In a nuclear weapons incident on 29–30 August 2007, United States Air Force warheads were not protected by mandatory security precautions. Six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, each loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were mistakenly loaded onto an Air Force B-52H heavy bomber at Minot Air Force Base and transported to Barksdale Air Force Base. The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been removed before taking the missiles from their storage bunker. The missiles with the nuclear warheads were not reported missing and remained mounted to the aircraft at both Minot and Barksdale for 36 hours. After an investigation, four Air Force commanders were relieved of their commands, and nuclear weapons operations at Minot were suspended. In 2008, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley were forced to resign, in part over this incident. In response to recommendations by a review committee, a new Air Force Global Strike Command assumed control of all Air Force nuclear bombers, missiles, and personnel.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_States_Air_Force_nuclear_weapons_incident

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1831:

Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, leading to the formation of his law of induction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday%27s_law_of_induction

1885:

Gottlieb Daimler patented the world's first internal combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimler_Reitwagen

1916:

The United States Congress passed the Philippine Autonomy Act, the first formal and official declaration of the US commitment to grant independence to the Philippines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_Law_(Philippines)

1991:

Italian businessman Libero Grassi was killed by the Sicilian Mafia after taking a public stand against their extortion demands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libero_Grassi

1996:

Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801 crashed on approach to Svalbard Airport, Norway, killing all 141 aboard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vnukovo_Airlines_Flight_2801

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

mandylion: (chiefly Eastern Orthodoxy) often Mandylion: the Image of Edessa, a holy relic consisting of a piece of cloth upon which an image of the face of Jesus Christ had been miraculously imprinted without human intervention (that is, an acheiropoieton); an artistic depiction of this relic. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mandylion

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Beat me, hate me You can never break me Will me, thrill me You can never kill me.   --Michael Jackson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson