A Brief History On May 29, 2023, Americans celebrate National Paperclip Day, possibly the single most useful implement ever devised. (Just ask MacGyver!) Digging Deeper Patented by Samuel B. Fay in 1867, his intention for the bent metal clip was to attach paper tags to clothing or other fabric, although his patent does mention attaching paper to paper. Many other inventors have patented variations on the bent wire paperclip theme. Almost incredibly useful for other applications, paper clips make dandy ammo fired by rubber bands, tools for unclogging small openings, emergency zipper pulls, latches for broken watch bands and necklaces,…
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 May 28, 2017, Japanese race car driver, Takuma Sato, won the Indianapolis 500 motor race, making history as the first Asian, and the first Japanese driver to take the big prize. Proving his Indy prowess was not a fluke, Sato won the Indy 500 again in 2020, becoming the 20th driver to claim two victories at Indianapolis. Digging Deeper Sato, born in Tokyo in 1977, has also won titles in other racing formats, including the Macau Grand Prix, the Masters of Formula 3, and the British Formula Three. In 2004, he placed 8th for the season…
A Brief History On May 27, 1996, President Boris Yeltsin of Russia met with Chechen rebels to negotiate a cease fire in what is known as The First Chechen War. The Chechen Republic is an almost autonomous region within the Russian Federation, which fought a war for independence from December of 1994 to August of 1996. Digging Deeper The Chechen people lost as many as 14,000 fighters killed in the war, and another 80,000 to 100,000 civilians slain. The Russians lost about 3,000 to 5,000 killed. A second Chechen War was fought from 1999 to 2009. Chechnya is part of…
A Brief History On May 26, 1951, Sally Ride was born in Los Angeles, California. She would grow up to earn BA, BS, MS and PhD diplomas from Stanford University, and in June of 1983 became the first American woman to take a ride into space, via the Space Shuttle Challenger. Digging Deeper Ride became the third woman space explorer, having been preceded into space by Soviet cosmonauts Belarusian Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Russian Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982. Since the flights of these history making women, women have made over 75 space flights by at least 70 women. In…
A Brief History On May 21, 2023, movie fans lost a beloved macho British actor when George Raymond Stevenson died at the too early age of 58. The big man took ill while filming for a new film in Italy, Cassino in Ischia, and no cause of death was given. Digging Deeper Stevenson played many macho characters befitting his rugged good looks, including many historical related roles such as a knight of the Round Table, a Roman soldier, mobster Danny Greene, the pirate Blackbeard, the Viking Ohthere of Hålogaland, Ferdinand I of Naples, James IV of Scotland, and other adventure…