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…
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 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…
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,…
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…