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…
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.
Read More
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,…
A Brief History On February 11, 1990, Iron Mike Tyson went into his match against James “Buster” Douglas as a 42 to 1 favorite. Not only did Tyson, undefeated and undisputed as the Heavyweight Champion at the time, lose the fight, he was knocked out in the 10th round! Digging Deeper While Douglas’s surprise victory is largely considered the biggest upset in boxing history at any weight class, some of the other major heavyweight upsets include: James “The Cinderella Man” Braddock over Max Baer, 1935 Max Schmeling’s knockout of Joe Louis in 1936 Muhammad Ali’s knockout of Sonny Liston in…
A Brief History On February 10, 1862, during the American Civil War, the Union fleet won the battle of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, by sinking the Confederate “Mosquito Fleet.” So, what is a “mosquito fleet?” Digging Deeper Generally speaking, a mosquito fleet is an unofficial nickname for a fleet of small warships or gunboats, in the case of the Confederate mosquito fleet mentioned here, 5 gunboats and a single schooner. Other nations and navies have employed mosquito fleets, ranging from commandeered private yachts used for anti-submarine patrol during the World Wars to converted fishing or utility vessels pressed into military…
A Brief History On February 9, 1907, the city of London was the scene of an epic civil rights march, colloquially known as “The Mud March.” More correctly known as the “United Procession of Women,” it was at the time the largest demonstration in history for the cause of women’s suffrage. Today, we name a few others of the most famous or infamous marches. Digging Deeper The Long March, 1934-1935, when Mao Zedong led Chinese communist forces on an epic retreat by foot over the course of a year, walking about 5600 miles on the trek! The Bataan Death March,…