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The sheer volume of images captured during WWI meant that interpreting them became a crucial skill of its own. Photo interpretation teams learned to read shadows, study changes in the landscape, and spot subtle details that could signal a hidden threat or an impending attack. 🗃️

Improved camera technology changed the course of many battles. For example, during the 1916 Battle of the Somme, aerial photographs helped the British army understand the full extent of German defenses. With this intelligence, military planners were able to adjust their strategies accordingly. 🗃️

At the start of the WWI, aircraft were used primarily for observation—pilots flew over enemy lines, making notes and sketches of troop movements and fortifications. It quickly became clear that photographs provided far more accurate and detailed information than human observation alone. 🗃️

The desperate necessities of WWI served as a catalyst for rapid technological development, transforming military tactics in ways never before imagined. One of the most game-changing innovations of the war was in aerial reconnaissance. 🗃️

At the start of the war, aircraft were used primarily for observation—pilots flew over enemy lines, making notes and sketches of troop movements and fortifications. It quickly became clear that photographs provided far more accurate and detailed information than human observation alone.

It wasn't velvet, nor a rope, nor allowed, but I did it last week while touring the USS Midway in San Diego. 😁

I'm not opposed to any religion. I'm opposed to people imposing their #religion upon anyone but themselves, or using it to discriminate against those who don't share the same beliefs.

Two years later the racetrack is clearly out of use. The stands are gone, the roads overgrown. There's nothing remaining but the oval gash carved into the ground. But if we take a wider look, we see what may be the cause of this closure: the construction of IAH.

By 1957, we can see that a new track had been built, this one shorter and wider. This is actually the one we can see in current satellite imagery. We can also see what appears to be much larger spectator stands.

HistoricAerials.com is an amazing source of historic aerial imagery. On this website, there are images of this property going back as far as 1953, where we can see our mystery racetrack. The large track is flanked by what appears to be a small spectator stand.

I found a 1954 map from USGS that confirms this oval near IAH was once a racetrack of some kind. I don't know for sure if this was for horses or autos. But it's not showing on earlier map from 1946 at the same location. I can conclude that most likely the track was built after 1946.

I'm always looking for traces of history in satellite imagery. If I see something interesting, I try to find out what it is. On a property near what is now George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, I spotted an ovular shape that seems to have been a racetrack.

The things I'm interested in is long and varied. It's always been a problem for me. In just my fascination with history alone, I love reading about events that occurred wherever I happen to be; researching genealogies and walking through cemeteries; exploring the traces of historic roads and places.

I'm an extremely honest thinker who isn't beholden to anyone and has a lot of hands-on life experience at a quirkily wide array of activities.