A Brief History On February 1, 1998, Lillian E. Fishburne became the first African American woman promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral (2 stars) in the United States Navy. In keeping with the spirit of Black History Month (every February) and expanding on our previous articles celebrating African American achievements, we take this opportunity to cite even more impressive achievements by African Americans, not just “firsts,” but other great accomplishments as well. (And see our recent article dated January 18, 2021), “Historic African American Firsts”) Who would you add to this list? Digging Deeper Lillian E. Fishburne, 1st African…
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 January 25, 1881, 2 of the great names in the annals of inventions teamed up to form the Oriental Telephone Company. Harnessing the invention of Alexander Graham Bell for commercial purposes, Bell teamed with Thomas Edison, the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company and the Oriental Telephone Company of New York to form the new enterprise to sell telephones and related equipment in the Mediterranean and Near East areas as well as India and the Far East. Bell became the first to patent the telephone in 1876, providing the first method of long-distance voice transmission. Prior to his invention,…
A Brief History On January 18, 2021, the United States celebrates the birthday of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., an icon in the Civil Rights Movement and an African American man of historic importance. In honor of Reverend King, we take a look at some notable African American “firsts” in American History, although some of the entries may cause the reader to wonder at the dates involved. Was the United States really that far behind in racial equality at such late dates? Judge for yourself. (See our many other articles concerning African American accomplishments.) Please do not fret if you…
A Brief History On December 9, 2020, we had the opportunity to review a new feature film, Songbird, scheduled for digital release on December 10, 2020. With the basis of the film being a mutated Covid virus that has sent the United States (and presumably the World) into a dystopian future (4 years from now), there are sure to be critics that find the subject matter to be in bad taste. (Note: We do not provide spoilers.) Digging Deeper Touted as a “Michael Bay” film, it must be noted that Bay is the producer, not the director or screenwriter. Other…
A Brief History On January 4, 2013, the Philippines were the scene of mass shooting carnage when a 41 year old man went on a rampage that left 20 people and a dog shot, with 7 of those people dying of their wounds and sadly, also the dog. The locale of the shootings was Kawit, a city of over 83,000 people on the shores of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon. Digging Deeper As we have pointed out on several occasions, mass shootings are not a strictly American occurrence, as such tragedies happen in other countries as well as…