A Brief History On May 14, 1900, the athletic competition known as “the World Amateur championship” opened at the Paris Exposition Universelle, a World’s Fair held in Paris from April to November of 1900, one of several French hosted Expositions Universelle over the years. Digging Deeper The events variously known as “world’s fair,” “global exposition,” or “universal exposition,” are major events often hosted by a major city or a country to celebrate all the latest in technology and innovations, a phenomenon first hosted by Bohemia in Prague back in 1791. There have been at least 37 general expositions that could…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Daniel Zar is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.
Read More
A Brief History On May 11, 1889, a US Army paymaster escorted by 11 “Buffalo” Soldiers were ambushed on their way from Fort Grant to Fort Thomas in the Arizona Territory by between seven and 13 bandits. The attack left eight of the soldiers wounded and the bandits absconded with the entire payroll of $28,000 in gold and silver coins. Digging Deeper The shootout resulted in two of the soldiers earning the Medal of Honor and the rest of the soldiers awarded Certificates of Merit, in spite of losing the payroll. The value of the payroll in today’s dollars would…
A Brief History On April 29, 1953, Los Angeles television station KECA made the first public experimental broadcast of a 3D TV show, an episode of Space Patrol. Sadly, this attempt did not usher in an era of 3D TV for the masses, but it was another step in the advancements that have brought 3D TV to where it is today. Digging Deeper You may be surprised to know that the origins of 3D viewing go back to the 1800s, with a series of inventions concerning stereoscopic viewing of still pictures developed into moving 3D pictures of a sort with…
A Brief History On April 20, 2023, the giant SpaceX Starship rocket booster vehicle proudly made its first flight, although the huge and hugely expensive rocket blew up only four minutes into that maiden flight! Digging Deeper The most powerful rocket ever made, the Starship’s price per unit is hard to pin down, although the project cost is a whopping $5 billion. Towering 397 feet tall with a diameter of 30 feet, the giant rocket weighs 11 million pounds! Designed to replace SpaceX’s previous rockets, the Falcon series, Starship is expected to provide the heavy lifting needed to launch the…
A Brief History On April 15, 1923, the hormone insulin became widely available for the treatment of diabetes. Prior to the discovery of insulin and its adaptation for medical use, diabetes was an often-fatal disease of the inability of the body to process glucose. Digging Deeper Even today, diabetes claims millions of lives per year, as well as causing a variety of related maladies such as kidney failure, blindness, and nerve damage. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas, and was discovered in 1921 by Frederick Banting of Canada, a Nobel Prize winning discovery. By 1923, insulin became available…