1926 Air Battle of Times Square

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The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

11 ай бұрын

On June 19, 1926, the citizens of New York suddenly found themselves under violent attack by enemy aircraft. Smoke billowed downtown as aircraft fought a desperate dogfight over the startled city.
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This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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Script by THG
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Пікірлер: 184

@orbyfan 10 ай бұрын

It should be kept in mind that this took place 5-7 months after the court martial of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, who was advocating a greater emphasis on air power.

@andycraddock7677 10 ай бұрын

@Orbfan: You know your history! A totally unjustified CM IMO, as Gen. Mitchell was certainly proven right. Ruffled the wrong feathers I guess.

@robertheinkel6225 10 ай бұрын

@@andycraddock7677the Navy felt invincible, so when he sank a ship, it made the Navy brass look bad. The Navy set up rules to make the attack very difficult, but Mitchell bent the rules, and made direct hits.

@orbyfan 10 ай бұрын

@@andycraddock7677 Gary Cooper played him in the movie, but it should have been Jimmy Cagney, who was about the same size and had a similar personality.

@167curly 4 ай бұрын

I smiled when I could see 1930s cars in one of your "1926" photos.

@tonyk1584 10 ай бұрын

As much fun as this episode was, what I shall take away and incorporate into my vocabulary is the simile: "made more noise than a flat wheeled streetcar". I love it.

@gregoryv.zimansr4031 10 ай бұрын

Great patch. Brings back memories.

@stab74 10 ай бұрын

Ah yes square wheels, before the invention of the circle.

@ltdees2362 10 ай бұрын

As my dad was born in 1924 and mom in 1926, I search as much information on this time period as I can to increase my knowledge how they grew up. I heard stories from my granddad regarding this very incident and was fascinated by "Pops" account. He was in Atlanta at the time and said the local militia was alerted when hearing of the "attack" in fear Atlanta would be next ! 🤣 "By the next day" he said, "it had become the joke of the Atlanta"...lol...my Pop was a wonderful storyteller...I miss his stories to this day! I'm 74...Thank you Mr. Geiger !! Your "history" is my window to the past...I never miss an episode 💖

@malyoung7571 10 ай бұрын

I love it when THG finds a piece of forgotten history I have never heard of!

@marvwatkins7029 7 ай бұрын

I do like the way Lance changes his forever eclectic background to fit the theme of his tale.

@whiterabbit-wo7hw 10 ай бұрын

This was indeed "history that deserves to be remembered." Thank you for this "horrible" attack on New York.

@RetiredSailor60 10 ай бұрын

Good morning from Ft Worth TX to everyone watching.

@johnrudy9404 10 ай бұрын

Hello Fort Worth from Milltown NJ

@Gary-kc9hx 10 ай бұрын

Homesick Texan here in Indiana!

@JonathanEzor 10 ай бұрын

I'm a huge fan of New York City *and* aviation history, and have never heard of this. Thanks!!!

@micha_el_ 10 ай бұрын

Today's my lucky day - new upload while binging old episodes🎉

@janlindtner305 10 ай бұрын

A really good story and thank you for it.

@markmorse9445 10 ай бұрын

Crazy, I worked at the Statue of Liberty and never heard of this history. This is cool.

@redwatch1100 10 ай бұрын

I worked at McDonald's in Yonkers and i never heard of it either. lol

@markmorse9445 10 ай бұрын

@@redwatch1100 yeah, but my job was to help share history with the visitors and this would have been cool to share. What did you share, a Happy Meal. Lol

@shawnr771 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for the lesson. I have worked on NAS Ft. Worth many times as a construction contractor and in the area of wesr Ft Worth. It was common to see fighter jets doing manuevers over that part of town. The pilots put on a pretty good air show for those of us who looked up. Most people were understandbly annoyed at the noise level. There were places at Ridgmar Mall where when the planes passed over the only thing audible were the engines. Much of the more advanced stuff is done over less inhabited parts of west Texas.

@BasicDrumming 10 ай бұрын

I appreciate you, thank you for making content.

@jamesmoss3424 10 ай бұрын

That is new to me on what happened in New York.

@abitofapickle6255 10 ай бұрын

Love your content. Speaking of Airplanes, In China they found the wreckage of a P-40 belonging to the flying tigers that crash landed in a lake with the pilot still in it. Perhaps you can do a video about this forgotten plane?

@JesusDisciple916 10 ай бұрын

He already made a video about that situation, unless I'm remembering incorrectly. I know I've watched a video on it and could swear it was from THG. I have no idea what the video was titled, though.

@jrbship 10 ай бұрын

How nice of the attackers to wait for the defenders to arrive on the scene before commencing battle

@jamesslick4790 10 ай бұрын

People (Even our enemies) were more courteous in the 1920s.

@Optimistprime. 10 ай бұрын

This is the kind of thing that you could only get away with in the 1920s.

@Anfomay 10 ай бұрын

Have you done a video describing the Mine Wars in West Virginia? If not, it would be an interesting topic.

@TrickiVicBB71 10 ай бұрын

When I read the title. I thought at first it was a "battle" between many business owners fighting over who would dominate the NY skyline with tallest skyscraper. But as I listen....this is completely different

@Steve-OH601 10 ай бұрын

Excellent!

@erikjmoore 10 ай бұрын

Very interesting, had never heard of this before - thanks for sharing!

@MrPhuselton 10 ай бұрын

another wonderful period spent listening to your voice and reviewing history. gday to you sir.

@markuskeller4281 10 ай бұрын

Thank You for sharing INFORMATION

@aaronknight1430 10 ай бұрын

I have never known thIs thank you as a lover of history in air battle show over new york city to ❤

@nopenotme6369 10 ай бұрын

We still do this today, training in urban situations, only with a little bit more focus on public safety.

@joshpiotrowski3487 10 ай бұрын

Could you see if there's a history to "the pocket protector" and if there's enough info on it id love to see an episode. If there isn't I'd settle for a history of the pen. All of this because I looked down and saw my fountain pen cap has come off in my coverall pocket and drained a quarter of the cartridge inside

@lp-xl9ld 10 ай бұрын

I'm a native of New York. My parents and their siblings would have been alive at this time. I took a class in 20th Century American History in high school. And with all that, I never heard of this before now.

@ajg617 10 ай бұрын

Born in NYC, parents and grandparents lived and worked there since the 1870s and never heard this story. At the outset, figured it was King Kong filming.

@mikefranklin1253 10 ай бұрын

The Marine Reserve had war games in ol' Camp Wallace in Galveston County back in the 80s. Inspite of many newspaper notices, the night of the "war" dozens of people called to ask if we were being invaded or under attack. I was an Officer working patrol. It was great to watch.

@MarshOakDojoTimPruitt 10 ай бұрын

thanks

@mattgeorge90 10 ай бұрын

Another great episode. ❤

@jnstonbely5215 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for yer Another riveting History Guy episode ! My first “ go to” email of The Day !🍀🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏾‍♂️

@pitsnipe5559 10 ай бұрын

A little divergent from the topic but my dad was in the NY National Guard just before WW2 broke out. His brother in law was first sergeant on their unit, 253rd Field Artillery. Dad ended up, when the war started, in the Army Air Corp stationed on Attu island in the Aleutians. His Brother in law was released from duty as his job was considered vital to the war effort.

@debbieellett9093 10 ай бұрын

Never heard of this before! It must have been terrifying if they didn't know it was just a war game! Crazy!

@Yestradamus- 10 ай бұрын

In the mid 60’s we watched the recreation of the bombing of Pearl Harbor for the movie “In Harms Way” from Camp Smith, up on the mountain. The local Marine Corps Headquarters. Just north of Pearl Harbor. It was SPECTACULAR.

@indy_go_blue6048 10 ай бұрын

That's so cool. I got to Pearl in 4/69 just in time to catch the wrap-up filming of Tora!(x3). I was a staff driver for CINCPACFLT and we did CINCPAC courier duty about every 3 weeks at Camp Smith. It did have some beautiful views.

@irish89055 10 ай бұрын

Did you get a chance to be one of the extras like at the party at the beginning of the movie? many women with their sixties hairstyles too

@korbell1089 10 ай бұрын

I am glad they got that experience in defending New York, because they needed it to protect the Empire State Building in 1933!😁

@randy5761 10 ай бұрын

I wonder if any film crews got the footage to use on King Kong? lol

@sylviegauthier2145 10 ай бұрын

This reminds me of a Remembrance Day mock battle over Ottawa sometime in the 1990s. There was one large old period English plane, search lights, even fog (I can't remember if it was genuine or added) and the sounds of an air battle played over loud speakers. I'm sure it was all well advertised but I'd only heard of it that morning. It was a very moving performance but I wondered if anyone within earshot who hadn't heard of it might be worrying 🙂

@WAL_DC-6B 10 ай бұрын

Ottawa, Kansas?

@sylviegauthier2145 10 ай бұрын

@@WAL_DC-6B No, Ottawa Ontario, Canada. And I forgot to mention this display wasn't over the whole city but just over the parliament buildings.

@WAL_DC-6B 10 ай бұрын

@@sylviegauthier2145 Thanks for setting the record straight as to which Ottawa had the "mock battle."

@sylviegauthier2145 10 ай бұрын

@@WAL_DC-6B I forgot that there are other Ottawas in the world. 🙂

@WAL_DC-6B 10 ай бұрын

@@sylviegauthier2145 Yep, like Ottawa, Illinois.

@blip1 10 ай бұрын

Excellent

@robertgolding 10 ай бұрын

@The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered You may not be aware of it, but, the music over the outro is loud enough to drown it out.

@Johnson-vd4ed 10 ай бұрын

New York city. Never ceases to amaze.

@Below-Average_Joe 10 ай бұрын

I bet this inspired the ending of King Kong which was released seven years after this exercise.

@interstellarsurfer 10 ай бұрын

Bingo.

@zdcyclops1lickley190 10 ай бұрын

You should have added a clip of King Kong on the Empire State Building.

@goodun2974 10 ай бұрын

At 6:38, " With a very unpleasant sneezing and wheezing/ the calliope crashed to the ground......" Bruce Springsteen, "Blinded by the Light" (also recorded by Manfred Mann and the Earth Band, who had a big hit with it)

@ChuckSwiger 10 ай бұрын

FWIW the vintage airplane footage is from Pilot X 1936 :)

@gregmitchell4619 10 ай бұрын

Pretty cool. I bet the N.Y. air guard is proud of that. Also wonder about disputes over score!

@rickharold7884 10 ай бұрын

Wow. Cool. Mayhem would ensue today. Except it would be all CG now.

@bit-tuber8126 10 ай бұрын

Never heard of this one... but well before my time..

@chrisvandecar4676 10 ай бұрын

How is this not a script read for King Kong?😎

@davejackson925 10 ай бұрын

Interesting !

@Windruzhed 10 ай бұрын

I thought I missed a 1926 war

@madhukarjonathanminj2772 10 ай бұрын

I thought the same,but also guessed that it was probably a mock battle.

@skydiverclassc2031 10 ай бұрын

The Dodgers and the Yankees were really going at it.

@smokejaguarsix7757 10 ай бұрын

Imagine the outcry of such an event today. Karens everywhere would demand to talk to the manager.

@busterdog321 10 ай бұрын

This was a practice run for defeating large ape creatures that may attack in the coming years

@jaminova_1969 10 ай бұрын

I worked in Times SQ for 2 years but never heard this story. What my grandpa did tell me about, besides him and his brothers hopping freight trains to sneak into the burlesque shows in Times Sq as kids, was that there were sightings of German Submarines off the coast of Long Island during WW2! Got anything on that, Professor History Guy?

@stevek8829 10 ай бұрын

The WWII return subs sank plenty right off the coast, easy peasy. Americans kept the light on, silhouetting the ships.

@rdbjrseattle 10 ай бұрын

Miller Field, Staten Island played a role in the 1961 midair collision of a DC8 and Super Connie over NYC - Connie crashed there while DC8 fell in Brooklyn.

@paulcunningham2859 10 ай бұрын

Nice

@pamelamays4186 10 ай бұрын

I'm sure that somewhere in your military headgear collection there's an old school leather pilot's cap. Not a replica, but the real deal.🛩️

@sharonking5103 10 ай бұрын

People need to know history it is our greats teacher thank you 😊

@MM22966 9 ай бұрын

I am trying to imagine what would happen now, if a ANG squadron of F-16's did the same thing to show how protected NYC was, dogfighting around the skyscrapers. Oh, the yelling that would follow....

@carmelbrain7399 10 ай бұрын

great

@jordanhendrix2619 4 ай бұрын

Imagine how much more history we’d have learned if we didn’t spend 4-5 weeks a year from grades 3 through 12 talking about the Industrial Revolution…

@pamelamays4186 10 ай бұрын

Military aircraft just forty years after the end of the Civil War. Technology is awesome!

@stevek8829 10 ай бұрын

Which Civil War? Obviously not US.

@Timahcs2 10 ай бұрын

He could read the forgotten phone book and I would listen.

@garycarpenter2980 4 ай бұрын

I've never heard of this before we never covered this in school

@carmelbrain7399 10 ай бұрын

wow

@joncrawford3485 10 ай бұрын

Just gotta say one thing about this - Operation Sky Shield II (1961) & the Vulcan bomber :)

@andrewcubbage1007 10 ай бұрын

A fascinating story and very enjoyable to watch, an excellent way of advertising an event. May I suggest a small correction to your comment about New York in 1776, I believe you should have said “Government troops garrisoned the city to protect it from the rebels!” But then, being British I am slightly biased 😂

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 ай бұрын

Sorry, you have to win the war to earn the right to spin the result. ;)

@leeblake3989 10 ай бұрын

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Vicious.

@davepeters3629 10 ай бұрын

I wonder if this was any inspiration for Orson Welles broadcast of the War of the Worlds?

@stevek8829 10 ай бұрын

I thought it was going to relate to the Howard Hughes airplane movie that came out a couple years after.

@charlespeterwatson9051 9 ай бұрын

What is it about NYC and airplanes that just doesn't seem compatible?

@dennisboulais7905 10 ай бұрын

I'd never heard of this incident. This sounds like an H.G.Wells report!

@jeffbangkok 10 ай бұрын

Good night

@The_ED_guy 10 ай бұрын

I like the way you dramatacize things😂

@robertgiles9124 10 ай бұрын

,And Just a year Later...One Summer: America, 1927 is an amazing book by Bill Bryson. The year that scoundrel Lindberg crossed the ocean, but later went all Nazi and even had several kids in Germany after the war behind his wife's back. The book covers so many events that happened that year in such a well written way.

@craigkdillon 10 ай бұрын

As a child, I heard of a mock amphibious landing done on the beaches of Chicago. I never knew when it took place, or even if it did. Kids do make things up. If it did occur, I would like to know about it. If it didn't, I guess I want to know that.

@boonstein9949 10 ай бұрын

ever do anything on the 'National Recovery Administration' or Arthurdale or Gen. Hugh Johnson?

@CwL-1984 10 ай бұрын

👍👍

@BazookaTooth707 10 ай бұрын

Can someone link me to articles talking about this event? After some googling using different keywords I was unable to find any info

@TimMiddleton 10 ай бұрын

Did this incident inspire the climactic scene in King Kong? The movie was made about five years afterwards.

@danohstoolbox 10 ай бұрын

good morning I would love to see a video on the history of herbrand tools 🔧 if it works for you 👍🔧🇨🇦

@mikmik9034 10 ай бұрын

As a child I remember 'smudge pots' being used 1. warm plants/orchards. and 2. Traffic Control, anthing historical worthy of these?

@stevek8829 10 ай бұрын

Smuge pots make smoke. Traffic control was round oil pots with a wick for flame on top. They didn't make smoke, only fire. Is that what you're thinking of? The smudge pots were famous in Florida orange orchards.

@Pygar2 10 ай бұрын

"Hautbois" is now "oboe".

@jordanhendrix2619 4 ай бұрын

Now if only we’d have heeded President Eisenhower’s warning about the military-industrial complex.

@-jeff- 10 ай бұрын

This reminds me of the more infamous "Battle of Los Angeles" in 1942. 😬

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 ай бұрын

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qr2oacqmy6uyg6c.html

@handimanjay6642 10 ай бұрын

Our first air show, unannounced.

@josephwolosz2522 10 ай бұрын

I saw a Japanese Zero flying along Battery Park and the Hudson. It may have been a replica. Many were destroyed during and after the war. Green with the Red Meatball! Looked like a mock strafing run. That was before 9/11.

@johnkeenan1829 10 ай бұрын

The only air war I remember seeing over Manhattan involved a very large ape.

@patrickfreeman8257 10 ай бұрын

Once you got to the point where the defenders arrived before the attackers I knew something was amiss

@indy_go_blue6048 10 ай бұрын

Vice-versa friend, the attackers arrived first, as THG speculated on how much damage they could've done before the defenders arrived.

@berniesmith2831 10 ай бұрын

It was Godzilla

@RSSommers 10 ай бұрын

Have you done the story of the 'round the world race. NYC to Paris. What about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire?

@BA-gn3qb 10 ай бұрын

What year did they shoot the big ape off the empire state building?

@rusnikfromtranscarpathia 10 ай бұрын

Didn't they already do this dogfight over new York?...when King Kong climbed the Empire State Building! Lol

@griftereck 10 ай бұрын

Have you done a video about exercise? After all. all good stories include Pilates. :)

@clamsoup 10 ай бұрын

In preparation for King Kong?

@JamesThomas-gg6il 10 ай бұрын

Not much later in the 30s a B25. Mitchell crashed into the empire state building. It Wasn't part of any war game just a plane that for whatever reason slammed into the building. They have since changed the fight patterns over NYC.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 ай бұрын

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gJ6qfaiS1r7HimQ.html

@leeblake3989 10 ай бұрын

July 28 1945 not 1930's. The did not change the flight patterns over NYC. The plane was lost in fog and off course.

@JamesThomas-gg6il 10 ай бұрын

@@leeblake3989 yeah I was going off my flawed brain, thanks for the info.

@stevek8829 10 ай бұрын

@@leeblake3989thanks for correcting the incorrect professor. Zoomers are just so eager to share, they don't care about facts.

@TranscendianIntendor 7 ай бұрын

I image the airplanes flown in this mock battle were for the most part left after WWI. It is hard not to want to fly a Sopwith Pup, or Camel. Most of my time was in the Piper Tomahawk that hardly made the speeds that these old biplanes managed. Are you going to war to fight for your country or going to the war to fly the fastest and best airplanes? Of the armed forces I am fascinated by this element of extra motives and the one most explained by spontaneous affection. Money Ideology Compromise & Ego & Spontaneous Affection are of mens' motives.

@pjeaton58 9 ай бұрын

What happened to the Cricket of Times Square ????

@craigkdillon 10 ай бұрын

LOL. We attacked ourselves, and we lost.

@vengenceismine 10 ай бұрын

Why your glasses always crooked??

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 10 ай бұрын

Actually, it is my face that is crooked… I tend to cock my head a little.

@vengenceismine 10 ай бұрын

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel lol :)

@frankpinmtl 10 ай бұрын

Montreal Gazette get's a mention As a schoolboy, I delivered papers for them

@timothymulholland7905 10 ай бұрын

Amazing! Can you imagine the scandal of a stunt like this today? Heads would roll and fat compensations paid.

@jimsvideos7201 10 ай бұрын

They flew the AF1 aircraft past the Statue of Liberty for a photo op a couple years ago, it caused some grief.

@indy_go_blue6048 10 ай бұрын

Half a million Millies would suffer irreversible PTSD if this were to happen.

@JeepWrangler1957 10 ай бұрын

I was expecting to hear they fought off a giant gorilla 😂

@skydiverclassc2031 10 ай бұрын

I wonder how many pickpockets were working the crowd at the same time.