After initial successes in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, French Emperor Napoleon III had his butt handed to him at the Battle of Sedan. His capture brought down the French government and should have ended the war. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck even offered some fairly reasonable terms but the new French government was unwilling to […]
Eight years prior to Hindenburg disaster of 1939, another famous zeppelin event occurred in New Jersey. On August 8th, 1929 LZ127 the Graf Zeppelin commenced her journey around the world. The trip was funded by American newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst who sent four of his staffers as part of the nine passengers of the Graf’s “Round-the-World” (Weltrundfahrt 1929). As the major […]
When one thinks of airships, the image that leaps to many people’s minds is that of D-LZ129, better known as the Hindenburg, consumed by flames to cries of “Oh, the humanity!” The tragic events of May 6th, 1937 are considered the end of the airship era; many know about the death of the Hindenburg, but what about the life […]
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin‘s serious interest in airship development began in 1874, when he took inspiration from a lecture given by Heinrich von Stephan on the subject of “World Postal Services and Air Travel” to outline the basic principle of his later craft in a diary entry dated March 25th, 1874. This describes a large rigidly-framed […]
