- 6 months ago
This is Episode 8 of Retro News.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The Eagle has landed.
00:09I, Franklin Delano, where's it?
00:11I'll catch it, pass.
00:19Retro News is a blast from the past.
00:23I'm Mark.
00:24And I'm Kendall.
00:25And this is Retro News, the show that digs through the archives of news history
00:29to bring you the important and not-so-important stories.
00:34Today, we're going back to the year 1948.
00:37We'll see parachuting dogs, baby tigers, and a whole pile of St. Bernard pups.
00:43We'll also show you a hair-raising stunt you have to see to believe.
00:47But first, let's take a look at one of the year's top stories.
00:51Orville Wright, the youngest of the famous Wright brothers,
00:54died of a heart attack on January 30, 1948.
00:56He and his brother, Wilbur, left a big mark on America.
01:01The Wright brothers were the first to really fly, that is, control an airplane.
01:06Before this, man could leave the earth in hot air balloons and gliders,
01:10but their speed, distance, and destination depended on the wind.
01:13Orville Wright explained the difference in his diary.
01:16This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world
01:23in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight
01:31and sailed forward without reduction of speed.
01:34And it finally landed at a point as high as that from which it had started.
01:40The Wright brothers, seen here flying a later version of their plane,
01:44made several more flights on December 17th.
01:46The final flight of the day lasted 59 seconds.
01:50Now here are Brendan and Rachel with more innovations.
01:52You've heard of people parachuting from planes.
01:56Well, dogs have made the leap, too.
01:59Dogs were an important part of rescue missions during World War II.
02:03The war was over by 1948, but these parachuting pups were still saving lives.
02:08When planes went down in the icy Arctic, there was a new type of rescue from above.
02:14These sled dogs were part of Operation Paradox.
02:16It was a new role for the mushers, but these pups never paused to save a life.
02:22From 500 feet up, it didn't take long for the four-legged soldiers to get to work on the grounds.
02:29When they landed, the paratroop boss was there to get them out of their harnesses.
02:34Most didn't seem to mind the jump.
02:36Look at this pup wagging his tail on the way down.
02:39These dogs were expert paratroopers who hit the ground running.
02:43A sled was also dropped from the plane.
02:47A doctor was part of the rescue team, too.
02:49Dogs and doc would bring a sled full of medical supplies to the wrecked plane.
02:54This injured man hit the sled for a slippery trip to a landing strip,
02:58where an ambulance plane was waiting.
03:01That's one doggone great rescue.
03:04Coal is a fossil fuel that is burned to provide electricity.
03:07It's also found in fertilizer, pencils, and even paint.
03:11And here's an innovation that made coal mining a little easier.
03:16Coal miners were spinning with excitement when this invention hit the mines.
03:21These iron hands twirled around to make mining easier for thousands of men on the job.
03:26Two rows of spinning hands cut through coal at a whirlwind rate.
03:31The machine could cut and move up to 80 tons of coal a day.
03:34Now, here's Ed Hurley with a blast from the past.
03:40Into tunnels on top of a mountain near Bristol, Virginia.
03:43Workers carefully, but carefully, place over $100,000 worth of explosives.
03:49820 tons of the stuff, which is one whale of a lot of explosives.
03:54It's a ticklish job preparing a mountain to blow its top.
03:57And that's just what they're doing.
03:59The rock from the quarry is going to be used in the completion of the South Holston Dam, a TVA project.
04:05Seismographs are ready.
04:07So are the paid hands.
04:09Here we go.
04:17The world's largest peacetime blast sends a gigantic shower of rock cascading down into the valley.
04:23A boom that should mean boom times in the Tennessee Valley.
04:29Pilots were flying high in 1948, and aircraft innovations were in full force.
04:36Ed Hurley takes us back in time to see this amazing aircraft.
04:40The Air Force takes the ramps off the McDonnell XF-85, referred to unofficially as the Parasite plane.
04:48At the Muroc Air Base, a specially adapted Super Fort is the foster mother for the strange little jet fighter,
04:54which sheds a new and novel light on protection for our long-range bombers.
04:59The Parasite plane cannot take off by itself, but is hoisted aboard the bomber in a special trapeze.
05:08Neatly tucked into the parent plane's bomb bay, the Parasite goes along for its first test flight.
05:13The Parasite's one mission is to ward off enemy fighter planes.
05:23In case of an attack, the necessary adjustments are made,
05:26and then the pilot climbs down into the cockpit of his flying gun platform.
05:31The bomber crew don't have to fight alone.
05:34There's help right at hand.
05:35First, the metal cradle swings clear, and then the hook is released, and down she plummets,
05:45and the Air Force plays another ace in the grim game of keeping the peace.
05:51In the summer heat of 1948, the Republican Convention geared up in Philadelphia.
05:55The competition was just as hot as the weather.
05:57The cast of players at the Republican Convention was ready for the show.
06:03The player in the lead was Thomas E. Dewey, the governor from New York.
06:06His competition was strong.
06:08Dewey's toughest challenger was Robert Taft, the governor from Ohio.
06:11General Douglas MacArthur was also putting up a good fight.
06:15Republicans cast their votes, and time ticked on as people eagerly waited for the news.
06:19The votes were in, and 46-year-old Thomas Dewey was the winner.
06:23Dewey gracefully accepted the nomination.
06:25I thank you with all my heart for your friendship and your confidence.
06:31That year, Dewey would run against Harry S. Truman for the presidency.
06:38Radios used to be big, really big.
06:40They were pretty hard to carry around.
06:43Transistors changed all that.
06:44The transistor is what made it possible to make radios and other electronics smaller and portable.
06:50Many people consider the transistor one of the greatest inventions in modern history,
06:53thanks to the Bell Telephone Company.
06:56Joining me now is Professor What's It with some information on the Marshall Plan.
07:00Hi, Professor.
07:02Hi, Kendall.
07:03Professor, can you explain the Marshall Plan?
07:05What was it?
07:06After World War II, people in Europe were struggling to recover.
07:10Many great European cities were in ruins.
07:12The Marshall Plan was the United States' way of helping rebuild the war-torn countries.
07:18How did the U.S. help?
07:20Under the Marshall Plan, the U.S. government sent money, food, medical supplies, and even machines and fuel to countries like France, Germany, and Italy.
07:30Many countries joined the U.S. in this mission by accepting the goods.
07:34However, the Soviet Union saw the Marshall Plan as a threat and did not participate.
07:39How much did the U.S. give?
07:40The United States spent about $13 billion to help these countries rebuild.
07:46That's equal to about $100 billion in 2005.
07:50Did the Marshall Plan also help the U.S.?
07:52That's a good question.
07:54It did.
07:55The countries used the money from the Marshall Plan to buy goods from the United States, so it also helped the U.S. economy as well.
08:02The Marshall Plan also helped secure peace with participating countries.
08:07Why was it called the Marshall Plan?
08:08The plan was named after the U.S. Secretary of State, George Marshall.
08:13He, along with other State Department officials, had created the plan.
08:17Thanks, Professor.
08:19Now, here's the retro quiz.
08:21Like most old buildings, the White House has had a few additions.
08:29When Eisenhower was president, it got a putting green.
08:32President Roosevelt built the pool, and President Clinton added a jogging track.
08:36President Truman was given a bowling alley for the White House, and he made one more change himself.
08:42What did President Truman add to the White House?
08:44I'll be back with the answer later in the show.
08:46Equality for all members of the armed forces was established on July 26, 1948.
08:56President Truman signed an executive order which ended segregation in the military.
09:01Mohandas Gandhi is one of the world's most admired icons.
09:06He devoted his life to freeing India from British colonial rule and was famous for his nonviolent resistance.
09:13Now, here's Brandi Mitchell with a look at what ended Gandhi's life.
09:16In 1948, the world lost a most determined leader.
09:22Mahatma Gandhi, a promoter of peace, led millions of Indians in the crusade to free their country from British rule.
09:28But sadly, on January 28, 1948, Gandhi was killed with three bullets.
09:34For 30 years, Gandhi tirelessly worked toward India's freedom.
09:37His strong belief in nonviolent resistance has influenced international movements to this day.
09:43He inspired leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. to fight for civil rights and freedom without physically fighting at all.
09:50One of Gandhi's famous quotes was,
09:53I have nothing new to teach the world.
09:54Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills.
09:58On July 1, the 1940s...