A Brief History On April 3, 1981, the Osborne Computer Corporation unveiled its latest creation, the Osborne 1, the first portable computer to be commercially viable. The grand daddy of all the laptops, tablets, pads and smartphones we have today started with this 24.5 pound chunk of electronics. Despite the pioneering nature of the company, Osborne went out of business only 4 years later. Digging Deeper Costing a whopping $1795 (or equivalent to over $5000 today), the Osborne 1 had to be plugged in to a wall socket for power as it had no internal battery. Although you could not…
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 2, 1930, Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia died, making her the last (most recent) Empress regnant in world history. Will there be another empress someday? In the past, we have discussed women leaders and even some “badass women” and today we take a look at this last female head of an empire. When will another woman become empress of an empire? If you know of any candidates, share that information with us! Digging Deeper Zewditu, named Askala Maryam at birth in 1876, was the daughter of King Menelik of Shewa, the man who would become Emperor…
A Brief History On April 1, 2016, we published an article using made up “scientific” names of fish in a pathetic effort to be funny. (This author, according to most people, is not funny. I beg to differ…) Today, we take a look at the common name of some real life fish in fresh and salt water. Feel free to nominate others that you believe should be on such a list. Sometimes people butcher the names of fish and create their own stupid/funny names, a fact I learned working part-time at an aquarium store. Examples are “African American Cichlids” when…
A Brief History On March 31, 2018, we published an article about “Jerks of the Month,” a topic we have touched upon from time to time. Today, we modify our approach to discuss only those jerks as they relate to our coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that is killing people across the country and the world and threatens to destroy our economy. This pandemic is serious business and it needs serious people to beat the sneaky illness, NOT Jerks! (Feel free to add your own nominees to our list or to dispute those persons we have cited.) See our other article “What…
A Brief History On March 30, 1296, King Edward I of England, often better known as Edward Longshanks, sacked the Scottish town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, part of the ongoing war of England trying to maintain suzerainty over Scotland. (Which means control of the direction and foreign policy of another nation without total ceding of local control. Or something like that.) As Scotland chafed under the English thumb, patriots such as William Wallace, a knight of murky origins, arose to fight the English during the struggle for total independence for Scotland. Digging Deeper Why “Longshanks?” Meaning “Long Legs,” Edward was quite tall…