a record for a shuttle's longest stay at the ISS.Pictured: The USAF Thunderbirds display team performs a flypast of the STS-123 stack, in commemoration of NASA's 50th anniversary. (Image Credit: NASA)
Colonel Lindbergh
Pamphlet published by Chase & Sanborn, importers of Seal brand coffee and tea. Featuring the goodwill tour route of Charles Lindbergh through central and South America from December 13th, 1927 through February 13th, 1928.
America's "Ambassador Of The Air". Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh, The man who made the First Flight from New York to Paris in May 1927. Page from 1928 Compton Encyclopedia.
Up, Up and Away!
A hot-air balloon flies over the morning mist near Immenstadt in Allgaeu, southern Germany, on August 24, 2009. (SEBASTIAN WIDMANN/AFP/Getty Images)
LINK: The Big Picture at the Boston Globe
Armored Transport
African-American troops of the 784th Tank Battalion and their Sherman tanks preparing to cross the Rhine River, March 1945. (Photo Source: World War II Signal Corps Photograph Collection)
M-46 Patton tank and crew passing through the village of Kumko, Korea, in September 1950.
1st Armored Division M7 Being Unloaded at Algerian DocksThe lack of specialized tank landing craft during the Operation TORCH landings necessitated the capture and use of ports and docks to unload heavy vehicles, such as this Howitzer Motor Carrier M7 being unloaded at the Algerian docks on Nov 9, 1942.
Armor identified as part of the 1st Armor Division; image shows a Grant tank advancing to support American forces during the battle at Kasserine Pass, Tunisia , 1943. (Photo Source: World War II Signal Corps Photograph Collection)
Tanks of an Armored regiment are debarking from an LST (US77) in Anzio Harbor, Italy and added strength to the U.S. Fifth Army (VI Corps) forces on the beachead. (Photo Source: World War II Signal Corps Photograph Collection)