A Brief History On June 3, 2023, the world celebrates Chimborazo Day, a day to admire and adore the highest mountain on Earth. You might wrongly think of Mount Everest as the highest mountain, but when measured as the furthest distance from the center of the Earth, Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is the 1st Prize Winner. Digging Deeper An inactive volcano, Chimborazo has an altitude of 20,549 feet above sea level, much less than the 29,031 feet claimed by Mount Everest. So why is Chimborazo King of the Hills? Because it is located near the Equator where the Earth bulges…
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 2, 1780, a week of violent rioting began in London, England, the worst in the city’s history, by protestors against recent legislation to reduce official discrimination against Catholics. Digging Deeper Known as The Gordon Riots due to Lord George Gordon being a primary anti-Catholic leader, a staggering 300 to 700 people were killed and many more injured, while property was damaged including the embassies of Catholic countries. Also damaged was the reputation and prestige of England in the eyes of the rest of Europe, especially those nations with large Catholic populations. The cause of complaint…
A Brief History On June 1, 1495, a Dominican Friar of the Stirling house in Scotland named John Cor is the first person named in a written reference to Scotch Whisky, while the first known written reference to Scotch dates from 1494. Digging Deeper Although originally written in Latin, a translated version of the entry in the Exchequer Rolls is: “To Brother John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt.” Note that the description of the whisky, aqua vitae, means “water of life,” an indication of the importance of the wonderful liquid refreshment…
A Brief History On May 31, 1921, one of the saddest examples of racial hatred in American history occurred when White Oklahomans attacked a wealthy Black neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma known as the Greenwood District, or just “The Black Wall Street.” Digging Deeper One of the wealthiest Black sections of the US, the area was home to successful African American business owners as well as community leaders. The trigger for the attack was an alleged incident of assault on a White girl by a Black youth. Before the riot finally ended on June 1st with the National Guard being called…
A Brief History On May 30, 2020, the Crew Dragon Demo-2 spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida courtesy of a Falcon 9 booster rocket from the private firm of SpaceX. The capsule, named Crew Dragon Endeavor, contained two astronauts, the first manned space flight to launch from the United States since the last Space Shuttle flight in 2011. Digging Deeper This first ever commercial manned orbital space flight on behalf of the American government space program was on a mission to link up with the International Space Station and have the two American astronauts work with…