A really, really cool story comes along once in awhile that brings history to life.  We get one today courtesy of Fox News. A squadron of World War II British Spitfire fighter planes, replete with then top-of-the-line Rolls Royce engines, has been discovered in Burma. They are absolutely pristine. The planes had been shipped from England in 1945 waxed and wrapped, but the war ended prior to their use, so the Brits buried them in crates deep in the ground because it was cheaper to do that than to ship them back home where they would be sent to a scrap heap along with thousands of other retired combat airplanes. 

The Spitfire captured the imagination of the world more than any other other World War II fighter.  As of yesterday, only 35 in flying condition remained. Twenty virtually brand new ones may soon join them in the air.