A Brief History On March 24, 1199, while fighting in France at Limousin, an administrative region in the South-Central part of France that is now Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the King of England known as Richard I, the Lionheart, was struck in the shoulder by a bolt launched by a crossbow, leading to the King’s death on April 6, 1199. Bearing a famous name among English Kings and the subject of numerous (usually fictional) stories, movies and the like, Richard was famous as a Crusader King and curiously, hardly spent any time at all in England! Today we take a look at the…
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 March 23, 2018, the latest in a line of politicians forced from office across South America was Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, the President of Peru. Not so original himself, Kuczynski was preceded in the presidency by Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (president 2006-2011) who had also been forced to resign due to corruption, and then by President Ollanta Humala (president 2011-2016) who was also implicated in the same massive anti-corruption investigation, called Operation Carwash, or alternately by a sub-investigation called the Odebrecht Scandal. Operation Carwash, initiated in Brazil 2014, is far from over, but has already reached…
A Brief History On March 22, 1621, the European (basically British) colonists of Plymouth Colony, a “Pilgrim” venture for displaced religious zealots to find a place to practice their religion in peace, signed a peace treaty with Chief (or “Sachem”) Massasoit of the Wampanoag Native American coalition of tribes that had occupied what is now Massachusetts. Only a year later, at Jamestown, Virginia, the European (mostly British) colonists suffered a catastrophic attack from Algonquian Native Americans, resulting in the deaths of about a third of the entire population of colonists at and around Jamestown, leaving 347 White colonists dead, part…
A Brief History On March 21, 1986, Debra Janine Thomas made athletic history by becoming the first African American woman to take the Gold Medal at the World Figure Skating Championships. As March is Women’s History Month, it is our pleasure to relate her story. Digging Deeper Born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1967, Debi moved with her mother to California at an early age, growing up in San Jose. Her mother had become a single parent when she divorced Debi’s dad, but that hurdle did not stop Debi from taking up a career in figure skating starting at the…
A Brief History On March 19, 1945, the Essex class aircraft carrier USS Franklin while on station off the coast of Japan, was struck by a Japanese dive bomber flying a virtually suicidal mission through intense defenses, causing massive damage, but not sinking the ship. Still, an incredibly high fatality count had been inflicted upon the crew of the stricken ship, with at least 740 men killed and perhaps more. Is the Franklin the ship that suffered the highest death toll in a single battle that did not sink of damage inflicted in that battle? While we could not find…