# Annoyingly Dense Comment from Historical Documentary **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 26, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463 "2011-12-26T23:11:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/1 "2011-12-26T23:11:51Z")
Dumbest thing I’ve seen on the Military History Channel this weekend: “No other Boeing-built bomber aircraft has had the same impact on a city as the B-29 has had on Wichita.” Yeah, because when thinking “what city has been most impacted by the B-29?” Wichita, Kansas _leaps_ to mind. Talk about a provincial mindset… ---
**Author:** ![Aristoxenus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@Aristoxenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aristoxenus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/2 "2011-12-27T02:25:07Z")
That’s a good one. I also heard a “good one” about a year ago, and I still recall (I am reminded daily… you’ll see why, as below). Not sure if it was History or Discovery channel, but a docu on invasive species covered the snakehead fish invasion of the Great Lakes area. It covered how the fish are displacing native species in lakes, rivers, etc… that’s all fine. But then the narrator had to add something to the effect, “…and to make matters worse, the fish is inedible.” What? Where I live (SE Asia), these fish are eaten daily… probably make up a respectable % of all fish consumption…usually BBQed whole (head-on, with lemongrass, herbs, scallion stuffed down the throat) or salt-encrusted and BBQed… either preparation served with a spicy dipping sauce. It is served by street vendors as well as restaurants. Seems every downtown of every village has a street vendor selling these - the BBQ smoke and wonderful aroma permeate the air. It’s actually a rather tasty firm-fleshed fish. It does have tiny bones down the spine, but if you know how to pull the flesh away, its not a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/3 "2011-12-27T02:44:33Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Dumbest thing I’ve seen on the Military History Channel this weekend: > > “No other Boeing-built bomber aircraft has had the same impact on a city as the B-29 has had on Wichita.” > > Yeah, because when thinking “what city has been most impacted by the B-29?” Wichita, Kansas _leaps_ to mind. > > Talk about a provincial mindset… I don’t get it - it was built there, so of course that had a big effect on the local economy. Wichita has historically been a major city for aircraft construction - Cessna and I believe one or two other general aviation manufacturers are based there. ---
**Author:** ![Winsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Winsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winsling)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/4 "2011-12-27T02:54:31Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > I don’t get it - it was built there, so of course that had a big effect on the local economy. Wichita has historically been a major city for aircraft construction - Cessna and I believe one or two other general aviation manufacturers are based there. I think one could construct a solid argument that Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki were affected more by the B-29 than Wichita. ---
**Author:** ![Aristoxenus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@Aristoxenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aristoxenus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/5 "2011-12-27T02:57:50Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > I don’t get it - it was built there, so of course that had a big effect on the local economy. Wichita has historically been a major city for aircraft construction - Cessna and I believe one or two other general aviation manufacturers are based there. I believe the OP was inferring that the choice of words, particularly “bomber” and “impact”, could convey the connotation of being “bombed by” the aircraft. Obviously the narration meant “positive economic impact” with reference to Wichita. But, again, what kind of economic impact (negative, in this case) would being bombed by the B-29 have on a city? Which is greater in absolute value? No matter the answer, it seems a provocative observation by the OP, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/6 "2011-12-27T07:26:43Z")
Put me down as agreeing that the quote about Wichita is disgustingly ignorant. > [@Winsling](#): > > I think one could construct a solid argument that Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki were affected more by the B-29 than Wichita. Tokyo. And, IIRC, the British were flying B-29’s against German cities. B-29s were specially modified to carry heavier incendiary loads. On the topic of “dense comment” I’d include any implication that Hiroshima-Nagaski cost lives. According to Wikipedia > [@](#): > > Partial list of B-29 missions against Tokyo: > 19 February 1945: 119 B-29s hit port and urban area > 25 February 1945: 174 B-29s dropping incendiaries destroy ~28,000 buildings > 4 March 1945: 159 B-29s hit urban area > 10 March 1945: 334 B-29s dropping incendiaries destroy ~267,000 buildings; ~25% of city > et cetera > … > The firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 9/10, 1945 was the single deadliest air raid of World War II; greater than Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki as single events. The Japanese hoped U.S. would have difficulty repeating such mass raids. They gave up when U.S. found a way to destroy with a single bomber. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/7 "2011-12-27T07:36:58Z")
> [@Aristoxenus](#): > > I believe the OP was inferring that the choice of words, particularly “bomber” and “impact”, could convey the connotation of being “bombed by” the aircraft. > [@Winsling](#): > > I think one could construct a solid argument that Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki were affected more by the B-29 than Wichita. Like Septimus said, that was a different model. But yeah, “impact” and “bomber” doesn’t bring to mind “place where they were assembled” to most people’s minds, more like “places where they were used”. But, as the OP pointed out, those places are in the parts of the map formerly marked “here be dragons”. Provincial is indeed the right description. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/8 "2011-12-27T08:04:54Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > And, IIRC, the British were flying B-29’s against German cities. You remember incorrectly; [B-29s were never flown against Germany](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-29#B-29s_in_Europe). ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/9 "2011-12-27T11:56:52Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > I don’t get it - it was built there, so of course that had a big effect on the local economy. Wichita has historically been a major city for aircraft construction - Cessna and I believe one or two other general aviation manufacturers are based there. Beech and Lear were there when I worked at Boeing, but that’s nearly 20 years ago now. ---
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/10 "2011-12-27T12:20:17Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Dumbest thing I’ve seen on the Military History Channel this weekend: > > “No other Boeing-built bomber aircraft has had the same impact on a city as the B-29 has had on Wichita.” > … How I am reading this, and I don’t know anything about the Boeing company is that Boeing built a lot of bomber aircraft in Wichita. But of all the bombers built in Wichita, the B-29 bomber had the greatest impact ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/11 "2011-12-28T19:49:05Z")
Well, the man’s point eventually turned out to be that Boeing built a B-29 plant in Wichita that subsequently was used for the civilian aircraft industry, establishing Wichita as a major city for aircraft manufacture. But Boeing was _founded_ in Seattle. He didn’t address Seattle, but surely Boeing had a major impact there. And I still maintain that numerous Japanese cities have claim to greater impact – in every sense, economics, history, military. It’s kind of like saying “the _important_ thing about World War II is that my uncle learned to fix cars, and became a mechanic when he got home.” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/12 "2011-12-28T23:55:10Z")
Instead of this: “No other Boeing-built bomber aircraft has had the same impact on a city as the B-29 has had on Wichita.” their intent was probably to say this: “No other Boeing-built bomber aircraft has had the same impact on on Wichita as the B-29 has had.” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoyingly-dense-comment-from-historical-documentary/607463/13 "2011-12-29T04:31:55Z")
My favorite B-29 fact: The first-line Soviet heavy bomber during the 1950s was a [reverse-engineered copy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-4) of a captured B-29.