In the weeks after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. military¿gunners on naval ships and in antiaircraft units¿realized it had a problem: ¿We couldn¿t hit the broad side of a barn.¿ It urgently needed a gunsight that was easy to use and quick to aim. Enter Edwin Land, founder of Polaroid and self-taught expert in polarizing technology, who very swiftly came up with the idea for the optical ring sight (ORS), in which a set of concentric circles glowed¿like rings of fire¿for the gunner.Rings of Fire tells the gripping story of the unique cast of characters whose diverse talents transformed insight into gunsight. Irascible ¿desert rat,¿ mineral dealer, and cactus grower John Hilton mined the initial lodes of calcite¿essential for the sight, historically in very short supply¿in California; General George Patton wanted to take Hilton to North Africa with him, but mining calcite was deemed more important. A crew of misfits¿draft dodgers, criminals, a cross-section of the underbelly of Americäunder a Marine officer did the initial mining, but as production sagged, Native Americans of the Cahuilla tribe were recruited to pick up the slack.For the rest of the war, calcite production shifted back to California and then to Mexico, where a man with an FBI dossier drove operations, while Polaroid began to develop artificial crystals to fill the needs to produce the ORS. By the end of the war, Polaroid had fabricated hundreds of thousands of calcite-based sights for naval antiaircraft guns and the army¿s bazookas¿and the technology would be integrated into cameras long after the war, including on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions. The famous ¿Earthrise¿ photograph was taken using calcite.Rings of Fire is a story of American ingenuity, determination, and grit. Larry J. Hughes tells the story with accessible explanations of the science and engineering behind the optical ring sight, but always lets the colorful characters drive this vivid history of science and war.
Adorn your life with crochet stars!These easy and fun to crochet stars can be used for so many things! Start with the basic star that can be stitched onto clothing as a decorative patch or worn as a pin. Create adorable stuffed "star babies" with hugging arms and cute little faces. Frame your favorite "star" in a picture frame or make a magic wand for a fairy. Decorate a journal cover or wear small stars as earrings. Make multiple stars and then sew them together to make a scarf, table runner, place mat, or garland. Once you've mastered the basic stars, customize your creations with beads, ribbons, lace and other embellishments.These little stars are perfect for using up small bits of yarn and to stash in your bag for crocheting on the go. The 20+ ideas here are a great place to start, but once you start crocheting stars, the sky is the limit!
Crocheting items for the home provides a wonderful opportunity to display and enjoy your handmade items every day. From blankets and pillows, to baskets, place mats, coasters, wall hangings, rugs and more, the 10 designs in this book from Salena Baca will enhance any décor.
Cross-stitch your cottage life!Whether you live in a cottage or an urban apartment, if you daydream of a simple life in a little house on a hill or near the sea, this book is full of designs that will inspire and feed your love of all things homey and sweet. The 20 stitchings feature a variety of tiny homes--from cabins with beautiful gardens to hobby farms and even a little camper home--and the relaxing rituals of cottage living, such as baking, gardening, and enjoying wildlife and sunshine. Every project includes chart, finished photo, materials, and full instructions. Find your peace as you make each stitch, and then display your work where you can be transported to your cottage dream every time you see it!
Welcome a new baby with handmade blankets, sweaters, hats, booties, mitts, and more. In this collection, you'll find sets of coordinating items that can be made together (or mixed and matched) to make a great gift for baby. Each set includes 3 items, such as a blanket, hat, and booties. There are 10 sets--30 pieces in all.
Ready to get radical with your potholder weaving?Most of us learned to weave on our potholder looms in Plain Weave, and it's a great place to start, but your little loom is capable of so much more! Author Deborah Jean Cohen began exploring the possibilities of potholder weaving and found a whole group of similarly obsessed weavers on Facebook. Soon they were sharing and swapping techniques and patterns. They found that many Twill weaves translate easily to the potholder loom. And if you weave each of the two strands of a loop separately (instead of as one unit), you double the number of warps and wefts on your loom and exponentially increase the number of designs you can make. And have you tried weaving with a clasped weft to divide your weaving into sections for entirely new effects?Begin your radical potholder journey by trying the multitude of intriguing potholder designs presented in easy-to-follow charts. Many patterns are shown in a variety of color schemes to give you an idea of the possibilities, and you'll find yourself lost in many hours of joyful weaving. When you are ready to make your own designs, you'll find the advice on adapting an existing weaving draft to a potholder loom chart invaluable. You'll be amazed at the hundreds of variations you can make with just this one simple loom!
Crochet Monsters contains instructions for 37 unique bodies and more than 15 teeth patterns, tongues and horns, hair and scales, tails and limbs and more! Nearly everything is interchangeable so with over 30 limb options and so many more ways to customize your Monster, you can make a unique creature every time you return to this book.
Part of a new series of fly-fishing tactics books that cover key areas in detail, with clear, straightforward writing. In Euro Nymphing, author Josh Miller addresses the essentials of this effective method of nymphing that has become so popular around the country.
Tying and rigging lines and leaders. Boat-handling tips and approaching and feeding fish. From setting the hook to fighting and landing the fish quickly and safely.
Polish Eagles tells the fascinating but little-known World War II story of Polish soldiers recruited from POW camps and trained to go behind German lines for intelligence gathering and espionage missions that would assist the Allies in their invasion of Germany and help bring the war to an end.
Wind, wrap, and sew fabric strips into fantastic containers! Start with a plate shape to learn the technique. Then experiment with four basic container styles to create round, oval, square, and other shapes. Create purses, baskets, and bowls in an endless variety of sizes, shapes, and colorsSimply wrap fabric strips around cotton clothesline, coil into the desired shape, and secure with machine stitchingSpecial sections on lids, handles, and embellishments offer unlimited options for your own variations
Don't be afraid to mix colors and cables!The often-repeated advice that it is best to choose solid-color yarns when you crochet cables is not always true. With a little bit of knowledge and planning, you can crochet beautiful Celtic cables and enhance the design with your choice of a multicolored yarn. Author Noelle R. B. Stiles is a vision scientist at the University of Southern California and has done extensive research into the art and science of color play (so that you don't have to!). What she brings to this book is the practical side of color usage. She gives you a broad look at how colors and designs work together and illustrates how color choices affect the final outcome of your crochet pieces. She specifically sets out to prove that multicolored yarns should not be sidelined in your textured crochet pieces and can be used to great advantage. With practical examples and 20 patterns, she shows how crochet designs can feature both a multicolored yarn and an intricate cable to gorgeous effect. Patterns include eye-catching scarves, hats, mitts, blanket, cardigan, and more. If you are new to cabling, there are step-by-step instructions and several beginner patterns. Pull out your favorite hand-painted or variegated yarn and give it a try!
Create your own 100% natural vegan candles!Making your own candles allows you to choose ingredients that are healthy for you and for the planet. It also gives you the opportunity to play with a wealth of fragrances to create candles that are meaningful and purposeful for creating atmospheres of relaxation, warmth, concentration, energy . . . the possibilities are endless! Nearly any glass container can be made into a candle, so use your creativity and resourcefulness to combine containers, scents, and inclusions such as flower petals or coffee beans to make your own unique candles.The candle-making process is simple. Even if it's your first time, you'll find success by following the instructions in this book. You'll learn:the materials and tools needed to begin, and how to choose the best natural ingredientsthe steps necessary to make both container and molded candles21 recipes with the exact scents to combine to make candles for a variety of moods
Knit sweaters to LIVE in!Comfy pullover? Office cardigan? Weekend hoodie? Fitted turtleneck? Think of those sweaters you wear most often, the favorites you reach for time and again because they look great and are also comfortable. Now imagine them hand knitted in soft, beautiful yarns in the colors of your choice. With the 20 patterns in Essential Knit Sweaters you can create the sweater collection of your dreams! Each of the designs is a classic, essential type of sweater everyone should own¿jacket cardigan, turtleneck, oversize tunic, slouchy cardigan, hoodie, raglan pullover¿and all knit in easy stitches but with added details to make them unique. Knitting tutorials and detailed instructions make the sweater designs accessible for beginner to advanced knitters. Sweaters are shown in neutral tones for a modern look, and to allow a canvas on which to envision your own favorite hues. Grab your needles and some gorgeous yarn and start filling your wardrobe with sweaters you'll reach for again and again!
The Battle of Kursk was one of the defining moments of World War II. In July 1943, German forces launched a massive attack. The resulting clash of tanks at Prokhorovka was the largest armor battle in history. The battle marked a turning point on the Eastern Front; the Red Army gained the strategic initiative and would not lose it.
On August 7, 1942, U.S. Marines waded ashore in the Solomons, defended by warships of the U.S. Navy. The amphibious landing was the first major American ground campaign of the Pacific War, intended to prevent the Japanese from establishing naval and air bases in the island chain and to establish Allied bases for future operations. Most famously¿and most gruelingly¿the invasion marked the beginning of the months-long Guadalcanal campaign. Caught off guard, the Japanese swiftly regrouped for a seaborne counterattack on the night of August 8¿9. The result was one of the worst American naval defeats of the war after Pearl Harbor.In this meticulous minute-by-minute retelling of the First Battle of Savo Island, Lawrence De Graw covers the navy¿s role in the initial landings on Guadalcanal before setting the stage for the naval clash that would come the next night. On the eighth, the American commander, fearing Japanese attacks and cautious about fuel levels, withdrew his aircraft carriers and let his cruisers and destroyers¿exhausted from two days of high alert and combat¿operate with only half their crews on duty. The navy was unaware the Japanese had been training to fight at night. The American ships were sitting ducks when the Japanese fleet steamed through ¿The Slot¿ between Savo Island and Guadalcanal and into what became known as ¿Ironbottom Sound.¿ In little more than thirty minutes, the Japanese sent three U.S. (and one Australian) heavy cruisers to the bottom and damaged three other vessels. The American fleet withdrew from the area for the foreseeable future and limited shipments of men and materiel to the daytime, helping turn the battle of Guadalcanal into a long, hard slog.Sitting Ducks at Guadalcanal is naval history, featuring a colorful narrative that covers the big picture as well as stories of individual vessels and sailors as well as a careful analysis of the battle and just what went wrong for the U.S. Navy off the island of Guadalcanal.
First-ever oral history of an entire Marine scout-sniper platoon.
World of War explores the violent conflicts of the United States--on land, at sea, and in the air --with meticulous scholarship, thought-provoking analysis, and vivid prose.
Through over 600 photos, many never before published, supplemented by firsthand accounts from the author, Knights of Freedom follows the tanks of the 2nd Armored Division through some of the toughest fighting of World War II. It is a visual feast depicting American tank combat as it has never been seen before.
They were not your typical World War II soldiers. Most were not in particularly good physical shape, and many had trouble handling their weapons. They differed widely in their ages, politics, and skills. Many worked in academia, media, and the arts. They were a strange mix of Americans and foreign nationals, immigrants, and refugees, linked by their language skills, knowledge of Europe, and a desire to defeat the Axis. During the war, the U.S. Army trained them in psychological warfare at a secret camp on the Gettysburg battlefield and then sent them to Europe. They became known as ¿Psycho Boys,¿ a group of soldiers who have never received their due respect. In this book Beverly Driver Eddy, author of Ritchie Boy Secrets, tells their rarely heard story and argues for their importance to the Allied war effort.At Gettysburg the Psycho Boys were taught the various skills that would be necessary in the European campaign from D-Day onward: prisoner and civilian interrogation, broadcasting, loudspeaker appeals, leaflet and newspaper production, and technical support. The 800 men were divided into four mobile radio broadcasting companies and sent to Europe to land on D-Day, fight in Normandy and at the Bulge, and participate in the conquest of Germany and the liberation of the concentration camps. Some of the soldiers operated well out in front of Allied lines and ¿ in German ¿ called on enemy soldiers to surrender. Others worked behind the lines, printing propaganda leaflets and making radio broadcasts.Drawing on company histories, memoirs, and interviews, this book traces the history of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Mobile Radio Broadcasting Companies and the men who served. For far too long, these soldiers were maligned as mere ¿paragraph troopers¿ who weren¿t in the line of fire. As Eddy shows, the Psycho Boys made important contributions to victory in World War II by encouraging enemy soldiers to desert or surrender and in other indirect ways. Their story is interesting, important, and vital.
The Battle of Kursk was the largest tank battle in history and one of the turning points of World War II. In July 1943, German forces launched a massive attack that aimed to pinch off a salient in the Soviet front, destroy or capture significant numbers of Soviet soldiers and tanks, and gain the strategic upper hand on the Eastern Front. Most accounts of Kursk focus on the massive tank clash at Prokhorovka, but important fighting happened all along the salient, especially in the Tolstoye Woods west of Prohkorovka, where, in a battle nearly as large as the ¿main event,¿ Soviet tank forces counterattacked and halted the Germans¿ forward advance. This book is the result of more than a decade of in-depth research. The narrative relies on the unit records of both sides and is fleshed out with interviews with more than 100 German and Russian veterans. Combining detailed analysis with eyewitness descriptions, it covers the battle from the bottom-up and from the top-down, highlighting strategic decisions, operational maneuvers, and tank-versus-tank fighting in the Tolstoye Woods near Ukraine. Along the way it tells vivid stories from the soldiers inside the Panther, Tiger, and T-34 tanks that did the fighting.The Other Battle of Kursk strips away the myths and digs beneath the controversies to reconstruct the fighting objectively but also colorfully.
Chris Madson writes with affection and humor as he remembers with a smile and a lump in the throat what his dogs--his special companions-- have meant to him in the field, at home, and in his heart.
The Whites of Their Eyes recounts the life and times of Israel Putnam, a larger-than-life general, a gregarious tavern keeper and farmer, who was a folk hero in Connecticut and the probable source of legendary words during the Revolutionary War¿and whose exploits make him one of the most interesting officers in American military history.
Healthier and more natural than overly processed beef, venison is the low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-protein option, and the authors have focused on providing delicious, health-smart recipes for this heart-healthy red meat..
Misfire combines insider knowledge of U.S. Army weapons development with firsthand combat experience to tell the story of the M16 - iconic as the American weapon of the Vietnam War and, indeed, as the U.S. military's standard service rifle until only a few years ago despite its tragic failure.
With the 67 fonts in this book, yoüll have inspiration at your fingertips. Learn the tools, materials, and techniques for success. Clear steps show you how to make each font. Then learn how to set your type, creating letters of the same size, spaced evenly, and in the space allotted.
Author Jim Stenson chronicles his life of adventures chasing the holy trinity of fish: permit, steelhead, and salmon.
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