A Brief History On July 3, 1996, Prime Minister John Major of the United Kingdom made an announcement most Scots would find long overdue. Major announced that the Stone of Scone would be returned to Scotland after being held in England since 1296. Digging Deeper Not to be confused with the delicious breakfast pastry, the stone gets its name from Scone Abbey in Scone, Scotland, where the red sandstone block once resided. A sacred relic, the stone has been used in the coronation ceremonies of Scottish, English, and British monarchs. It has a cross carved on it and metal rings…
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.
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A Brief History On July 2, 1990, 1,426 faithful Muslims attending the annual pilgrimage to Mecca called the “Hajj,” were trampled and suffocated to death in a tunnel. Sadly, the Hajj is no stranger to such disasters, although not necessarily on this scale. Digging Deeper The incident happened as several people fell off a pedestrian bridge over a huge column of other faithful passing through the 550 meter long tunnel. When the crowd below had people land on them, a rush followed causing constriction of the crowd in the tunnel, resulting in trampling and suffocation. The tunnel, designed for only…
A Brief History On July 1, 1980, Canada officially adopted “O Canada” as its national anthem. Dating back to 1880, “O Canada” became the informal national anthem of Canada in 1939. The English form of the lyrics have been amended several times, including in 2018, while the French words remained the same. Digging Deeper Other countries have well known stirring anthems, and we list a few for you to pick from as your favorite: France, “La Marseillaise,” 1792. Germany, ”Deutschland Über Alles,” 1922. United Kingdom, “God Save the King (or Queen),” 1745. United States, “Star-Spangled Banner,” written 1814, adopted 1931.…
A Brief History On June 30, 1908, the Tunguska region of Siberia, Russia was rocked by an incredible explosion that stunned people hundreds of miles away. Perhaps 80 million trees in the Taiga Forest were flattened, and as many as three people died. Luckily, the event occurred in an unpopulated area. Digging Deeper Covering an area of 830 square miles, the event was caused by an above ground explosion, three to six miles high, of an asteroid, probably 160 to 200 feet in diameter. The airburst left no crater on the ground and initially puzzled investigators. The asteroid is believed…
A Brief History On June 29, 1971, the first human space travelers to die while in space perished when their Soyuz 11 space capsule depressurized after leaving the Soviet space station, Salyut 1. Digging Deeper Salyut 1 was the first space station launched into orbit around the Earth in April of 1971, and despite its then groundbreaking technology, only lasted less than 6 months, of which humans occupied it for a total of 24 days. Soviet cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev had become the first ever spacemen to occupy a space station, from June 7th to June…