Where the second biggest is still pretty darn big!
10/24/2017
Updated on 09/10/2022
Sputnik 1 was successfully launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, becoming the first artificial object to reach Earth orbit. Having been launched during the Cold War era, this tiny, beeping, ball-shaped satellite caused great concern among many paranoid red-scared Americans for whom the event was not so much a great moment of scientific achievement, but rather a disconcerting development…read more
10/11/2017
Updated on 09/24/2022
You’d think that if finding out the first person to do something was relatively easy, then finding the second person to do something would be just as easy, right? SilverMedals finds that this is not the case in many cases, and annoyingly so. For instance who was the second person to circumnavigate the globe? Most of us American kids learned…read more
09/28/2017
Updated on 10/08/2018
In honor of the excellent Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary The Vietnam War, which is currently showing on PBS, I thought it was a fitting time to highlight Harry Griffith Cramer, Jr., the person considered to be the second U.S. soldier killed during that conflict. Before we go on, it’s worth mentioning that this is a case where it is difficult…read more
09/26/2017
Updated on 04/10/2023
Editor’s Note: SilverMedals.net defines the second day of school for the Little Rock Nine as the second day they were able to actually enter the school. Their first day was supposed to be 9/4/57, but they were turned away by soldiers from the Arkansas National Guard. The first day they were actually able to enter Little Rock Central High School,…read more
08/20/2017
Updated on 09/24/2022
Nagasaki was not the primary target for the nuclear attack the United States launched against Japan on the morning of August 9, 1945. It had barely even made the list of potential targets for atomic bombings. Kokura was the primary target, and Nagasaki was the secondary target should weather conditions have prevented the attack on Kokura. Conditions for the atomic…read more
07/27/2017
Updated on 10/21/2022
Madison Square Garden is New York’s premier indoor arena and venue. It is the home of the the New York Knicks (NBA), the New York Liberty (WNBA), and the New York Rangers (NHL) sports franchises. It is the main venue for the Men’s Big East Basketball Conference Tournament, the National Invitational Tournament Final and many other sporting and boxing events….read more
06/02/2017
Updated on 10/26/2018
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was first released in the U.K. on May 26, 1967, and in the U.S. on June 2 of that year, exactly 50 years before this Second Thoughts entry. Widely regarded as the greatest album of all time, it is also one of the most widely recognized album covers. It features the four band members in their…read more
04/21/2017
Updated on 10/13/2018
It was common during WWII for USAAF (United States Army Air Force) ground crews to write out little messages on bombs meant to be dropped on the enemy. It was a sort of middle finger to the soldiers whom they blamed for there being a war in the first place. There are even stories of bomber crew members throwing trash out the…read more
04/18/2017
Updated on 01/11/2019
This is one of those “only-people-interested-in-SilverMedals-type-stuff” entries. While researching two upcoming pieces for SilverMedals (“Thomas Jefferson’s Second Dome” and “The Second Madison Square Garden”), the famous architect Stanford White came to figure prominently in both, which was not something that I had anticipated. You may know Stanford White from such buildings as the Arch in Washington Square Park, The Bowery…read more