It’s impossible to say when the first bricks were made, but the walls of ancient cities have been found and determined to be thousands of years old. The walls of Jericho were dated at 7,000 years old and made of brick. Bricks throughout history have been made from a variety of materials mostly determined by what was available in any given area and its ability to bind and dry into a strong, workable form. The ancient Egyptians were known for their stonework when constructing the pyramids and the sphinx, but their bricks were used to construct mostly homes and smaller buildings, tombs, and temples. Many of those structures still stand to this day. Their standard recipe was a combination of clay and straw, but they introduced a new innovation as well: fired brick which resisted the elements over thousands of years. Other cultures improvised bricks from other materials including things as simple as mud to other combinations as complex as Roman concrete made from volcanic ash. Early homesteaders crossing the Great Plains made their homes from soil bricks across treeless prairies. Want to save this post for later? Click Here to Pin It On Pinterest! There’s even a contemporary improvisation…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Forty-six years ago this month, America learned a brutal lesson in the Iranian desert.In April 1980, Operation Eagle Claw, a Delta Force mission to rescue American hostages in Tehran, ended in disaster. Mechanical failures, a sandstorm, and a catastrophic collision killed eight U.S. service members. The mission failed. The world watched. Our enemies took note.But what they failed to understand then, and what they are being reminded of now, is this:America learns. America adapts. And America returns more lethal.TRUMP TO HONOR SPECIAL FORCES BEHIND MADURO CAPTURE AT FORT BRAGG AS GLOBAL TENSIONS ESCALATEThe rescue of two U.S. airmen deep inside hostile territory was not just an extraordinary success. It was the direct legacy of that failure 46 years ago. What the world just witnessed was the full expression of a Special Operations playbook forged in the wreckage of Eagle Claw.Failure Forged the Force the World Fears TodayOperation Eagle Claw exposed glaring weaknesses: fractured command, poor inter-service coordination, and no unified special operations capability. America did not retreat. America rebuilt.That failure became a watershed moment in Special Operations history, helping give birth to USSOCOM and JSOC, the modern U.S. Special Operations enterprise: disciplined,…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The most accomplished Olympic women’s bobsledder in history is now an official brand ambassador in the movement to “save women’s sports”. Olympic bobsled legend Kaillie Humphries has signed with the activist sportswear company XX-XY Athletics, becoming the latest medal-winning Olympian to represent the brand.”Being able to partner with a brand that believes in the same things I do, that’s willing to stand up and actively work on protecting the women’s space and women’s sports is huge,” Humphries told Fox News Digital. Humphries first spoke out about her support for protecting women’s sports from biological male trans athletes in a Fox News Interview that went viral after the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.Humphries had just returned after winning bronze in women’s bobsled, marking her sixth career Olympic medal. She later revealed that she received backlash for coming out as a Republican with other conservative stances in that interview, but didn’t back down.Humphries went on to be honored at a White House Women’s History Month event by President Donald Trump in March, and gave her Order of Ikkos medal to Trump, citing his actions to protect women’s sports. “Being able to come back to the USA after the…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Trump stood before Congress in 2019 and said, “Legal immigrants enrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways. I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally.” In 2024, as he ran for reelection, he repeated the point: “We need people.”The president was right. But since Trump reentered office, his administration has cut legal immigration dramatically. Illegal immigration is down, too, but not as much. All told, the administration has cut legal immigration twice as much as it has cut illegal immigration. Indeed, my report for the Cato Institute, which President Trump cited, shows the immigration decline has come mainly from fewer legal immigrants.The president previously promised to prioritize Christian refugees, saying “we are going to help them.” But he has not. In 2024, most refugees vetted abroad and admitted legally to the U.S. were Christians, yet he cut the refugee program from 125,000 to 7,500. It now admits only a small number of South Africans. There are zero slots for religious persecution.FEDERAL COURT BLOCKS NEWSOM’S BID TO SHACKLE ICE IN TRUMP IMMIGRATION WINIf persecuted people can somehow make it to the…

Smith & Wesson has just upgraded its classic defensive snubby with the Bodyguard 38 2.0.Snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolvers have been a staple of self-defense for a very long time, and one of the go-to models is the Bodyguard 38. While the last incarnation of this revolver has been discontinued, Smith just gave it a facelift and replaced it with the new Bodyguard 38 2.0.Firstly, let’s talk about what’s stayed the same. It’s still a 5-shot, double-action only .38 Special +P snub-nose revolver. It still has a 1.875-inch stainless steel barrel, and it still features an aluminum alloy upper frame and polymer grip module to keep the weight at a minimum. The base model weighs a scant 14.2 ounces unloaded. Also, it still has the neat center-mounted ambidextrous cylinder release.The new features of the Bodyguard 38 2.0 may sound insignificant, but they should make a noticeable difference when shooting it. Namely, the sights have been improved. Now, instead of a simple black front post and a rear gutter sight, the 2.0 has a bright orange dot front sight and a U-notch rear sight integrated into the gutter. Secondly, it features an enhanced boot-style grip that should go a long way…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A former private school teacher, who was nicknamed “Mr. Wonderful,” has been charged with three counts of rape involving two of his former students.Matthew Rutledge, 64, walked into Berkshire Superior Court in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Wednesday for his arraignment after Melissa Fares, 33, and Hilary Simon, 39, accused their teacher of abusing them when they were students at Miss Hall’s School. The abuse allegedly happened between 2000 and 2010. He pleaded not guilty.The allegations include claims Rutledge groomed and repeatedly abused students, according to statements released by the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.”For a long time, I was living inside trauma without fully understanding it,” Fares said in a statement shared by the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office. “It was over the last several years that I began piecing together the truth of what happened to me: that Matt Rutledge had used me, abused me, and raped me. That I had been groomed and threatened into silence by a serial predator. That my youth wasn’t my youth at all.”ICE BOSTON ARRESTS GUATEMALAN NATIONAL CHARGED WITH CHILD RAPE WHO WAS RELEASED BACK INTO COMMUNITY BY COURT Simon said she was 15 years old when Rutledge…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! For more than two dozen players, Thursday night marks the realization of their lifelong NFL dreams. By night’s end, 32 prospects will hear their names called from the NFL Draft stage in Pittsburgh.Seven-time Super Bowl winner and Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady reflected on the special moment so many young men were experiencing, while also sharing a message with the league’s newest rookies.”Congratulations to all the rookies who are joining the NFL this weekend,” Brady wrote in a post to X. “I hope you can appreciate this special moment… you’ve earned it through hard work, discipline, and determination. You’ve made your family proud, along with everyone else on your journey that has supported you. But this is just the beginning.” Brady then emphasized the challenge ahead, urging rookies to focus on what comes next.”When you wake up tomorrow morning, just know that your career will be defined by what happens going forward. You’ll need to take everything you do to the next level in order to compete with the world’s best.” Brady wasn’t in the Raiders draft room, but he still had a message for the No. 1 pick, Fernando…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Fernando Mendoza shared the moment of being selected first overall in the NFL Draft with his family from home on Thursday night.He was seen hugging his family, including his mother Elsa Mendoza, in a moment of celebration.Despite being projected to be the first overall pick, Mendoza skipped the in-person draft in Pittsburgh to stay in Florida with his mother, who battles multiple sclerosis (MS) and is bound to a wheelchair.Mendoza told reporters after he was drafted that he decided not to go to Pittsburgh to make it easier for his mother to travel to Las Vegas tomorrow when he visits his team.  When Mendoza was only about 4 years old, his mother was diagnosed with the disease. It is a chronic, autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that can affect the brain and spinal cord. She has spent the last few years in a wheelchair.Elsa Mendoza wrote about the experience in a 2015 letter to her sons that was published in The Players Tribune.”I was diagnosed about 18 years ago, but of course you never knew that. You and Alberto were so young, and I was doing fine… and mostly I…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Cameras showed former New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch in the team’s draft room Thursday night during the first round.At one point, Tisch was seen standing near Giants head coach John Harbaugh. Despite no longer holding a majority stake in the NFL franchise, Tisch remains the Giants’ chairman of the board.ESPN obtained an NFL memo last month detailing plans by Steve Tisch and his siblings to transfer their stake in the Giants to trusts for their children. “Prior transfers to these Trusts were completed pursuant to 2023 and 2024 Finance Committee approvals,” the memo stated. “The Sellers now propose to transfer their entire remaining interests, totaling 23.1% of the Club, to the Trusts. … Following the transactions, the Sellers will no longer own any interest in the Club.”GIANTS CO-OWNER STEVE TISCH, SIBLINGS LOOK TO TRANSFER EQUITY STAKE TO CHILDREN’S TRUSTS, NFL MEMO SHOWSIt was not clear if the transfer requests were in any way related to Tisch’s name appearing in the Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department in January. Tisch’s name came up more than 400 times in the files. Tisch at the time said he knew Epstein but denied…

Everybody knew about the tragic auto accident and the follow-up a year later, but when it came to Rueben Bain’s draft status, people said, “No worries.” His arms are short, but he’s really good, so the refrain remained: “No worries.”Why then did Rueben Bain slide to the middle of the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday?Whoever said neither issue would cause Bain to fall out of the Top 10 was obviously wrong.He fell to the No. 15 overall selection held by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.TRAVIS HUNTER GETS REAL ON HIS AND SHEDEUR SANDERS’ NFL FUTURES: ‘WE JUST GOING TO WORK’ And judging by Bain’s demeanor during his post-draft interview on ESPN, he wasn’t thrilled about it.”I know I’m the best in the country, I’m sure,” an unsmiling Bain told ESPN’s Laura Rutledge after his selection. “That’s how I think of myself.”I’m telling you I can do anything I put my mind to because of my mindset. I know when I get to this next level I’m going to pop it. “The Buccaneers selected Bain to be their outside rusher complement to Vita Vea on the interior.BAKER MAYFIELD OPENS UP ON EX-TEAMMATE SAM DARNOLD, REVITALIZING CAREER, AND KEVIN STEFANSKI…