A gentleman once contacted me to let me know that he’d cracked a head, an impressive, but not entirely unheard-of feat.  When I asked how this had happened he admitted “well, I was wailing on it pretty hard”; I appreciated his honesty.  What followed was a 30-minute conversation full of mis-assumptions and confusion.  At the conclusion I discovered that he was not talking about a head (as in the end plate of a gear pump) but rather a head (as in the top of a snare drum).  An internet search for “head” had landed him on our site by mistake.

Asphalt, also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black, and highly viscous liquid, or semi-solid form of petroleum. Asphalt is man's earliest organic engineering material. Its application as an adhesive and waterproof material dates to the dawn of civilization. The asphalt market thrives today largely for road building, roofing, and various types of repair work where its water-proofing qualities are required, as well as in rubber and adhesive compounds.

On December 17, 1941- just 10 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor- the United States Congress approved the construction of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw WAGB-83. The purpose of the ship was to forge a path for transport ships by breaking up thick ice that formed on the Great Lakes during frigid winter months. This allowed iron ore, limestone, and coal to be transported keeping vital war materials in production.