A Brief History On January 1, 2020, a new year and the beginning of a new decade, we take a look back at the year we have just completed and examine some of the biggest stories of that year, including politics, war, crime, personalities, sports and whatever we feel like addressing! You are welcome to feel like addressing whatever topics you believe we should have included in this article and share that information with your fellow readers and us. (Note: Some comment is about the decade, 2010-2019, that just concluded. Our articles are not long enough to cover every single…
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 December 29, 1997, the frightening specter of Avian Influenza crossing over the species barrier to affect humans necessitated the killing of about 1.25 million chickens on the island of Hong Kong, accounting for every chicken on the island! This Hong Kong Avian Flu epidemic had started in the Northern part of Hong Kong, known as the New Territories, and the possibility of spreading to create a medical catastrophe mandated the drastic action of slaughtering the entire population of fowl on the island. Digging Deeper The cross-over of disease from animals to humans creates a nightmare scenario…
A Brief History On December 28, 1918, Constance Markievicz, while an inmate in Holloway prison, London, England, made history as the first woman elected to British House of Commons as a Member of Parliament (MP). You may notice her last name is not a typically British name, but her birth name of Constance Georgine Gore-Booth represents her English and Irish ancestry. Her married name, Markievicz, you may recognize as a Slavic appellation, specifically Polish. It is her husband, Casimir Markievicz, a playwright, director and artist that provides the background for the theme of this article, that of the changing and…
A Brief History On December 27, 1512, the King and Queen of Spain issued the Laws of Burgos, a set of rules for how Spaniards were to treat Native Americans in the Caribbean islands colonized by Spain. Prior to this point there was haphazard ways of dealing with Native peoples, and ample incidents of cruelty and oppression. The European “discovery” of the Americas was only 20 years old at this time, and by this time it had become apparent some consistent rules were needed to keep with Catholic and Spanish ideas of law and morality. Digging Deeper The name, Laws…
A Brief History On December 25, AD 1, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, in what is now Israel. (It was Israel then, too.) Or so the story goes. Historians find some problems with the Biblical and common interpretation of the birth of Christ, including even the date, meaning the day as well as the year. The Ukrainian side of this author’s family celebrated Christmas on January 7 each year, which coincidentally is this author’s birthday! Yes, that makes this author the first person mentioned (besides Jesus) as being born on Christmas. Today we take a look at 10 famous…