Celebrating Black History Month: Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., first African American brigadier general in US Air Force

 

Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., born December 18, 1912 in Washington, DC, was the first African American brigadier general in the US Air Force.  His father was Benjamin O. Davism, Sr., the first African American brigadier general in the US Army.  

He entered the US Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1936, become the first black man to do so since 1889.The US Army assigned him to the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. He then taught military tactics at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.  In 1941, he entered aviation cadet training and graduated in 1942, becoming one of four first African American combat pilots in the US military.  

In September 1943, Davis was assigned to command the 332nd Fighter Group, and went overseas.  During WWII, the airmen he commanded flew more than 15,000 sorties, shot down 112 enemy planes, and damaged or destroyed 273 planes on the ground, losing only 66 of their own planes and 25 bombers.  Davis received a Silver Star for a strafing run into Austria and the Distinguished Flying Cross for a bomber-escort mission to Munich June 9, 1944. At the end of the war he had been promoted to colonel. 

When President Truman ordered the racial integration of the armed forces, Col. Davis helped draft the Air Force plan for implementing this order. He returned to combat when he assumed command of the 51st Figher-Interceptor Wing in Korea in 1953. 

He was promoted to major general in 1959 and brigadier general in 1960. He retired from the Air Force in 1970. 

President Clinton promoted Davis to four-star general in 1998.  

He passed away in July 2002.

Benjamin Davis Jr. interview

"The Ritual" premieres 2018

 

The Ritual, a British horror film released in October 2017, premiered on Netflix, February 9, 2018.  It stars Robert James-Collier from Downton Abby fame.  The movie follows four friends who travel to the Swedish countryside to perform a ritual, in memory of their friend, murdered during a store robbery.  When one of the group twists his ankle, they decide to take a short cut through a dark forest to their destination.  They soon realize they are being stalked by a supernatural being.

I really enjoyed this movie.  It has a creepy Blair Witch vibe to it when the friends try to find shelter at night in the dark forest during torrential rain.  I admit the film lost some of its horror when the monster is finally revealed, but it's still an exciting, scary movie.

https://youtu.be/Vfugwq2uoa0?si=vnD4VgQnWV7K1SEG

Celebrating Black History Month: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., first African American to promoted to brigadier general

Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., born July 1, 1877 in Washington, DC, became the first African American to be promoted to brigadier general in the US Army.  He graduated from Howard University in 1898, and joined the 8th volunteer Infantry for the Spanish-American War, receiving a commission as a first lieutenant.

He joined the regular army as a private and then became a on-commissioned officer.  In 1901, he was appointed second lieutenant of Cavalry.  He served in the Philippine-American War and Wrold War I.  Despite racism and being passed over for promotions, he was promoted to Colonel in 1930.

Davis's accomplishments led him to be promoted to brigadier general and commanded the 4th Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division.  He retired in 1948 and passed away in November 1970.

Celebrating Black History Month: James W. Mitchell, African-American chemist

James W. Mitchell, born November 16, 1943 in Durham, North Carolina, is a analytical chemist and materials engineer.  He has made significant contributions to trace element analysis.  He earned his BS in chemistry from North Carolina A&T State University in 1965. He received his PhD in analytical chemistry from Iowa State University in 1970.

He attained the position of Head of the Analytical Chemistry Research Department in 1975 at AT&T Bell Laboratories and became one of the founders for the Association of Black Laboratory Employees. He was the first black director and vice-president of research at AT&T.

Mitchell co-wrote a book Contamination Control in Trace Analysis and published over 60 scientific papers and patented several processes.  

He received the Percy L. Julian Research Award and the Pharmacia Industrial Analytical Chemistry Award. In 1993 he was named Black Engineer of the Year by US Black Engineer.  In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement in Industry Award from the National Society of Black Engineers. 

Betty White nominated for Primetime Emmy 1951

 The 3rd Primetime Emmy Awards was held January 23, 1951. The nominees were mainly from the Los Angeles area, but beginning with the 4th ceremony, the awards considered national television networks.

Alan Young was a big winner that night winning for the Best Variety Show and Best Actor.  The phenomenal Betty White was nominated for Best Actress along with Helen Hayes, but lost to Gertrude Berg.

Happy birthday, Quicksilver!

Evan Peters, born January 20, 1987 in St. Louis, Missouri, got his big break when he was cast in American Horror Story in 2011.  His favorite role of mine is X-Man Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) in the X-Men series.  He won accolades as his performance as Jeffrey Dahmer in Monster, for which he won a Golden Globe award.

Firefly Aerospace and ISpace launch moon landers 2025

Aerosopace companies Firefly and ISpace (Japan) launched their lunar probes on a SpaceX rocket, January 15, 2025.  

Firefly's Blue Ghost landed on the moon in the Mare Crisium basin, March 2, 2025. Its mission will study the moon in preparation for human exploration in the future.

Japanese country ISpace's Hakuto-R Mission 2 (Resilience) crashed onto the lunar surface on June 5, 2025.