Miyazaki Airport in southwest Japan has cancelled over 80 flights after an unexploded U.S. bomb from World War II detonated yesterday. 6r2x6w

The explosion reportedly occurred near a runway, creating a large crater reportedly seven meters wide and about one meter deep. Land and Transport Ministry officials confirmed that no aircraft were close enough at the time of the explosion to cause any injuries or, for that matter, damage to any planes.

Japanese Self-Defense Forces concluded that the blast was from a U.S. bomb — more accurately a dud shell — weighing about 500-pounds that was apparently resting under the taxiway but officials have not yet determined what caused the bomb to suddenly explode after eight decades.

Miyazaki Airport in Miyazaki Prefecture, is currently an international airport often used by Japanese Airlines. It was previously used to train the Imperial Japanese Navy. Because of this, it was targeted by the United States during World War II, resulting in two other unexploded U.S. shells being discovered in the area over the last 13 years.

During the Battle of Okinawa, 47 kamikaze aircraft — which are planes flown by pilots on suicide missions — took off from the airport in their fight against United States forces.

Civil Aviation College nearby, which uses the airport for pilot training, captured footage of the explosion which has been shown in newscasts throughout Japan and worldwide thanks to social media.

The explosion occurred around 8am local time. Firefighters and police instructed everyone to evacuate the area.

Miyazaki is often known or its surfing culture, thanks to its hugely popular surfing spots written about worldwide, including Kisakihama Beach which hosted the International Surfing Association 2019 World Surfing Games.

The airport has stated that it hopes to continue operations as early as Thursday.

Winston Churchill, prime minister of Great Britain during its battle for survival against Nazi , was a man of soaring oration and sourly bluntness. His varied life experiences as a neglected youth, descendant of British heroes, soldier, journalist, romance writer, and statesman molded a unique individual.

Churchill was a deeply flawed man as well, sharply criticized today for racist and imperialist beliefs and policies. Like many famous historical figures, his wisdom, courage, and other positive attributes existed alongside such things, and we are left to separate the wheat from the chaff in an intellectually honest way — recognizing what’s irable, condemning the dreadful.

In the spirit of this first proposition, let’s explore some of Churchill’s most inspirational and thought-provoking quotations, and consider their applicability to modern life.

6. On democracy 4z6065

“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…”

Churchill’s famous quote on democracy is a powerful reminder in a time when trust in democracy is declining and serious for authoritarianism threatens. Democracy can be frustrating — bad policies and politicians are just a vote away. And it can be fragile and self-destructive — literally voted away at any time. But it is far better than anti-democratic alternatives.

5. Never give up 6r4v2f

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in , we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!”

Churchill’s rousing speech to the British parliament after fell to the Nazis is one of the most widely known from World War II. His conviction to never give up and fight to the bitter end, even as Britain stood alone in Europe, inspired his nation and can serve as an example for human beings today, from Ukrainians battling Russian invaders to ordinary people facing immense personal struggles.

4. Concerning chickens 404k55

“When I warned [the French] that Britain would fight on alone, whatever they did, their Generals told their Prime Minister and his divided cabinet: ‘In three weeks, England will have her neck wrung like a chicken. Some chicken… Some neck!”

The French severely underestimated the British. They fought alone gallantly for a year and a half before the United States entered the war against Hitler, and years more before the German surrender. This quote gives a taste of Churchill’s sense of humor, and warns that a Goliath should never underestimate a David.

3. Against bystanders 3o52x

“It is better to be making the news than taking it; to be an actor rather than a critic.” 

This quote, from Churchill’s book The Story of the Malakand Field Force, reminds us to never be content with ivity, to act for certain ends instead of simply observing or critiquing what others are doing. It is far too easy to fall into a place of complacency and stop being a doer. There are good deeds and hard work to be done, which cannot simply be left to others.

2. War of the words 1x2a4

“We are the masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.”

Here Churchill touches on two human failings. We often leave unsaid that which should be said. For instance, telling someone how much they really mean to us. On the other hand, we often say things we do not mean or things that should have remained private, causing tension, conflict, or embarrassment. Churchill urges us to be more discerning.

1. Churchill approves 314k2q

“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations… The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts.”

In his book My Early Life, Churchill praised the activity in which you are currently engaged. Seeking interesting ideas in selections from past thinkers is a fine way to become a more educated person. Short and powerful, such quotations can stick with us for the rest of our lives. 

One doesn’t have to be a history aficionado or hail from the United Kingdom to be familiar with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The statesman famously led the British through the horrors of World War II and fostered strong alliances that secured the Allies victory over Nazi and its allies in the Axis.

Churchill was an imperfect leader, but his unorthodox rise to military prominence (he failed the entrance exam to enter the Royal Military College at Sandhurst three times before ing) and his unceasing philosophical pursuits forged him into a capable leader with strong morals during a time when his country couldn’t have needed it more.

What was Winston Churchill’s religion? 534n4e

Winston Churchill’s religious beliefs were thoroughly challenged during his life and scoured after his death. He and Queen Elizabeth penned letters to one another throughout his life, and even the Queen had probing theological questions for Churchill. The Churchill Project has a lengthy essay theoretically unpacking the Statesman’s belief system, which heavily intertwined humanism with the theologico-political application of his morality.

All those big words to say: it’s complicated.

Churchill was christened in the Church of England when he was young, but as he grew, his perception of religion changed. Churchill had a very tenuous relationship with his parents, Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill. His father served in Parliament, and his mother was a well-known and respected American socialite. As was customary in those days, Churchill’s parents left the child-rearing to a small army of nannies and servants, and when he was old enough, Churchill was sent to a live-in boarding school.

The school he attended had strict moral discipline and regular religious services. Young Churchill disliked the ritual, and “developed a distaste for the Pope and Catholicism” in particular, but while at school he had to adopt a “broad-minded tolerance and orthodoxy.” It manifested as a “violent and aggressive anti-religious phase,” but one that would as Churchill got older.

After graduating from the Royal Military College, Churchill was deployed to Bangalore, India, where he began exploring spirituality. He never found a secular religion, but he did adopt a strict code of morality, one akin to that practiced by the ancient Romans and Greeks. Before the Battle of Omduran, he told his mother, “I do not accept the Christian or any other form of religious belief.”

Churchill denied the divinity of Christ, but claimed the religious figure was a great moral teacher. He once said that though he didn’t recognize Christ as God, he “recognized him as the finest character who ever lived.”

His beliefs eventually morphed into a sort of agnosticism. While Churchill felt that there was some sort of providential deity, he believed that it was only loosely involved in human affairs, but that its “all-wise hand” guided humans on a “mission of bearing peace, civilization and good government to the uttermost ends of the earth.

His belief system eventually morphed into something akin to Christian Humanism, which views Christ and God through a human lens, focusing on human dignity, individual freedoms, and the pursuit of happiness.

While Churchill was by no means a devoutly religious man, his acceptance of Christian Humanism allowed him to bridge that gap between philosophic truths and Christian moral teachings. Historians theorize that this hybrid approach made Churchill a decisive leader capable of guiding his people through one of the most harrowing times in recent history.

How tall was Winston Churchill? 6a3r5z

Despite his impressive achievements and monumental stature as a leader, Churchill was rather average in height. Standing at 5’ 6” (approximately 168 cm), he was shorter than most of the heavy hitters in WWII, including American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who towered over his opposition at 6’ 2” (189 cm) – but only when his infirmity allowed.

This number is frequently debated, however. It has been reported that Churchill was 5’ 7” by some sources.  

There are few symbols of the Cold War as potent as the Berlin Wall. For almost three decades this concrete barrier encircled West Berlin, separating it from East Berlin. Armed guards were stationed along it to prevent crossings and many died in their attempts.

In Nov. 1989 it fell, with the event widely considered to mark the beginning of the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, and the Cold War itself would officially end soon after in December. So, why was it built in the first place and how did it work?

The origins of the wall k215

The defeat of Nazi by the United Kingdom, , the United States, and the Soviet Union saw pre-war carved into four occupation zones, each governed by one of the Allied powers. Berlin was entirely within the Soviet Union’s zone, but as it was the capital city, it was itself divided into four sectors.

Tensions arose between the Allied powers and soon the U.K., U.S.A., and combined their sectors into a single zone to aid in reconstruction. Over in their zone, the Russians established a Soviet-style government in the East which came to be known as the GDR, while the West founded the Federal Republic of . These two halves of would be known as East and West and would be treated as separate countries.

Unfortunately for the Soviets, the quality of life in West soon outpaced life in the East. So, all too understandably, East Germans began leaving en masse, using West Berlin as a springboard out of Soviet-controlled territory. In addition, having a city split into capitalist and communist halves saw its citizens directly comparing life between the two systems – with the Soviet side invariably coming off worse.

Barbed wire fences were erected between the city’s two halves, and East Berlin residents wishing to travel to West Berlin had to apply for “visit es” from authorities. By the late 1950s there were heavy fines for unauthorized movement from East to West, but enforcing travel across the city was next to impossible.

Something had to be done to restrict movement. Some kind of… barrier.

The Wall goes up and, much later, comes down 3w4369

On Aug 12. 1961 approval was given for the construction of what came to be known as the Berlin Wall. The East German Army closed the border, streets were torn up, barbed wire was erected, and fortifications were built. Later that month more permanent concrete blocks were being placed, along with chain link fences, guard posts, and minefields.

The Berlin Wall would go on to divide East from West until 1989 and was largely successful in its aim of preventing East Germans from crossing into the West. It wasn’t airtight – around 5,000 people made it over – but it was clearly enough of an obstacle to discourage many from attempting it.

If you visit Berlin you can still see surviving stretches of the wall, now preserved for historic reasons. But the majority of it has been smashed to bits and, frankly, good riddance.

Within the vastness of what you can study about World War II lies the country of Vietnam, a small, French-occupied country that borders Thailand and lies coastal to the South China Sea.

A few decades after WWII, Vietnam’s communist beliefs had spread throughout the country, sending America to war with it out of fear of communist spread, but in the 1940s, it fell victim to the occupation of the empire of Japan. Japan’s influence over Asia during World War II was massively violent. Its tactic of invading Vietnam had a lot to do with China, and its main goal with the occupation was to put a stop to China importing guns and fuel through a region called “French Indochina.”

Like Japan’s ally , whose invasion of has fueled history books, Japan ultimately took Vietnam, which was under French rule at the time. Japan forced to let go of the rule it had over Vietnam in the early 1940s. By August of 1945, Japan had at last surrendered to Allied forces. To capitalize on this opportunity, Vietnam’s communist leader, Ho Chi Minh, declared independence from the rule of Japan and for decades. All of this is titled the August Revolution, a two-week-long uprising that propelled the country forward.

Even as wars end, the ripple effect can create global issues down the road for the next conflict. The revolution that Vietnam had as it declared its independence post-World War II put it in the sights of U.S. foreign policy. This, of course, could be read as the first sign of what would become a conflict that later led to the Vietnam War.