Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On February 16, 1904, African American movie actor and singer James Franklin Baskett was born in Indianapolis.  You may not know his name, but the character he played in the Disney classic movie, Song of the South in 1946, Uncle Remus, is a beloved part of Americana as is his rendition of the song, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” Digging Deeper In 1948, Baskett was awarded an honorary Oscar, becoming the first Black actor to receive an Academy Award. Other notable African American births on February 16th include pianist and organist Bill Doggett in 1916, actor LaVar Burton in 1957, both…

A Brief History On February 15, 1996, the Chinese space program took a tragic turn when a Long March 3B rocket malfunctioned and crashed into a Chinese village, killing between 6 and 100 people on the ground. Digging Deeper The rocket was carrying an Intelsat 708 communications satellite into space, but veered off course shortly after lift off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.  While the highly publicized American Space Shuttle disasters come to mind when discussing fatal space incidents, there have been many failures of space launches that have resulted in the expensive loss of equipment and in some…

A Brief History On February 14, 2000, the American spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker orbited asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft from Earth to orbit an asteroid. Digging Deeper NEAR Shoemaker had been designed for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and was launched in 1996.  Not only did the spacecraft make history with its orbit, a year later it made space history again by being the first spacecraft to touch down on an asteroid, the same 433 Eros. The spacecraft was named after Eugene Shoemaker, an American geologist that studied impact craters on the Earth, but also studied…

A Brief History On February 13, 1919, American football legend Eddie Robinson was born in Jackson, Louisiana. Digging Deeper Eddie was born into a working family and earned his BA in English from Leland College at Baker, Louisiana while playing quarterback on their football team.  He later earned his MA at the University of Iowa in 1954. In the meantime, Eddie compiled an incredible record as the football coach at Grambling State University in Louisiana, from 1941 to 1997, amassing a record of 408 wins, 165 losses, and 15 ties.  Robinson retired in 1997 and died at the age of…

A Brief History On February 12, 1733, James Oglethorpe founded the English Province of Georgia, later to become the Colony of Georgia in 1752, the Southernmost and last of the 13 Colonies that would later become the United States of America. Digging Deeper Georgia was named after King George II, who had issued the charter allowing for its colonization.  The first settlement was at Savannah, and Georgia was the 4th state admitted to the Union in 1788. Known as The Peach State, Georgia’s capital is Atlanta, a city of a half million, although its metropolitan area is over 6 million,…