A Brief History On June 28, 1776, an incident that may have escaped your elementary school education occurred when one of General George Washington’s elite bodyguards was hanged for “mutiny, sedition, and treachery.” Digging Deeper Irish born Thomas Hickey, of unknown age, had immigrated to North America and served in the British Army during the French and Indian War, as an attendant to Major General William Johnson. When the Americans declared Independence in 1776, Hickey joined the revolution as a private in the Continental Army, serving in George Washington’s personal bodyguard corps called the “Life Guard.” Hickey found himself in…
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 June 27, 2017, a massive cyber attack began on Europe, the USA, and Australia, with Ukraine being the main target. Businesses, government offices, utilities, banks, and other targets were hit, 80% of which were in Ukraine. Digging Deeper Although disguised to appear as ransomware, the 2 day attacks were found out by Ukrainian investigators to have been perpetrated by Russian agents within Ukrainian territory. The hackers’ equipment was seized, and it was also discovered this same group was responsible for a 2016 attack against Ukrainian financial institutions and utilities. After the 2014 seizure of the Crimea…
A Brief History On June 26, 1997, the first of the Harry Potter series of novels by JK Rowling was published in Britain. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the first of what have been seven novels so far, featuring the young title wizard and his friends in their schooling and other adventures. Digging Deeper Not only have the books sold over 600 million copies, eight feature films starring the characters have also been made, pulling in a staggering $7.7 billion at the box office. Obviously, Ms. Rowling has profited greatly from the success of her iconic creation, and…
A Brief History On June 25, 1997, an unmanned Russian spacecraft called Progress-M blundered into the Russian manned Mir space station. Despite considerable damage, no lives were lost, and the space station continued its mission. Digging Deeper Launched in 1986, Mir was a Soviet space venture that was built up through 1996, and eventually abandoned and burned up on reentry to the Earth’s atmosphere in 2001. Manned by a crew of 3, Mir was the largest human built satellite of the Earth until the International Space Station was built starting in 1998. Holding space records eventually beaten by the ISS,…
A Brief History On June 24, 1949, NBC premiered the first Western themed TV show, an adaptation of a character created by Clarence E. Mulford in 1904, Hopalong Cassidy. Digging Deeper The character, played by William Boyd on television, was a tough cowboy who had a funny walk due to an old injury from being shot in the leg. Prior to the TV show, Boyd appeared in 66 films between 1935 and 1948 as Cassidy. The TV show started out showing edited versions of the films before transitioning to fresh material. Airing until 1952, Hopalong Cassidy broke major TV ground…