Decommissioned Naval Ships

USS Laffey (DD-724), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, was the 2nd ship of the United States Navy to be named for Bartlett Laffey. Seaman Laffey was awarded the Medal of Honor for his stand against Confederate forces on 5 March 1864. The ship earned the nickname "The Ship That Would Not Die" for her exploits during the D-Day invasion and the battle of Okinawa when it successfully withstood a determined assault by both conventional and kamikaze air attacks. It is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and is preserved as a museum ship in Charleston, South Carolina but has been closed since August 4, 2009.
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Driven, Worked on, Owned, and of course, no longer being made

The Buick LeSabre is a full-size car made by the Buick division of General Motors from 1959-2005. For many years, the LeSabre was considered the entry level full-size Buick, carrying the lowest base price in the Buick lineup. Prior to 1959, that position had been held by the full-size Buick Special model; in 1959 the LeSabre replaced the Special, a nameplate that was reintroduced in 1961 for Buick's line of compact cars. The name originated with the 1951 Buick Le Sabre show car designed by Harley Earl.
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Skylab was launched 14 May 1973 by a Saturn V (the last launch of such a rocket) with the upper stage removed, but with the avionics remaining in the same position (different from the Saturn INT-21 rocket, which could launch payloads not based on the S-IVB) into a 235-nautical-mile (435-km) orbit. The launch is sometimes referred to as Skylab 1, or SL-1. Severe damage was sustained during launch and deployment, including the loss of the station's micrometeoroid shield/sun shade and one of its main solar panels. Debris from the lost micrometeoroid shield further complicated matters by pinning the remaining solar panel to the side of the station, preventing its deployment and thus leaving the station with a huge power deficit.
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Driven, Worked on, Owned, and of course, no longer being made

The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a 2+2 coupe and convertible marketed from 1955 to 1974 by Volkswagen – combining the chassis and mechanicals of the Type 1 (Beetle), styling by Luigi Segre of the Italian carrozzeria Ghia, and hand-built bodywork by German coach-builder Karmann.

The Karmann Ghia was internally designated the Type 14. Volkswagen later introduced a variant in 1961, the Type 34 – featuring angular bodywork and based on the newly introduced Type 3 platform.
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Decommissioned Naval Ships

The supercarrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), formerly CVA-63, was the second naval ship named after Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the Wright brothers' first powered airplane flight. Kitty Hawk was both the first and last active ship of her class, and the last conventionally-fuelled aircraft carrier in service with the US Navy.

Kitty Hawk was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, 27 December 1956; and launched 21 May 1960, sponsored by Mrs. Camilla F. McElroy, wife of Secretary of Defense Neil H. McElroy; and commissioned 21 April 1961 at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Captain William F. Bringle in command.

Kitty Hawk was launched by flooding her drydock. A conventional slide down ways was ruled out because of her mass and the risk of impact with the Philadelphia shore on the far side of the Delaware River.

With the decommissioning of Independence on 30 September 1998, Kitty Hawk became the United States warship with the second longest active status in the Navy – the USS Constitution sailing ship in Boston Harbor is still retained on active Navy status. With this title came the distinction of being one of only two aircraft carriers ever to be honored with flying the First Navy Jack. This came to an end with an instruction dated 31 May 2002, where the Secretary of the Navy directed all United States Navy ships to fly this flag in honor of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
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Todays Highlight in History

The first attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II took place on Wednesday, 13 May 1981, in St. Peter's Square at Vatican City. The Pope was shot and critically wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck 4 times, and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately, and later sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. The Pope later forgave Ağca for the assassination attempt. He was pardoned by Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the Pope's request and was deported to Turkey in June 2000.
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Driven, Worked on, Owned, and of course, no longer being made

My first car, lasted all of 5 days before the engine went south. Mine was a Pontiac J-2000

The Pontiac Sunbird, produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors, was Pontiac's second small-car offering of the 70's. The Sunbird model ran for 18 years (with a lapse during the 1981 & 1982 model years, as the 1982 model was called J2000) and was then replaced in 1995 by the Pontiac Sunfire. Through the years the Sunbird was available in notchback coupe, sedan, hatchback, station wagon, and convertible body styles.
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Decommissioned Naval Ships

USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) (formerly CVA-67) is a John F. Kennedy class aircraft carrier, the last conventionally powered carrier built for the United States Navy. The ship is named after the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and is nicknamed "Big John." Kennedy was originally designated a CVA (fixed wing attack carrier); however, the designation was changed to CV to denote that the ship was capable of anti-submarine warfare, making her an all-purpose carrier.

After nearly 40 years of service in the United States Navy, Kennedy was officially decommissioned on 1 August 2007. She is berthed at the NAVSEA Inactive Ships On-site Maintenance facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is available for donation as a museum and memorial to a qualified organization. The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79).
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Todays Highlight in History

The National University of San Marcos (Spanish: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, UNMSM) is the most important and respected higher-education institution in Peru. Its main campus, the University City, is located in Lima. It was chartered on May 12, 1551 by a royal decree signed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, which makes it the oldest officially established university in the Americas and, as such, one of the oldest universities in the world. Academically, the University of San Marcos ranks first in Peru.

San Marcos has 60 academic-professional schools, organized into 20 faculties, and these, in turn, into 6 academic areas. All the faculties offer undergraduate and graduate degrees. The student body consists of over 30,000 undergraduate and 4,000 graduate students from all the country as well as some international students. The university has also a number of public institutions under its government such as the San Marcos Cultural Center and the Museum of Natural History of Lima.

San Marcos' prestige in Latin America mainly arises from its renowned faculty and alumni. It is the only university in Peru with a Nobel Prize laureate among its alumni: Mario Vargas Llosa (Literature). San Marcos is also recognized for the quality of its curricular contents, its very competitive admission process, as well as for being a leading center of scientific research. Several Peruvian and Latin American influential thinkers, researchers, scientists, politicians and writers have studied there, which underscores San Marcos' leading role as an educational institution in the history of Peru and the world.
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Decommissioned Naval Ships

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland-class cruiser of the United States Navy. She holds a place in history due to the circumstances of her sinking, which led to the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. On 30 July 1945, shortly after delivering critical parts for the first atomic bomb to be used in combat to the United States air base at Tinian, the ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, sinking in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship.

The remaining 900 men faced exposure, dehydration and shark attacks as they waited for assistance while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy learned of the sinking when survivors were spotted four days later by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. Only 317 sailors survived. Indianapolis was the last major U.S. Navy ship sunk by enemy action in World War II.

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