Quotulatiousness

October 19, 2021

Places – Lost in Time: The Crystal Palace

Filed under: Architecture, Britain, History, Technology — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Ruairidh MacVeigh
Published 1 Jun 2020

This is a reupload of my original Crystal Palace video, which I had to take down and do some amendments to in order to fix some technical issues.

Hello! 😀

Not to change the format so early in it’s conception, but here I present an idea I’ve had for several years now, but am proud to finally bring to fruition.

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by places that have either been abandoned or destroyed, not so much out of interest for how they were lost, but more the microcosm of society that revolved around them — how people interacted with them and made them more human. Specifically, places which existed in living memory or photographic record are the ones that have captured my imagination the most, as you can see how people did interact with these wondrous locations and almost put yourself in their shoes.

Therefore, without further ado, I present Episode 1 of Places — Lost in Time, with my first feature being the lavish and opulent Crystal Palace in London. This video follows the history of the two structures to share this iconic name, and how both were created through Victorian engineering feats, how they became icons of British culture, and how they eventually met their end.

All video content and images in this production have been provided with permission wherever possible. While I endeavour to ensure that all accreditations properly name the original creator, some of my sources do not list them as they are usually provided by other, unrelated YouTubers. Therefore, if I have mistakenly put the accreditation of “Unknown”, and you are aware of the original creator, please send me a personal message at my Gmail (this is more effective than comments as I am often unable to read all of them): rorymacveigh@gmail.com

The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.

If you enjoyed this video, why not leave a like, and consider subscribing for more great content coming soon.

Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! 😀

References:
– British Library (and their respective references)
– Victoria and Albert Museum (and their respective references)
– Wikipedia (and its respective references)

Music – YouTube Audio Library

Semiauto FAMAS F1 Rifle

Filed under: France, History, Military, Weapons — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 9 Aug 2016

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

The French FAMAS was one of the first bullpup rifles to be adopted and built in large numbers by a military power. It was adopted by France in 1978 at right about the same time as the Steyr AUG was being adopted by the Austrian military. Bullpup rifles offered a short overall length without sacrificing barrel length, an advantage that seemed quite valuable for troops who were to spend significant amounts of time in vehicles, where space is at a premium. In French service, the FAMAS was also made the formal replacement for both the MAS-49/56 rifle and the MAT-49 submachine gun, thanks to its compact nature.

The FAMAS is interesting mechanically, as it is one of very few production delayed-blowback rifle designs (the other common one being the CETME/HK series). The FAMAS uses a lever-delaying system, which allows a very simple bolt and action mechanism. The F1 model (adopted by the French Army and still in use today, making up the bulk of FAMAS production) has a 1:12″ twist to its rifling, effectively limiting it to 55 grain projectiles — and it also requires steel-cased ammunition to run reliably. The G2 variant (adopted in 1995 by the French Navy) changed to a 1:9″ twist, introduced a full-hand trigger guard, and also uses NATO standard AR15 magazines instead of the proprietary 25-round magazine of the F1.

In the late 1980s a small number of semiauto FAMAS rifles were made by St Etienne and imported into the US by Century. Most people say 100-125 rifles, although serial number suggest this may have actually been 225-250 rifles. Regardless, they are quite scarce and expensive today.

October 14, 2021

Tank Chats #128 | Panzer 61 | The Tank Museum

Filed under: Europe, History, Military, Weapons — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

The Tank Museum
Published 4 Jun 2021

Curator David Willey examines one of Switzerland’s first indigenously designed and produced tanks, the Panzer 61, put into service during the Cold War.
(more…)

October 10, 2021

Book Review: The Guns of John Moses Browning, by Nathan Gorenstein

Filed under: Books, Europe, History, Military, USA, Weapons — Tags: , , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 24 Jun 2021

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

https://www.floatplane.com/channel/Fo…

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John Moses Browning is, without argument, the greatest firearms designer in history. While we have had many brilliant designers who had their names forever connected to guns (Maxim, Luger, Kalashnikov, …), Browning invented whole *categories* of firearms. Gorenstein’s new book The Guns of John Moses Browning is a welcome biography of the man, giving great insight into Browning’s life and work. The book is well researched, well written, and thoroughly engaging. It is also worth noting that Gorenstein is himself a competitive shooter, and understands the world that Browning operated in.

I think my back-cover blurb for the book (for which I received no compensation; full disclosure) sums it up well:

    Following Browning from his birth in rural Utah to his death in urban Belgium, we see how a changing world shaped his inventions and how, in turn, his inventions shaped a changing world.

    Browning began in the last years of the Wild West inventing lever action rifles, then became a major part of the blossoming of the automatic pistol, then invented the semiauto shotgun before designing the modern machine guns that become iconic to the United States’ involvement in two world wars. It is a tremendous story, and Gorenstein’s book lays it all out for the reader.

Available from Amazon here:
https://amzn.to/355eMxe

Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N. Oracle 36270
Tucson, AZ 85740

October 7, 2021

Tank Chats #127 | Thornycroft Bison Concrete Armoured Lorry | The Tank Museum

Filed under: Britain, History, Military, WW2 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

The Tank Museum
Published 28 May 2021

David Fletcher looks at the eccentric Thornycroft Bison, a concrete armoured lorry, created by the British to defend airfields in the early years of the Second World War.
(more…)

October 3, 2021

The Triumph Spitfire Story

Filed under: Britain, Business, History — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Big Car old account
Published 8 Mar 2019

To help me continue producing great content, please consider supporting me: https://www.patreon.com/bigcar

Help support my channel through these Amazon US affiliate links:
Triumph Spitfire t-shirt: https://amzn.to/2KdY33m
Triumph Spitfire baseball cap: https://amzn.to/2U1SrZF
Triumph sweatshirt: https://amzn.to/2KgGIXq
Triumph Spitfire model car: https://amzn.to/2U4gnvo
Triumph keyfob: https://amzn.to/2YTeKV4
Triumph Spitfire metal sign: https://amzn.to/2U2u4ej

The Spitfire is a beautiful automobile, a thing of wonder penned by an Italian genius, but it almost never happened. If not for a chance find in the dusty corner of a factory it would have remained merely a “could have been”. But Triumph produced a car that still inspires new creations today and has a strong and loyal fan base around the world, nearly sixty years since it burst on the scene.

#TriumphSpitfire

September 25, 2021

“Steel Commanders” – Tanks and Panzer! – Sabaton History 106 [Official]

Filed under: Britain, Europe, Germany, History, Media, Military, Russia, USA, WW1, WW2 — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Sabaton History
Published 24 Sep 2021

From the first landships of the Great War to the massive armor-battles of Prokhorovka and El-Alamein — the introduction of the tank to the battlefield had changed warfare forever. Impregnable to small-arms fire, they crushed barbed-wire and field fortifications underneath their tracks, paving the way for the infantry’s advance. In independent formations they surged forward at the head of the offensive, outmaneuvering the enemy’s defenses and wreaking havoc in their lines. From the Mark V to the T-34, from the Tiger to the Centurion — the evolution of armor is the history of Steel Commanders.

Support Sabaton History on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sabatonhistory

Watch the Official Music Video of “Steel Commanders” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peTCe…

Listen to Sabaton on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/SabatonSpotify
Official Sabaton Merchandise Shop: http://bit.ly/SabatonOfficialShop

Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Markus Linke and Indy Neidell
Directed by: Astrid Deinhard and Wieke Kapteijns
Produced by: PÀr Sundström, Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Executive Producers: PÀr Sundström, Joakim Brodén, Tomas Sunmo, Indy Neidell, Astrid Deinhard, and Spartacus Olsson
Community Manager: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Editor: Iryna Dulka
Sound Editor: Marek Kaminski
Archive: Reuters/Screenocean – https://www.screenocean.com
Sources:
– IWM E 18376, IWM 357, Q 9249, IWM 1198, IWM 130-09+10, Q 107828, IWM 508-70, KID 109, UKY 502, E 7070, H 37169, MH4107
– wall by mara julieta G., Tree by Joni Ramadhan; from the Noun Project
All music by: Sabaton

An OnLion Entertainment GmbH and Raging Beaver Publishing AB co-Production.

© Raging Beaver Publishing AB, 2019 – all rights reserved.

Webley 1913 Semiauto Pistol: History and Disassembly

Filed under: Britain, History, Military, Weapons, WW1 — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 25 May 2017

William Whiting and the Webley company had high hopes for their self-loading pistols being adopted by the British military — but they never got the success they were hoping for.

After the poor performance of the Webley 1904 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hT38…) at trials, William Whiting decided to make sure his next attempt would be fully developed before he put it in the hands of the military. He did very well at that too, as the gun which would become the Model 1913 Webley did very well from its very first military tests. The Royal Navy was, in fact, quite enthusiastic about it, although the Army was not. The Navy would ultimately adopt the gun and purchase about 8,000 of them during World War One, while the Army acquired just a couple hundred and preferred to stick to its revolvers.

Thanks to Mike Carrick of Arms Heritage magazine for loaning me these pistols to bring to you!

Cool Forgotten Weapons merchandise! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forg…

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

If you enjoy Forgotten Weapons, check out its sister channel, InRangeTV! http://www.youtube.com/InRangeTVShow

September 19, 2021

Chassepot: Best of the Needle Rifles

Filed under: France, History, Military, Weapons — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 3 May 2019

The Model 1866 Chassepot was France’s first military cartridge-firing rifle. It used a self-contained paper cartridge on the same basic principle as the Prussian 1841 Dreyse rifle, but was a substantial improvement on that system. The Chassepot fired an 11mm bullet at about 1350 fps (410 m/s), which was substantially higher velocity than the Dreyse. It was more accurate and had a substantially longer effective range. The French would produce about 1.5 million Chassepot rifles, most of them before the Franco-Prussian War.

Despite the quality of the Chassepot rifle, that war would go tremendously badly for the French, with hundreds of thousands of men and arms captured by the Prussians and the new German state being declared in the palace of Versailles. In the aftermath, many German cavalry units would adopt Chassepots for their own use, until the Gewehr 71 was available in carbine form. The French would resume Chassepot production briefly after the war, but would soon transition to a new rifle, the metallic cartridge firing Gras.

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forg…

Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
PO Box 87647
Tucson, AZ 85754

September 16, 2021

Tanks Chat #124 | FV4005 Tank Destroyer | The Tank Museum

Filed under: Britain, History, Military, Weapons — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

The Tank Museum
Published 23 Apr 2021

David Fletcher MBE explores the experimental FV4005, with original turret and 183mm gun fitted on a Centurion Mark 12 hull.
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QotD: The youthful Utopian

Filed under: Quotations, Space, Technology — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 01:00

More than half a century ago, I had a friend in junior high school I could never figure out or drum much common sense into. He was quite the dreamer. He loved science fiction. His nickname was “Angus” — derived from the fact that he was rather rotund, and our school was surrounded by farm fields. When we grazed at the same lunch table, he would speculate endlessly about what life on other planets might be like. He was very earnest, and very entertaining.

One day I suggested facetiously that Angus stop speculating and go find out for himself. “Build a spaceship someday and fly to the planet of your choice,” I recommended. To my surprise, he took me seriously.

Some days later, Angus excitedly told me he had it all worked out. He had designed the spaceship and even brought the plans to show me. Then he unfolded a large sheet of brown wrapping paper. There it was — the entire cockpit control panel of the craft that would take Angus to the cosmos. There was a button for everything.

“This is not a plan!” I declared with a laugh. “It’s just a bunch of buttons with labels on them.”

“But it’s all here,” Angus insisted. “I’ve thought of everything — Start, Stop, Land, Take-off, Dodge Asteroids, you name it, everything you need to know.” He even had an all-purpose button to take care of anything unexpected, which he thought was a genius innovation.

What I remember most vividly about this experience was not the fine detail of my friend’s sketch. It was my frustrating inability to convince him he was delusional, that his plan was no plan at all, that as a 14-year-old he wasn’t yet ready for a senior position at NASA. He was what philosopher Eric Hoffer might call a “true believer” — convinced beyond any hope of convincing otherwise that his plan was thorough, perfect, and sure to work.

I lost track of Angus after graduation, but I am quite certain his spaceship never left the ground.

Lawrence W. Reed, “The Dark Side of Paradise: A Brief History of America’s Utopian Experiments in Communal Living”, Foundation for Economic Education, 2021-06-13.

September 14, 2021

Sturmgewehr MP-44 Part II: History & Implementation

Filed under: Germany, History, Military, Weapons, WW2 — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 27 Sep 2016

Cool Forgotten Weapons Merch! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forg…

The Sturmgewehr was the result of a German intermediate cartridge development program that began in the mid-1930s. It was sidelined for a period as the focus of German Ordnance shifted to full-power rifles in 8x57mm with telescopic sights, but as the German fighting in Russia became more desperate, many Ordnance officers realized that the greater firepower offered by the Sturmgewehr concept was one of the few options that might be able to allow depleted German units to effectively hold ground against Russian attacks.

To this end, the guns were issued primarily in the East, with whole companies being equipped in order to focus a maximum amount of firepower, rather than spreading the new rifles piecemeal across all units. Ultimately, of course, this was insufficient to prevent the growing Soviet advance — but for the individual German soldier, an MP-43/44/StG-44 would have been a much more comforting weapon than a Kar98k Mauser!

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

September 11, 2021

Sturmgewehr MP-44 Part I: Mechanics

Filed under: Germany, History, Military, Weapons, WW2 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 27 Sep 2016

The MP-43 (which is mechanically identical to the MP-44 and StG-44; the differences are the subject for another video later) is a tilting bolt rifle with a long stroke gas piston. It was manufactured primarily from complex sheet steel stampings, as a way to minimize the amount of high-quality and thus difficult to acquire steels needed for its construction. The rifle is heavy by today’s standards, but remarkably ergonomic (except for the metal handguard, when heats up quickly). Its sights come right up to the eye when shouldering the rifle, and it disassembles quickly and easily.

It really is one of the best small arms developed during World War II.

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

September 9, 2021

Furniture Forensics with a Country Chair

Filed under: Tools, Woodworking — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 06:00

Rex Krueger
Published 8 Sep 2021

This post-and-rung chair looks like trash, but it’s actually a master-class in green woodwork.

More video and exclusive content: http://www.patreon.com/rexkrueger
See More About Traditional Furniture!: (Scroll Down)
(more…)

August 26, 2021

Winchester WWII 50 AT rifle

Filed under: Cancon, History, Military, USA, Weapons, WW2 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 3 Aug 2016

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons​

David Marshall Williams was hired by the Winchester company in 1939, and would have a hand in a number of major projects during his 10-year stint with the company, although best known for the M1 Carbine. The Carbine was an offshoot of the Winchester G30 and G30M rifles, which would also evolve into the G30R and Winchester Automatic Rifle. Another offshoot using this same basic mechanism was this undesignated .50 BMG semiautomatic antitank rifle developed by Winchester during World War II.

This rifle, like its developmental precursors, uses a two-lug, Garand type rotating bolt and a Williams gas tappet short stroke action. It has a 10-round detachable box magazine.

Although I have not found a testing report, the gun was apparently tested by the Canadian military and performed quite well. It was never purchased or put into serial production, however, most likely because as an antitank rifle the .50 BMG cartridge was not effective by the end of World War II.

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