Congo River mentioned in 1535. Abraham Ortelius in his world map of 1564 labeled as "Manicongo" the city at the mouth of the river. The tribal names in "Kongo" possibly derive from a word for a public gathering or tribal assembly. The modern name of the Kongo people or "Bakongo" was introduced in the early 20th century. The name "Zaire" is from a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word, ("river"), a truncation of ("river swallowing rivers"). The river was known as "Zaire" during the 16th and 17th centuries; "Congo" seems to have replaced "Zaire" gradually in English usage during the 18th century,
27th Special Operations Group 27th designation has been assigned to several groups and wings at a myriad of locations. The 27th was organized as a fighter wing in August 1947, at Kearney Airfield, Nebraska. Later, in February 1958, in a move to preserve the heritage of the 27th, Air Force leadership transferred the designation to Cannon, replacing the 312th Wing. Since 1958, the wing had supported F-100s, T/AT-33s, F-111s and F-16s. The 27th Operations Group was re-designated as the 27th SOG on 1 October 2007. 27th Special Operations Group The 27th Special Operations Group (27 SOG) is the flying component of the 27th Special