A Brief History On June 20, 1787, Connecticut attorney and a Founding Father of the United States, Oliver Ellsworth, made a motion at the Federal Convention to call the government of our new country, the United States of America. Digging Deeper While not an everyday name taught to school children as a major “Founding Father,” Ellsworth is notable for serving as a Senator from Connecticut, being a framer of the Constitution, serving as the third chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and even winning 11 electoral votes in the presidential election of 1796. A patriot that…
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 19, 1960, the first auto race under the NASCAR banner was run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. NASCAR is the premier stock-car racing circuit in the US and the world, as its official name, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, implies. Digging Deeper While Europe was the venue of many prestigious stock-car races early in the 20th Century, the US took the lead on the sport with the emergence of Daytona Beach as a mecca for fast drivers. While originally using actual production model cars, hence the name of the sport, in…
A Brief History On June 18, 2023, we celebrate National Turkey Lovers’ Day, and yes, we too love Turkey! Americans are accustomed to having Turkey on Thanksgiving, and often on other holidays when a feast is the order of the day, but Turkey is great any time, whether it is deep fried, roasted, baked, fricasseed, made into lunch meat, breakfast sausage, hot dogs, ground meat or whatever! Digging Deeper A native bird of North America, the Turkey has gone from a wily and tough wild customer dating back 20 million years, to our more familiar domesticated variety that the President…
A Brief History On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the law that made “Juneteenth,” the 19th day of June each year, a National Holiday, the first designated as such since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1983. Digging Deeper The origin of the “Juneteenth” holiday dates back to June 19, 1865, when Union Army Major General Gordon Granger pronounced that all previously enslaved people in Texas were now emancipated. The proclamation by General Granger was among the last events in the process of the freeing of slaves in the United States, and African Americans have celebrated this date since…
A Brief History On June 16, 1811, the remaining crew of an American armed fur trading ship purposely blew the ship up after it had been overrun by Native Americans near Vancouver Island. Digging Deeper The wilds of Western North America were dangerous in 1811, and the Tonquin, a 3 masted ship about 94 feet long was armed with 22 guns. Owned by fur tycoon, John Jacob Astor, Tonquin had been in the Pacific seeking to trade with Native Americans for furs. After establishing Fort Astoria in Oregon, Tonquin sailed for Vancouver Island where a dispute with Tla-o-qui-aht people resulted…