In World War I between 1 July and 18 November 1916 the Battle of the Somme was fought in Ponthieu. It was one of the most costly battles ever fought with over 1,000,000 men killed or wounded.
Antonov An-22
The Antonov An-22 (Russian: Антонов Ан-22; NATO reporting name: Cock) is a Soviet cargo aircraft. It was used both by civilian and military operators. It's first flight was in 1965. The Soviet airline Aeroflot started using it in 1967. For military duties it was replaced by the An-124.
Hawker Tempest
The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft of World War II. It was also used as an attack aircraft. The Royal Air Force used it for rockets and bomb attacks for D-Day.
Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat is a French 1896 short black & white movie directed by Auguste Lumière and Louis Lumière. It is thought to be one of the first movies ever made. The short movie is simply about a train arriving to a station. It is about a minute long.
John Graves (author)
John Graves (August 6, 1920 – July 30, 2013) was an American writer. He was best known for his book "Goodbye to a River".
Graves was born on August 6, 1920 in Fort Worth, Texas. He studied at Rice Institute and at Columbia University. Graves was divorced from an early marriage. His family moved to Glen Rose, Texas. Graves continued writing shortly before his death on July 30, 2013 in Glen Rose, Texas from natural causes, aged 92.
Dassault Étendard IV
The Dassault Étendard IV is a French fighter jet. It is a single-turbojet aircraft. Its first flight was in 1958. It was first used by the French Navy's squadrons in 1962. It was used in the French aircraft carriers "Clemenceau" and "Foch". The last one was retired in 2000. The Super-Étendard is a modernized variant.
Squadron
A squadron is a military unit on land, at sea and in the air.
Armies: 80 to 600 soldiers with tanks, motorcycles, horses or armoured cars.
Navies: A number of destroyers, submarines, minesweepers or other warships.
Air forces. This usually includes several aircraft and pilots, crews and mechanics responsible for their action.
McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle is a modernized variant of the F-15 Eagle. It was optimized as an attack aircraft for the US Air Force with a stronger airframe than earlier versions. It has longer range, more powerful radar, and a second seat for the operator of the strike aircraft equipment. Foreign operators are Israel, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and South Korea.
Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is an American military jet aircraft. Its first flight was in 1954. It was first used by the US Navy in 1956. The Skyhawk was one of the main attack aircraft of the Vietnam War.
Many foreign countries used it, such as Argentina, Israel, Kuwait, and Singapore. The Argentina Air Force used theirs in the Falklands War for attacks against British forces.
Douglas A-3 Skywarrior
The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior is an American twin-turbojet military aircraft. Its first flight was in 1952. It was first used in 1956. It was originally designed and built as an attack aircraft. Later it was optimized for aerial refueling and electronic warfare as KA-3 and EA-3. The US Navy used it from aircraft carriers for the Vietnam War. The B-66 Destroyer is a variant built for the US Air Force. The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior has been out of service since 1991.
Douglas B-66 Destroyer
The Douglas B-66 Destroyer is an American strategic bomber. It was used by the US Air Force during the Cold War and the Vietnam War. It could carry a nuclear weapon. It is a variant of the A-3 Skywarrior. It was used between 1956 and 1975. Some variants were built as reconnaissance aircraft or electronic warfare, as RB-66 and EB-66.
Dassault Super-Étendard
The Dassault Super-Étendard is a French single-turbojet military aircraft. It is a fighter and attack aircraft. The French Navy started using it in 1978. In 2013, it is the second most important combat aircraft (after the Dassault Rafale). From 1995, all Dassault Super-Étendard of the French Navy are modernized as SEM or Super-Étendard Modernisés. It can carry many kinds of weapons like Exocet's missile, laser-guided bombs and a nuclear missile ASMP.
Foreign operators of this aircraft are Argentina and Iraq. Argentina used it in the Falklands War, destroying the British destroyer HMS "Sheffield".
The Dassault Super-Étendard is a modernized variant of the Dassault Étendard IV.
Abbeville
Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Abbeville is located on the Somme River, from its modern mouth in the English Channel. The majority of the town is located on the east bank of the Somme, as well as on an island. It is located at the start of the Abbeville Canal, and is northwest of Amiens. In the medieval period, it was the lowest crossing point on the Somme. Edward III's army crossed nearby shortly before the Battle of Crécy in 1346.
Abbeville was the capital of the former province of France of Ponthieu. Today, it is one of the three s of the Somme department.
The Romans occupied it and named it "Abbatis Villa".
The name Abbeville has been adopted to name a category of paleolithic stone tools. These stone tools are also known as handaxes. Various handaxes were found near Abbeville by Jacques Boucher de Perthes during the 1830s. He was the first to describe the stones in detail. He pointed out in the first publication of its kind, that the stones were chipped deliberately by early man, so as to form a tool. These stone tools which are some of the earliest found in Europe, were chipped on both sides so as to form a sharp edge, were known as 'Abbevillian' handaxes or bifaces, but recently the term 'abevillian' is becoming obsolete as the earlier form of stone tool, not found in Europe, is known as the Oldowan chopper. Some of these are displayed at the museum Boucher-de-Perthes.
A more refined form from a later period of handaxe production was found in the Abbeville/Somme River district. The more refined handaxe became known as the Acheulean industry, named after Saint-Acheul, today a suburb of Amiens. It retained some importance into the Bronze Age.
Abbeville during the ninth century was part of the diocese of Saint-Riquier. It was also an important fortress responsible for the defense of the Somme. Abbeville had a charter granted to it in 1184. Afterwards it was governed by the Counts of Ponthieu. Together with that county, it came into the possession of the Alençon and other French families. Afterwards it came into the possession of the House of Castile. By marriage it passed in 1272 to King Edward I of England. In 1435, by the treaty of Arras, it was to the Duke of Burgundy. In 1477 it was taken control of by King Louis XI of France. Later it was held by two illegitimate branches of the royal family in the 16th and 17th centuries, being in 1696 returned to the crown. In 1514, the town was the place where the marriage of Louis XII of France to Mary Tudor took place. She was the daughter of Henry VII of England. In 1685, it suffered a serious economic when the Edict of Nantes was repealed. The Protestants who were the majority of the skilled labor, left town. The town never fully recovered from the loss of their talents.
Abbeville was fairly important in the 18th century. Van Robais Royal Manufacture (one of the first major factories in France) brought great prosperity to the town. Voltaire, among others, wrote about it.