A Brief History On April 12, 2009, the East African nation of Zimbabwe gave up entirely on its troubled currency, the Zimbabwean Dollar, using various foreign currencies in place of the worthless national money. Many countries have come and gone, and their forms of currency with them, while other nations have changed their national currency for a variety of reasons. Today we take a look at some of the interesting monetary changes that have occurred in recent history. What currency would you add to this list? Digging Deeper Zimbabwean Dollar replaced with Real Time Gross Settlement Zimbabwe Dollar (2019) Africa…
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 April 5, 2010, the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia suffered a collapse, killing 29 of the 31 men working at the site. The tragedy was the worst US mine disaster since 1970, and resulted in the Massey Energy Company being issued 369 citations for failing to follow proper mine safety laws. Digging Deeper Coal mining is hard, dirty work, and the miners are always at risk for catastrophic accidents and cave ins, especially when safety regulations are not followed exactly. Even without spectacular accidents, the long term effects of coal dust in the…
A Brief History On February 24, 1920, the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (“German Workers’ Party,” or DAP) changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (“National Socialist German Workers’ Party”, or Nazi Party), with the word “Socialist” being added by the party’s executive committee, over Adolf Hitler’s objections, in order to help appeal to left-wing workers. Today, History and Headlines takes a look at a frequently asked question, “Were the Nazis actually socialists?” Does their very name mean anything? With their official party’s name being National Socialist German Workers’ Party, in English, or more precisely Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in the original German,…
A Brief History From February 2nd through the 15th of 1945, various Latin American countries including Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Uruguay joined the Allied Powers by declaring war on Germany and Japan. They were neither the first nor last Latin American countries to do so but represented the most substantial cluster of Latin American declarations of war against the remaining major Axis Powers during World War II. These declarations occurred late in the war when the situation was essentially already hopeless for Germany and Japan. One may wonder why did these Latin American countries wait so long to choose sides…
A Brief History On March 29, 1911, the Colt M1911 .45 ACP caliber semi-automatic pistol became the standard pistol of the US Army. We used this historical event for our impetus to write previous articles about firearms, and today we use this red letter day in firearms history to explore some of the individual arms (pistols and rifles/shotguns) that are extra-adaptable due to their ability to fire more than one particular cartridge. During the 2020-2021global pandemic, many gun owners have felt the need to consider guns and ammo for possible apocalyptic scenarios, making today’s topic quite apropos. Feel free to…