A Brief History On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy made a bold announcement to Congress that the US “should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” Kennedy’s bold plan was later proven to be true, as the successful Apollo 11 moon landing took place in 1969. What may surprise you, is that at the time of Kennedy’s announcement, 58% of Americans opposed the idea! Digging Deeper Some other bold presidential plans, promises, and pronouncements have included: 1928: Presidential Candidate Herbert…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Dan 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.
A Brief History On May 24, 1962, an American Atlas LV-3B rocket blasted off, carrying astronaut Scott Carpenter in his Project Mercury space capsule he had named Aurora 7, the 6th manned space flight in history. Digging Deeper Manned space flight began in April of 1961 when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made his historic trip into orbit, and a month later the Americans launched astronaut Alan Shepard into space, although on a sub-orbital flight. Project Mercury was the NASA answer to the Soviet Vostok manned space capsule, and each Mercury capsule contained a single astronaut. Designed by Belize born engineer…
A Brief History On May 23, 1829, Austrian maker of keyboard instruments, Cyrill Demian, a man of Armenian descent, was granted a patent for his new musical instrument, the Accordion. Digging Deeper As with so many other inventions, the actual inventor of the accordion is disputed, with some giving Christian Buschmann of Germany, credit as the real inventor. Some other instruments let their name lead you to their inventor, such as the Saxophone, invented by Adolphe Sax of Belgium in the 1840s, and the Sousaphone, of course invented by the March King himself, John Philip Sousa, in 1893, although the…
A Brief History On May 22, 2017, an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, was rocked at the end by a horrific terrorist attack by a man of Libyan descent in the name of ISIS. Digging Deeper Salman Ramadan Abedi, age 22, and his co-conspirator brother, Hashem Abedi, age 20, were deemed responsible for the suicide blast that killed 22 innocent concert goers and Salman. Hashem was found guilty of 22 counts of murder, but only got a 55 year prison sentence due to British law protecting people less than 21 years of age from life in…
A Brief History On May 21, 1703, English writer Daniel Defoe was arrested and jailed for the crime of “seditious libel,” his offense being the writing of a pamphlet critical of rich and powerful English authorities. Digging Deeper Defoe was the author of Robinson Crusoe, a novel that has reportedly been translated more than any other book in history besides the Bible. Defoe was also a poet and pamphleteer, often treading on the toes of those high and mighty in charge of English society. Unfortunately for Defoe, these pillars of the community were sensitive about criticism and being called hypocrites,…
