Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Susan Ahn Cuddy, first Asian American woman in the US Navy

Susan Ahn Cuddy, born January 16, 1915 in Los Angeles, California, was the first Asian American woman to join the US Navy.  Her parents immigrated from Korea to the US in 1902.  

She was accepted into the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service on her second attempt and sent to the US Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at Smith College in Massachusetts.  An astonishing feat considering anti-Asian sentiment and sexism ran high. in the country.

She joined the Navy in 1942 and became an instructor on flight simulators, and later she became the first female aerial gunnery officer, instructing male recruits in air combat tactics, during WWII.  

Ahn Cuddy was promoted to lieutenant and went to work for the US Navy Intelligence, the Library of Congress, and the National Security Agency. 

After her retirement, she spoke at Navy functions and Korean American community events, and was a breast cancer survivor. 

She died in June 2015 at the age of 100. 

Happy birthday. astronaut Donald Thomas!

Donald Alan Thomas, born May 6, 1955 in Cleveland, Ohio, has made four trips into space.  He got his BS in Physics from Case Western Reserve University in 1977, a MS and PhD in Materials Science, both from Cornell University.

NASA selected him as an astronaut in January 1990.  His first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-65) as mission specialist in July 1994, with birthday twin Chiaki Mukai. It was the mission that deployed the International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) into space.  He spent almost 15 days in space.

His second flight was aboard Discovery (SGS-70) as mission specialist in July 1995.  It was the last of seven missions to carry a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) into orbit.  He spent 9 days in space.

On his third mission, he flew on Columbia (STS-83) as mission specialist in April 1997.  The flight was cut short due to a technical problem in a fuel cell, and the crew landed after just 4 days.

His fourth and final spaceflight was aboard Columbia (STS-94) as mission specialist in July 1997.  It was the re-flight of STS-83 just three months before.  The mission was a success and he landed after almost 16 days in space.

The Andrew Sisters record "Beer Barrel Polka" 1939

Beer Barrel Polka was composed by a Czech musician Jaromir Vejvoda in 1927, and lyrics were added in 1934 by another Czech musician Vasek Zeman.  It became a popular drinking song during WWII.  One of the more memorable recordings was made by the Andrews Sisters who recorded it May 3, 1939.  

Their version reached #4 on the US song charts in 1939. 

"Spider-Man 2" wins 5 Saturn Awards 2005

Spider-Man 2, released in 2004, was nominated for seven Saturn Awards from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films at the 31st annual ceremony held May 3, 2005. It took home 5 of the awards.

It won Best Fantasy Film, Best Actor for Tobey Maguire, Best Director for Sam Raimi, Best Screenplay for Alvin Sargent, and Best Visual Effects for John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier.

Alfred Molina was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Doctor Octopus.  Danny Elfman was nominated for Best Score. 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for 9 awards, but did not receive any of them. The Day After Tomorrow received two nominations.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Samuel Ting, first Asian-American recipient of Nobel Prize in Physics

Samuel Chao Chung Ting, born January 27, 1936 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the first U.S.-born Asian American to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1976.  Ting, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shared the prize with Burton Ricther of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center for the discover of the J/psi nuclear particle. 

In 1995, Ting proposed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a cosmic ray detector and has been working on its development ever since. A prototype was flown on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-91) in 1998.  The main mission was scrubbed after the Columbia disaster in 2003.  Dr. Ting successfully lobbied the US Congress to secure a space shuttle flight to carry the AMS-02.  It was launched on Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134) and installed on the International Space Station in May 2011.

"The Beast Of Yucca Flats" released 1961

Although this movie screams Roger Corman or Bert I. Gordon, The Beast of Yucca Flats was brought to us by Coleman Francis, who wrote and directed.  But like Corman and Gordon, his movies ended up being riffed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. 

Released May 2, 1961, The Beast of Yucca Flats tells the story of a Russian scientist, played by Tor Johnson, who is transformed into a monster after being exposed to an atomic blast.  It could or could not be the inspiration for the Incredible Hulk.  

The movie opens with a nude woman (in some cases, the bare breasts have been censored) being strangled by what we are to believe is the Beast.  Yet, the movie follows the Beast's movements after his exposure, and the scene with the naked woman is never included or explained.

Another problem is Coleman Francis filmed the entire movie without sound, and added dialogue and narration in post-production, which becomes hilariously obvious in many places.

With a whopping 1.9 rating on imdb.com, it is considered one of the worst movies ever made.

Celebrating Asian American Heritage Month: Ervin Yen, first Asian American in Oklahoma legislature

Ervin Yen, born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1954, moved to northwest Oklahoma City in 1959, where he graduated from Putnam City High School and then a BS in zoology from University of Oklahoma.  He went on to get a medical degree from OU College of Medicine.

He changed his party affiliation to Republican in 2009 and ran for the District 40 state senate seat in 2014.  He won the election in the general election, becoming the first Asian American in the Oklahoma legislature history.

He lost his re-election bid in the primaries to an anti-vaxxer in 2018.  Yen changed his affiliation to Independent to run for governor in the 2022 election, citing the rise of COVID-19 misinformation, Trump's election lies, and the GOP's lack of response to COVID-19.