Today in History: Purple Hearted Teddy-Wagen Satellites!

The Purple Heart also has a portrait of George Washington

The Purple Heart is awarded to military personnel that are wounded or killed while serving the military. This military decoration was not put into effect until February 22nd, 1932, but on this day in 1782, President George Washington creates the now obsolete version of the Purple Heart, the Badge of Military Merit. There are only three known soldiers that have received the Badge of Military
Merit, Elijah Churchill, William Brown, and Daniel Bissell Jr. The Badge of Military Merit was forgotten until 1927, when general Charles P. Summerall wished to "revive the Badge of Merit." Due to its purple ribbon and shape, this revived Badge of Military Merit was renamed to the Purple Heart. The Purple Heart is the oldest military award that is still given to U.S. military members. Unlike the original Badge of Military Merit which was only awarded to three military personnel, the Purple Heart has been awarded to approximately 2 million.

 Many consider Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt to be the top presidents of the United States. Already serving as president for eight years between 1901-1909, Teddy Roosevelt is once again nominated to be president on this day in 1912 by a Republican group known as the Progressive Party, aka the Bull Moose Party. Roosevelt did not win the election that year, as Democrat Woodrow Wilson beat him with the benefit Roosevelt having a divided Republican group.

The Explorer 6 was a small, spherical satellite

 A few days ago on July 30th, 2013, the last classic Volkswagen Beetle was built. On August 7th, 1944, the Beetle halts production due to a bombing threat. Ferdinand Porsche had singed a contract to create a "people's car" ten years earlier. In 1939, Porsche's small, affordable car debuted at the Berlin Motor Show. Under the British military, the Beetle once again went onto the market in December 1945. Germans retook possession of the Beetle in 1949, where it surpassed the popular Ford Model T as the world's top-selling car of all time in 1972.

With modern internet, it's easy to view a satellite view of the earth. One of the most notable and largest company that allows easy access of satellite views of the earth is Google. However, satellite photographs of the earth did not start at Google, it started all on this date in 1959. The Explorer 6, which launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, launched into orbit around the earth. The photos taken by the spacecraft spanned 17,000 miles, taking 40 minutes to be received in Hawaii. The first of these photos, which released in September, showed a crescent shaped country, Mexico.