A Brief History On February 1, 1901, Clark Gable was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and would go on to movie greatness earning the nickname, “The King of Hollywood.” Despite winning 2 Best Actor Academy Awards and being nominated for another pair, Gable was listed as only the 6th greatest American-born male movie star by the American Film Institute in 1999. Digging Deeper The stars listed ahead of Gable are: Humphrey Bogart, with 1 Academy Award and 3 nominations. James Stewart, with 1 Academy Award and 5 nominations. Marlon Brando, with 2 Academy Awards and 8 nominations. Fred Astaire, with 1…
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 January 31, 1915, the German Army, in violation of the 1899 Hague Declaration Concerning Asphyxiating Gases, launched 18,000 artillery shells containing xylyl bromide tear gas against Russian positions, the first truly large scale use of poison gas in combat. Digging Deeper While people have used various poisons to deny the use of water wells as far back as 600 BC and to foul the air with toxic sulfur fumes in 479 BC, the 19th and 20th Centuries saw efforts to outlaw such use of poisons. In World War I, the first and most common use of…
A Brief History On January 30, 1925, Douglas Engelbart was born in Portland, Oregon. Engineer, inventor, and computer pioneer, Engelbart would make our lives easier by inventing the computer mouse, patented in 1970. Digging Deeper Engelbart was educated at Oregon State University and the University of California at Berkely and went on to his life’s work of improving human–computer interaction, creating user friendly ways of using computers and the internet. Engelbart founded the Doug Engelbart Institute and received numerous honors and awards, including the National Medal of Technology, the U.S.’s highest technology award. Incredibly, his employers at Tymshare and McDonnell…
A Brief History On January 29, 2002, US President George W. Bush coined a new phrase in his State of the Union Address to Congress, labeling Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the “Axis of Evil.” Digging Deeper Bush accused these states of being “regimes that sponsor terror,” a highly charged topic in the US after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Bush apparently liked the sound of his new designation and used the phrase often in his remaining years in office. The allusion in the phrase to “Axis” would harken back to the “Axis Powers” of World War…
A Brief History On January 28, 1547, the 9-year-old son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward VI, became King of England. Not only did his ill-fated mother die shortly after his birth, Edward himself was fated to a reign of only 6 and half years, dying of an illness at the age of 15. Digging Deeper Edward VI is easily forgotten in the muddle of the successors that followed him, starting with his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, whom Edward had named his heir before he died. Seen by Catholics as an attempt to prevent the reestablishment of Catholicism in…