Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On August 26, 2022, we all celebrate National Dog Day, a day invented by Colleen Paige in 2004.  While our canine friends are useful in so many ways, today we take a look at a more grim aspect of our relationship with dogs. Digging Deeper While it is highly possible that even Cave men that first domesticated dogs thousands of years ago may have in some manner used their canine friends as co-combatants, some early civilizations such as the ancient Greeks used of dogs in a combat as the Romans around the time of the Roman Republic…

A Brief History On August 25, 1920, the Polish army prevailed over the Russian-Soviet army at The Battle of Warsaw, actually a series of battles that the Poles would later call their victory “a miracle.” Digging Deeper The so called Polish-Soviet War was fought between late 1918/early 1919 and 1921, with the Second Polish Republic trying to resist a creeping land grab by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic that sought to recover lands lost by Imperial Russia during World War I, as well as land previously governed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Meanwhile, between November of 1918 and July of…

A Brief History On August 24, 1743, the army of Sweden surrendered to the Russians at Helsinki, effectively ending The War of the Hats.  (We have previously discussed odd names for wars, battles and weapons, as well as riots.) Digging Deeper This particular war actually had nothing to do with hats, as in coverings for your head, but rather the name of a Swedish political party that sought to regain Swedish lands lost to Russia during the Great Northern War. As with many wars, the country that started this one, Sweden, was ultimately sorry they had done so, as Sweden…

A Brief History On August 23, 1305, William Wallace, a military leader of the Scots against English rule was executed in the English style of execution for traitors, being drawn and quartered! Digging Deeper Far from seeking a humane way to execute people, the English of 1305 were looking for a way for execution to have a chilling and preventative effect on any would-be traitors. In the 1995 movie, Braveheart, Wallace is depicted as courageously defying his executioners and screaming, “Freedom!”  The reality was far worse than depicted in the film.  Wallace was hanged until almost dead.   He was then…

A Brief History On August 22, 1864, the first of 4 treaties governing the conduct of war was signed in Geneva, Switzerland, a pact called “The First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field.” Digging Deeper The lengthy title tells you what the pact concerned, and the 12 European countries or kingdoms that signed it agreed to humanitarian treatment of the war wounded. Later, 5 more countries signed, including the United States. The civilized world met 3 more times over the next century, establishing far reaching accords on the conduct of…