Civil Rights
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
q2K BHP
Black History Portal
THE BHP WIRE —
HIDDEN TRUTHS
What's New!
Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
In the statistical theory of estimation, the German tank problem consists of estimating the maximum of a discrete uniform distribution from sampling without replacement. In simple terms, suppose there exists an unknown number of items which are sequentially numbered from 1 to N. A random sample of these items is taken and their sequence numbers observed; the problem is to estimate N from these observed numbers. The problem can be approached using either frequentist inference or Bayesian inference, leading to different results. Estimating the population maximum based on a single sample yields divergent results, whereas estimation based on multiple samples is a practical estimation question whose answer is simple (especially in the frequentist setting) but not obvious (especially in the Bayesian setting). The problem is named after its historical application by Allied forces in World War II to estimate the monthly rate of German tank production from very limited data. The statistical method exploited the manufacturing practice of assigning and attaching ascending serial-number sequences to tank components (chassis, gearbox, engine, wheels), with some of the tanks eventually captured in battle by Allied forces. This contrasted with conventional intelligence, which often overestimated Nazi output; this statistical approach yielded a highly accurate estimate.
This article lists production figures for German armored fighting vehicles during the World War II era. Vehicles include tanks, self-propelled artillery, assault guns and tank destroyers. Where figures for production in 1939 are given, they refer to September 1939 onwards; that is, they only count wartime production.
The Panther tank, officially Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (abbreviated Pz.Kpfw. V) with ordnance inventory designation: Sd.Kfz. 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used in most European theatres of World War II from mid-1943 to the end of the war in May 1945. The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 medium tank and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the Panzer IV and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war. While having essentially the same Maybach V12 petrol (690 hp) engine as the Tiger I, the Panther had better gun penetration, was lighter and faster, and could traverse rough terrain better than the Tiger I. The trade-off was weaker side armour, which made it vulnerable to flanking fire, and a weaker high explosive shell. The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long-range engagements. The Panther had excellent firepower, protection and mobility, though early variants suffered from reliability issues. The Panther was far cheaper to produce than the Tiger I. Key elements of the Panther design, such as its armour, transmission, and final drive, were simplifications made to improve production rates and address raw material shortages. The Panther was rushed into combat at the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943 despite numerous unresolved technical problems, leading to high losses due to mechanical failures. Most design flaws were rectified by late 1943 and early 1944, though the Allied bombing of production plants in Germany, increasing shortages of high-quality alloys for critical components, shortage of fuel and training space, and the declining quality of crews all impacted the tank's effectiveness. Though officially classified as a medium tank, at 44.8 metric tons the Panther was closer in weight to contemporary foreign heavy tanks. The Panther's weight caused logistical problems, such as an inability to cross certain bridges; otherwise, the tank had a very high power-to-weight ratio which made it highly mobile. The naming of Panther production variants did not follow alphabetical order, unlike most German tanks – the initial variant, Panther "D" (Ausf. D), was followed by "A" and "G" variants.
Nazi Germany developed numerous tank designs used in World War II. In addition to domestic designs, Germany also used various captured and foreign-built tanks. German tanks were an important part of the Wehrmacht and played a fundamental role during the whole war, and especially in the blitzkrieg battle strategy. In the subsequent more troubled and prolonged campaigns, German tanks proved to be adaptable and efficient adversaries to the Allies. When the Allied forces technically managed to surpass the earlier German tanks in battle, they still had to face the experience and skills of the German tank crews and most powerful and technologically advanced later tanks, such as the Panther, the Tiger I and Tiger II, which had the reputation of being fearsome opponents.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
