For an entire century, the backbone of the South African economy was its mineral wealth. From before South Africa was even unified as a single nation, diamonds and gold drew prospectors and miners from all over the world.   The development of the mining industry led to the exploitation of other minerals, some of which were found in such abundance, the likes of which had not been encountered before. For mineral wealth, South Africa was the jackpot country.   Mining quickly became a stereotypical association with the country, especially during the apartheid years. However, the reality of South Africa’s mining industry and its history are journeys into deep and complex socio-economic contexts that push the boundaries of human tolerance.   South Africa in the Late 19th Century Map of South Africa during the late 19th century. Source: Library of Congress   Conflict was nothing new to the area that would encompass South Africa. The British and the Dutch had fought each other for control of the Cape, while Boer settlers resented British control, moved northwards, and fought with the Zulus.   Meanwhile, ethnic rivalries between the Zulus and their many enemies were bloody affairs.   In the 1850s, South Africa existed as a mix of British colonies and Boer Republics. The Zulu Kingdom was defeated in 1879 and came under British rule soon after.   Diamonds: The Beginning of an Era Cecil John Rhodes. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The story of mining in South Africa begins on the banks of the Orange River in the north of what was then the Cape Colony under British control. In December 1866, Erasmus Stephanus Jacobs, a 15-year-old boy, found a diamond on his father’s farm on the south bank of the river.   The chance find drew prospectors to the region who found diamonds in the surrounding areas. The first finds were alluvial, but in 1870, diamonds were found on drier land, and digging began. By the end of 1871, a town of 50,000 people had sprung up. Kimberley was established and would become the center of the world’s diamond industry.   Over the next two decades, the mining operation in Kimberley produced 95% of the world’s diamonds—more diamonds than India had yielded over two millennia!   The Big Hole in Kimberley. Source: Wikimedia Commons   By 1889, the various small operations were combined into De Beers Consolidated Mines under the control of Cecil John Rhodes. By this time, the racially diverse workforce that had been working side-by-side became increasingly separated in a dynamic that would echo the application of apartheid decades later. By the mid-1880s, the vast majority of the workforce was Black, while white workers became overseers and held administrative positions.   From 1871 to 1914, miners, armed with picks and shovels, created the Big Hole of Kimberley in their quest for diamonds. It was excavated to a depth of 790 feet (240 meters), yielding 6,000 pounds (2,720 kilograms) of diamonds.   Today, the hole is a tourist attraction, and efforts are being made to have it recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   Seeds of Conflict The Battle of Majuba Hill during the First Anglo-Boer War by Richard Caton Woodville Jr. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Before the discovery of gold, there was already a rift between Afrikaners* and the British in the Cape Colony. There, two-thirds of the population was made up of Afrikaners, while the English-speaking British maintained control over the region’s politics. Afrikaners felt disenfranchised and resented their British overlords.   Meanwhile, the British were already making plans to annex the Boer Republics. In 1877, the South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal or Transvaal Republic) was bankrupt and fighting a war with the Pedi. Unable to resist British pressure, the country was annexed. Four years later, however, resistance turned to armed conflict and after a series of small battles, the yoke of British control was thrown off in 1881 in what became known as the First Anglo-Boer War. The South African Republic regained its independence, but Britain was far from defeated.   The discovery of gold would spur the British to redouble their efforts.   *Author’s note: People descended from the Dutch settlers spoke Afrikaans and are/were referred to as Afrikaners. The term “Boers” was used during this period primarily to denote the Afrikaners who lived in the Boer Republics of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.   The Discovery of Gold President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic (Transvaal). Source: Den Store Danske   The first gold discovered in the South African Republic came from the Pardekraal farm near Krugersdorp in 1852. Fearing what would happen if the British found out there was gold in the Transvaal, the matter was kept a secret on the orders of President Andries Pretorius. Another find in 1853 was met with the same demand for secrecy.   In 1884, gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand reef by Jan Gerrit Bantjes, but the finds were too small to attract any significant attention. The major gold discovery came in 1886 when George Harrison discovered the main gold reef on the Witwatersrand. This discovery was impossible to keep secret as it was so huge.   News quickly reached the ears of Cecil John Rhodes, and he moved swiftly to exploit it to the advantage of the British. He formed Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa and purchased £3,000 worth of gold mined from the field.   Meanwhile, news reached the rest of the world, and the biggest gold rush in history ensued. President Paul Kruger was aware of the danger this development posed for the independence of the South African Republic. He understood that if foreigners began to outnumber the Boers, the British would use this as an excuse to make claims on the South African Republic.   A map from 1902 showing Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica   To house the massive influx of gold seekers and those creating businesses to support the new industry, the city of Johannesburg was founded when the mining camp turned into more permanent structures.   Taxes were imposed on the sale of dynamite to foreigners to slow the influx, but this only made the situation worse and drove the foreigners to seek support from the British.   Kruger’s fears proved true, and in 1895/1896, the British tried to foment a coup in the form of the Jameson Raid. The attempt was a failure, but hostilities developed into full-blown war in 1899 when the British declared war on the South African Republic and the Second Anglo-Boer War began.   Initial Boer victories turned to defeat as the might of the British Empire ground the Boers down. Concentration camps housed Boer women and children, and the appalling conditions forced those Boers still resisting to give up their endeavors.   The war ended in 1902, and the British took control of all of South Africa. Exploitation of the enormous amounts of gold resumed in earnest.   Expansion of the Industry The declaration of the general strike on March 6, 1922, which led to the Rand Revolt. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Although the Big Hole mine was closed in 1914, the country continued to produce diamonds as other diamond fields opened up, and mining of the precious stones continued.   The massive reserves of diamonds and gold weren’t the only mineral resources that would shape the South African economy. In the 1920s, the industry expanded into mining platinum and chromium.   In the first few decades of the 20th century, strikes and protests were commonplace. Responses to the protests were often violent. In 1922, an armed strike turned into an uprising called the Rand Revolt, in which 200 people lost their lives. The uprising was caused by the announcement of replacing white workers with cheaper Black labor and was crushed with the help of artillery and aircraft.   In the years following the Second World War, the industry continued to expand as minerals and mining products were put to new uses. Technological advancements aided the demand for South African minerals, such as adding platinum into gasoline to improve its octane rating.   The postwar boom also led to increased employment in the sector, along with powerful unions that demanded better wages for the workers they represented. In 1946, an estimated 60,000 mineworkers downed their tools and went on strike, demanding better wages and conditions. The protests were ended by a heavy-handed approach by the police, in which 12 striking workers were killed.   The Apartheid Years and Beyond Krugerrand from 1970. Source: svcollector.com   In 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa and implemented the harsh race laws of the apartheid policy. Despite the racial tensions, mining was increasingly profitable for the country, and the industry continued to expand. In 1950, the South African Coal, Oil, and Gas Corporation (SASOL) was established in order to reduce South Africa’s reliance on the rest of the world.   A recession in the early 1960s gave way to a boom that lasted until the late 1970s. Gold mining hit its peak in the 1980s, employing more than half a million people. In 1987, it was reported that 763,319 people were employed in the mining industry.   Gold ore from South Africa. Source: Wikimedia Commons   With the fall of apartheid in the early 1990s, radical shifts took place within the country that also affected the mining sector. Long associated with extremely dangerous working conditions and poor pay, efforts were made to improve the lives of miners. This included transferring a large proportion of administration and ownership to Black people who had previously been barred from such positions.   Although South Africa’s gold reserves are still the biggest in the world, gold production has been scaled back, and the country is no longer the leading producer of the world’s gold. Today, South Africa produces barely a fifth of what it used to produce during its heyday. Nevertheless, the gold mines in South Africa hold the record for being the deepest in the world. The Mponeng Gold Mine is the deepest at 2.5 miles (4 kilometers).   The Marikana Massacre A banner memorializing the Marikana Massacre. Source: Wikimedia Commons   In 2012, miners working at the Lonmin platinum mine went on a strike unsanctioned by their union. On August 9, 3,000 workers went on strike and marched to the offices of the National Union of Mineworkers. Demanding support from their union, violence erupted, and two of the miners were shot dead.   The next few days saw a continuation of the violence as authorities failed to calm the situation. Two security guards were murdered by the miners. On August 13, two policemen and two miners were killed in a clash that reflected the breakdown in communication. The miners refused to lay down their weapons. Three days later, the police and the military deployed 400 fully armed troops ready for combat. Protesters refused to move from their positions, nor did they lay down their weapons. The police opened fire with rubber bullets and then with live ammunition. Thirty-four miners were killed, many by being shot at close range and some by being driven over by armored vehicles.   South Africa’s Mining Sector Today Two Rivers platinum mine. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Although mining in South Africa is chiefly associated with gold, it is no longer the country’s primary focus.   While the mining sector has proven to be an indispensable part of the South African economy, diversification has meant that mining is no longer the primary industry. In 1980, the sector accounted for 21% of the country’s GDP and, by 2023, had reduced to just 7.53% of the total GDP.   Nevertheless, the country still provides huge amounts of minerals to the rest of the world. Today, South Africa produces just under half the world’s chromium, more than two-thirds of the world’s platinum, and around 35% of the world’s manganese.   South Africa is also one of the world’s top producers of coal, uranium, titanium, and vanadium.   All these industries are not without their problems. Chief among them is the animosity between the government and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. In 2014, the union organized a strike of 70,000 platinum workers, and in 2018/2019, another strike involving 20,000 platinum and gold miners took place. Better pay and working conditions are a major issue driving the unions and the employees they represent.   Mining is an extremely important industry for South Africa, and it plays an important part in supplying the entire world with the minerals it needs. For South Africa, it provides profits as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs in a country with an unemployment rate of 32.9% (figure for first quarter

  The island chain nation of the Philippines, located in the western Pacific, has a turbulent history. Originally colonized by the Spanish as a base for trade in Asia, the Philippines were seized by the United States in the Spanish-American War of 1898. As a spoil of war, the Philippines became America’s only formal colony and was held despite a desire for independence by many Filipinos. During World War II, the islands were seized by Japan, resulting in one of the worst war crimes in history. Only after the war did the Philippines finally gain its independence.   Setting the Stage: Settlement of the Philippines A map showing the first settlement of the Philippines and surrounding islands c. 30,000 years ago. Source: National Geographic Society   There is evidence that early hominins were present in the Philippines at least 130,000 years ago with remains of Homo luzonensis, a possible pygmy archaic human, found on the island of Luzon. Evidence of the earliest anatomically modern humans dates to around 47,000 years ago on Palawan.   The first largescale migration of Negritos occurred around 30,000 years ago, when lower sea levels allowed migrants to reach what is now the Philippine archipelago via land bridges. The most widely accepted theory is that this was part of the  Out-of-Taiwan model that saw Austronesians migrate out of Taiwan to the Indo-Pacific islands as far as New Zealand, Easter Island, and even Madagascar.   Several independent states with their own history, cultures, and chieftains developed, including tribal hunter-gatherers, warrior societies based on ritualized warfare, upland agricultural societies, and seaside communities based on fishing and maritime trade.   Regular contact with Asia and the rest of the Pacific began around 1000 CE with Chinese traders, Arab traders, and Muslim missionaries. Islam found a foothold in the Philippines beginning in the late 1200s, with Islam becoming the predominant religion by the mid-1400s. Chinese traders regularly traded in the Philippines for exotic goods like spices, scented wood, and cotton, with the first definite reference to the Philippines occurring in 972 CE. Trade between the Chinese dynasties and the Philippines flourished between 1000 and 1400 CE.   Spanish Colonization (1565-1898) A map of Manila, the capital of Spain’s Captaincy General of the Philippines, made in 1762 during British plans to attack during the Seven Years’ War. Source: Royal Collection Trust   In March 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for Spain, became the first Westerner to land in the Philippines. This first visit also became the Filipinos’ first experience with Christianity, as native leaders were invited to participate in Catholic mass with Magellan and his crew. Weeks later, a skirmish broke out between Filipino forces and Magellan’s crew as the native people did not want to accept Spanish rule. Magellan himself was killed by a poison-tipped arrow. In 1543, the Spanish returned in force under Ruy Lopez de Villalobos but were unsuccessful in seizing the archipelago.   Two decades later, the Spanish finally wrangled control of the country under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who established the capital of the Captaincy General of the Philippines at Manila. The Spanish wanted their new colony, the only one they possessed in the Pacific, to establish trade relations with China and Japan. Hoping to avoid the violence experienced when colonizing the New World, King Philip II of Spain forbade violence toward the native Filipinos. A hierarchical society was established in the Philippines, firmly governed by Catholicism. Although the Philippines did not have as many natural resources as the Spanish desired, it became a popular trading hub in the Pacific, which later sparked conflict among Spain, the Netherlands, and Britain.   1898: The Spanish-American War American troops in the Philippines during the brief Spanish-American War in 1898. Source: WGBH Educational Foundation   The 1800s saw a rise in independence movements in Spanish colonies. In 1872, the Cavite Mutiny was a short-lived attempt at freedom by Filipino soldiers and laborers. While the mutiny was put down quickly, it fueled local independence movements. This grew into an armed conflict between Filipinos and the Spanish government by the mid-1890s.   The United States seized on this revolt, plus the Cuban War of Independence, to try to gain geopolitical control over these desirable territories. When the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, Cuba, on the night of February 15, 1898, Spain was quickly blamed, and war was declared.   Only days after the declaration of war, an American fleet destroyed the Spanish fleet guarding the Philippines in the Battle of Manila Bay. Swiftly, almost 11,000 US soldiers were sent to the Philippines to capture Manila and seize the Spanish colony. On August 13, one day after the Spanish-American War formally ended, the US troops captured Manila. In the brief war, a crushing American victory created a new American Empire: the Philippines, Cuba, Guam, and Puerto Rico were ceded by Spain in the peace deal. In exchange, the US paid Spain $20 million for the entirety of the Philippines.   1899-1902: Philippine-American War   Many Filipinos were outraged that, instead of being granted independence, they were a colony under a new master. Under nationalist leader Emilio Aguinaldo, armed uprisings began in early 1899. The United States maintained control over the Philippines, arguing that granting it independence would simply allow other colonial powers to conquer it. As the Philippine War raged, many prominent Americans criticized the colonization, insisting that holding a colony violated America’s core values.   A political cartoon criticizing American colonization of the Philippines during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902. Source: Bayanihan Worldwide Foundation   Aguinaldo, a young general, at first attempted to fight a conventional war against the United States. Failing to take Manila at the outset of the war, Aguinaldo shifted to a guerrilla war, frustrated by both low levels of supplies and virtually no international support. After Aguinaldo himself was captured in 1901, the conflict ground to an end the following year. Ultimately, some 4,200 US soldiers had been killed over three years of warfare, versus some 20,000 Filipino soldiers and around 200,000 civilians. Besides the capture of Aguinaldo, the US helped draw down the conflict by granting some self-government concessions and economic benefits to the Filipino elites.   American Philippines A passport issued to Charles Yeater, who served as the American Governor-General of the Philippines during the World War I era. Source: Our Passports   Between 1902 and the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, the United States exercised full control over the Philippines. The first American-installed Governor General of the colony was future US President William Howard Taft. During the early years of occupation, sporadic violence between US troops and Filipino rebels continued. In 1909, General John J. Pershing, of later World War I fame, became governor of the violence-prone Moro province, where a low-level uprising persisted between 1904 and 1913. After this violence was quelled, more autonomy was finally granted to the Philippines under the Jones Act of 1916.   The Jones Act granted many American civil liberties to Filipinos and granted some degree of independence from American laws. The legislature of the Philippines became independent from the United States, but mirrored its structure: a lower chamber House of Representatives and an upper chamber Senate. In 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established, with Filipinos finally having elected their own president and vice president only a few months earlier. As a commonwealth, the Philippines largely exercised the same independence as a US state.   1941-42: Japan Conquers the Philippines A photograph of US soldiers on the infamous Bataan Death March in April 1942, after the Japanese conquered the Philippines. Source: United States Army   On December 8, 1941, just one day after the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor, imperial Japan invaded the Philippines as part of its broad offensive across the South Pacific. After highly successful air raids, which caught most American planes parked on runways, Japanese soldiers began landing on December 22. They faced about 32,000 American soldiers and many thousands of Filipino soldiers, though these men were not well equipped. Outgunned, the US and Filipino forces retreated to the Bataan Peninsula to hold out as long as possible.   Ultimately, the US and Filipino troops on Bataan held out for four months, until April 1942. After the surrender on April 9, the Japanese forced thousands of American and Filipino prisoners-of-war to march across the peninsula to prison camps. This 65-mile forced march, under brutal conditions, became known as the Bataan Death March. Prisoners were executed for falling behind and were given virtually no supplies. The terrible treatment of the prisoners hardened American resolve to defeat the Japanese and only accept unconditional surrender.   1944-45: US Re-Conquers the Philippines A photograph of General Douglas MacArthur (second from right) returning to the Philippines as promised, reconquering it from the Japanese. Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison   In late October of 1944, the United States military returned to the Philippines in force. It was part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which was the largest naval engagement of World War II and, potentially, in human history. General Douglas MacArthur, who had been in charge of the Philippines during the Japanese invasion in 1941-42, famously waded ashore at Leyte Island and announced his promised return. Japanese resistance was fierce, however, and liberating the vast archipelago would take time.   US troops arrived in Manila on February 3, 1945, sparking the month-long Battle of Manila. Sadly, the city was largely devastated during the fighting, with up to 100,000 civilian casualties. As the archipelago was liberated, the Japanese often inflicted revenge killings on civilians for the rescues or escapes of Allied prisoners. MacArthur declared the Philippine Campaign completed on July 4, 1945, but some Japanese forces held out until the official end of World War II on September 2, after the two atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan.   July 4, 1946: The Philippines Becomes Independent  US President Harry S. Truman, left, speaking with the president of the Philippines, right, in June 1945. Source: National WWII Museum, New Orleans   With the Philippines liberated from Japanese occupation, the United States could follow through with its plans from the 1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act, which had planned a ten-year transition to independence. The Act, which had turned the former colony into the Commonwealth of the Philippines, granted independence once the nation had a “stable government.” Under US President Harry S. Truman, the Philippines became a fully independent nation on July 4, 1946. Truman heralded the event as the end of “almost fifty years of cooperation.” In 1964, the nation’s Independence Day was changed to June 12, the day that Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence in 1898.   Although the event was of tremendous importance in the Philippines, it did not have a large sociopolitical impact in the United States. One potential reason was that many policymakers in the US had long assumed that the island nation would eventually be granted independence. During the period of colonization, the two major American political parties differed on the appropriateness of maintaining an American Empire. The Republican Party was largely supportive of American imperialism, while the Democratic Party was relatively opposed.   An Independent Philippines The current president of the Philippines is Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of a previous president. Source: Asia Society   Unfortunately, independence did not immediately mean peace and prosperity for the Philippines. A rebel movement lasted from 1946 to 1955, accompanied by a violent nationalist movement from 1949 to 1950. During this time, the Philippines re-emphasized close ties with the United States to help ensure its national security.   In the late 1960s, during the Vietnam War era, there emerged a Filipino communist movement, with an armed wing named the New People’s Army (NPA), that identified with the Huk rebellion of the early 1950s. After this era of internal political struggle, a new constitution was created in 1973, followed by a second new constitution in 1986 after further uprisings. Despite the Cold War winding down in the late 1980s, the administration of US President George Bush Sr. actively praised the administration of Filipino President Corazon Aquino in her fight against communism.   NPA uprisings continued throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with the US government supporting the Filipino government against the communist rebels. Today, membership in the NPA has fallen to a few thousand, versus approximately 25,000 during the early 1980s. Despite this continued struggle, the Philippines was a rapidly growing nation, expanding from roughly 18 million in 1946 to about 116 million people today. This far outpaced the global growth rate and contributed to economic problems, including high unemployment rates and large amounts of government debt.

  The earliest Viking raids in Ireland profoundly altered Irish monasticism. This change was not drastic but the result of a convoluted series of events involving violence and adaptation that ultimately changed the Irish church forever. Before the Vikings, a seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (also known as Norsemen), arrived in Ireland in 795 CE, the nation was a center of saints and scholars. It also had a rural society that lacked central kings or large towns. In pre-Viking Ireland, local leaders were the main authority.   Viking Attacks on Monastic Settlements Sea-faring Norsemen depicted invading England. Illuminated illustration from the 12th-century Miscellany on the Life of St. Edmund (Pierpont Morgan Library). Source: Wikipedia   Notably, monastic settlements such as Clonmacnoise and Armagh held vast lands and significant amounts of treasured precious objects. For perspective, monks in those centers produced magnificent works of art for their churches that included golden chalices and jeweled shrines. However, the wealthy monasteries were open and undefended, making them easy targets for invaders.   Page from the Book of Kells, around 800 CE. Source: Trinity College, Ireland   The Viking Age in Ireland began in 795 CE with an attack on Rathlin Island. In that year, Vikings also raided Iona in Scotland and Lambay Island off the Irish coast. The early raids were fast attacks that targeted valuable items such as gold and silver. The raiders also took people as slaves. After the Vikings killed 68 monks at Iona, the community moved its base to a new monastery at Kells in County Meath, Ireland. The move from Iona to Kells also involved the movement of important unfinished texts that would become the Book of Kells.   Events After 830 CE River Liffey in Dublin. Source: Wikipedia   The nature of the raids in Ireland changed substantially around 830 CE when larger and more organized Viking fleets began arriving in Ireland. About 60 ships arrived on the River Boyne in 837 CE. Another fleet of an almost similar number entered the River Liffey in the same year. The fleets were led by powerful warlords such as Turgesius. They advanced deep into Irish territory through the country’s extensive rivers such as the Shannon and the Bann.    Eventually, they were able to reach wealthy inland monasteries such as Clonmacnoise that were previously safe from coastal attacks. One major development that occurred in 841 CE was the Vikings establishment of their first permanent fortified naval bases or longphuirt in Ireland. They also built a major camp along River Liffey called An Dubh Linn (Black Pool). Such camps allowed the Vikings to keep their ships safe. They also enabled their raids to become more systematic and organized. This led to the end of the golden age in which monasteries were undefended. Traditional Irish monasticism was definitively over as the threat was now ever-present.   How Irish Monasteries Adapt to the Viking Raids The round tower at Glendalough, Ireland, is approximately thirty meters tall. Source: Wikipedia   Over time, Irish monasteries learned to adapt and defend themselves from the constant threat of Viking raids. Notable adaptations over the next century included the construction of tall slender Round Towers or cloicthech which began appearing at major monastic sites from the early tenth century onwards at places like Glendalough and Clonmacnoise. The stone Round Towers stood at around 30 meters high and had a single entrance built several meters above the ground that was only accessible by a wooden ladder. Monks would go inside during an attack, while the towers were used as watchtowers.    Their primary purpose was to be a secure stone refuge for the monastic community, and for their most valuable relics and manuscripts. Irish monasteries also began to build their most important churches from stone instead of wood. This made them more resistant to Viking fires. Some monastic communities also built stone enclosures known as cashels around their precincts while others relocated entirely to more defensible inland locations away from the dangerous waterways regularly used by Viking fleets.   How Viking Settlers Influenced Irish Life Viking longships.   Over the next generations, the Vikings in Ireland evolved from being just raiders into traders and settlers. They also founded Ireland’s first true towns and added a new urban dimension to Irish life. Their settlements in Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Limerick, and Cork also grew into major fortified urban centers that drove the economy for the island. This was by connecting the nation to a trade network that stretched from Iceland to Constantinople.   Over time, many of the Hiberno-Norse settlers converted to Christianity and their distinct Scandinavian culture began to overlap with Irish culture. The combination led to the creation of a new unique hybrid society. The changes are evident in Christian art where Viking artistic styles like the Ringerike and Urnes styles that started to appear on Irish stone carvings and metalwork.

 Earlier this year, another piece of aviation history left Horsham, Pennsylvania and was transported from the former Naval Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove in the Philadelphia suburbs when a historic NADC Air Traffic Control Tower was moved from the to the Naval Air Development Center Museum in Warminster. The tower was utilized in training for both aerial missions and also space missions.Michael Thomas Leibrandt explains. A U.S. Navy Grumman C-1A Trader carrier on-board delivery aircraft at Naval Air Station, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.Activity at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station began nearly 100 years ago in 1926 when Harold Frederick Pitcairn opened a hangar and a grass runway on the site. Over the next nearly sixteen years — Pitcairn tested aircraft at the site including the Mailwing (US Postal Service air transport.) In the spirit of defense and military innovation during wartime — the US Military would acquire the base during the World War II era of 1942. One of its first initiatives — a submarine warfare program. During the six decades that followed — the base grew in capacity to include reserves from the US Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Pennsylvania National Guard, Air National Guard, US Army and became Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove. Of the many units who were stationed at Naval Air Station Joint Willow Grove Base were the 111th Fighter Wing (operating the A-10 Thunderbolt II) and Detachment I of the 201st Red Horse Squadron.For years — the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove hosted the annual Naval Air Show — one of the largest on the US East Coast. The Air Show even had an appearance from the Blue Angels of the US Navy. During one of the shows in the year 2000 — an F-14 Tomcat lost an engine during a turn and plummeted into a forested area near the base.In 1995 — contaminated groundwater was identified on the site — and PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) were discoveredin 2011 and in the public water for drinking on the base in 2014. Additional tests revealed that the soil and natural water was also contaminated.In 2005 — the Commission for Base Realignment and Closure recommended closure for the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove as well as a combination of the inactivation of a tenant unit as well as the relocation of other units to other area bases. Six years later — and just six months after the airfield closed — the base would also ceaseoperations. A portion of the land was turned over to Horsham Township and a proposal was put forth for a commercial airport on the site that was not pursued.Today — the Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum still operates on the site sponsored by the Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association (DVHAA) — whose mission is to preserve the aviation history of the Delaware Valley and displays a myriad of historic aircraft — some of which are outside of the grounds of the Naval Air Station. If you drive up Route 611 past the former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove today — with the backdrop of the runways that once operated daily for decades going back to that first airstrip that Harold Frederick Pitcairn utilized to help to test the Mailwing almost a century ago and the dormant former military housing still looming with an unmistakably impressive display of American Naval Base History.Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township, PA.

YouTubeGoose Creek Tower as seen from above. There’s a whimsical structure in Alaska that locals have taken to calling the “Dr. Seuss House.” Like something Seussian, it rises an impossible distance into the sky, and looks like mismatched houses stacked together. But the house, officially called Goose Creek Tower, is very real. Located in Talkeetna, Alaska, the house is 185 feet high and was built by Phillip Weidner, an Anchorage attorney who proudly calls the structure his “poem to the sky.” Weidner has not yet completed the project, but reportedly hopes to one day use it as a home for his family. In the meantime, it’s become one of the strangest sites in Alaska, a colorful oddity people can enjoy as they pass along nearby roads. The Inspiration Behind Goose Creek Tower Phillip Weidner didn’t intend to build such a strange structure – at least not in the beginning. At first, the Anchorage-based attorney envisioned constructing a two-story cabin, nothing too fancy. YouTubePhillip Weidner stands in his unfinished tower. “Originally I was going to build a 40×40 scribed log cabin, which we built,” Weidner told Exploring The Obscure in a rare interview in 2015. But Weidner had always been interested in construction. As Vice reported in 2016, he’d graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968 with degrees in Industrial Management and Electrical Engineering. Though Weidner had gone on to study law at Harvard, he still had an engineer’s mind. And he applied it to his house in Talkeetna. After building the original structure, alongside a concrete foundation and basement, Weidner realized that he could use 12 by 12 uprights — which he called the “eight sisters” — to build his home even higher. “I put a house on top of a house, and I liked that,” Weidner told Exploring The Obscure. “So I just kept going and I just kept going.” YouTubeGoose Creek Tower as seen on a wintery day. The house began to take on a teetering, cartoonish look, which led some to dub it the “Dr. Seuss House.” But Weidner doesn’t like the nickname. “It’s not a Dr. Seuss house, because Dr. Seuss is fantasy and this is real,” he stated. “I’ve never had any permission from Dr. Seuss to refer to him and I don’t think people should be referring to that.” Weidner called his dream house Goose Creek Tower. So what’s it like? What The ‘Dr. Seuss House’ Is Like Today, Goose Creek Tower is a fantastic mix of ladders, staircases, and decks which look across a stunning vista of Alaskan wilderness. “There’s eight decks you can walk completely around,” Weidner told Exploring The Obscure. “So at each level of the eight, including the very top, you can walk around 360 degrees.” From this perspective, visitors to Goose Creek Tower would find a fantastic panorama. Depending on how you count the house’s staircases, it has between 14 and 17 stories, and stands 185 feet tall. YouTubeA close-up of Goose Creek Tower, also known as the Dr. Seuss House for its whimsical design. Weidner purportedly would have made it even higher, but risked scraping federal airspace, which begins at 200 feet. Why build Goose Creek Tower so high? Based on his interview, Weidner seems to have enjoyed the creative challenge of building a supertall house. But one theory suggests that he wanted a view of Denali, and kept building until he had had a good one. No matter the motivation for the ambitious project, Goose Creek Tower has taken a considerable amount of time to complete. In fact, it still isn’t done. Though passionate, Weidner’s career as an attorney in Anchorage left him little time to work on the project over the past several decades. The Plans For Goose Creek Tower While the skeleton of Goose Creek Tower is complete, it’s still missing windows and doors. There’s also a lack of furniture and decoration, and decks without safety measures like railings. YouTubeA look inside one of the many unfinished rooms of the tower. Over time, the tower even became the target of trespassers, some of who damaged or defaced it. But Phillip Weidner remains optimistic about the future of Goose Creek Tower — both for himself and for those who come after him. “I plan for it to stand 1,000 years,” he said. “So we’ll see what people do with it.” In the more near future, Weidner wants Goose Creek Tower to be a place for his family; a place where they can enjoy the stunning landscape, the Northern Lights, and views of Denali and other mountains in the distance. “I’m going to primarily use it for my family,” he said. “I have children and grandchildren and it’s surrounded by 500 acres of homestead… ” FacebookGoose Creek Tower as seen from below. The very top room, he continued, the “the octagon room,” offers an especially impressive view of the surrounding area. There, Weidner hopes to spend his days writing poetry. He also hopes to install railings above the octagon room where the house’s “mast” is, so that people can enjoy an especially stunning panorama of the landscape. Though Goose Creek Tower has become known as the Dr. Seuss House, Weidner sees it as a much more romantic, and majestic, piece of architecture. He calls the stunning 185-foot tower his “poem to the sky.” And while the house isn’t open for visitors, Goose Creek Tower is still visible to the public from the nearby road. From that perspective, it’s still a stunning, surprising, truly Seussian sight: a series of cabins stacked on top of each other. But the view from the road is surely nothing like the view from Goose Creek Tower’s top floor, with its 360-degree view of the landscape. That perspective, however, is saved for Phillip Weidner, his family, and whoever else might be around in 1,000 years. After reading about the fantastical Goose Creek Tower in Alaska, also known as the Dr. Seuss House, discover the whimsical works of architect Antoni Gaudí. Then, take a look at these 35 photos of the architectural style people love to hate, brutalism. The post The Whimsical Story Of Goose Creek Tower, The Alaskan Curiosity Known As The ‘Dr. Seuss House’ appeared first on All That's Interesting.