A Brief History On December 14, 1940, at the University of California at Berkeley, atomic scientists first isolated the element Plutonium, a radioactive element with a designation of Pu-238 on the atomic chart of the elements (also known as the Periodic Chart), Element #94 for those keeping track. Plutonium is the stuff we make nuclear bombs from and is a highly dangerous substance even without the thermo-nuclear explosions associated with it. Digging Deeper Element #94 was first discovered by Enrico Fermi and his team in 1934 at the University of Rome, and named the element Hesperium, but it turned out…
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 December 13, 2019 (Friday the 13th for those that keep track of such things), we have the good fortune of the widespread release of the latest movie in the Jumanji franchise, Jumanji: The Next Level. The Jumanji saga started with a book by Chris Van Allsburg in 1981, and hit the big screen in 1995 with a film starring Robin Williams. The franchise got a major boost with the 2017 film, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the success of which guaranteed this latest sequel. Digging Deeper The first Jumanji movie had a budget of $65 million…
A Brief History On December 12, 1937, the USS Panay, a gunboat afloat on the Yangtze River near the city of Nanking (now called Nanjing) was attacked by Japanese military aircraft and sunk, with the loss of three American lives. The United States and Japan were not at war and the incident was claimed by the Japanese to be due to mistaken identity of the American ship, despite clear American flags painted on the decks. The Panay was not the first, nor the last, American vessel to be attacked by forces of another country not at war with the United…
A Brief History On December 11, 2012, an Alawite village in Syria, Aqrab, was the scene of horrific tragedy as terrorist bombs went off and killed about 125 people and injured an additional 200. Known as the Aqrab Massacre, this sad series of events were but a smaller part in the ongoing Syrian Civil War that began in 2011. Other estimates of fatalities in the Massacre range up to 300 dead. In the West, the Islamic religion is often portrayed as a monolithic entity, and when differences in Islamic theology are recognized it is usually in the context of the…
A Brief History On December 10, 1936, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (Britain, et al), signed the Instrument of Abdication, basically his resignation letter. King George VI followed him onto the throne and life went on for all involved, especially for Edward who allegedly never really wanted to be King and was free to marry “the woman I love” now that he was not constrained by Royal obligations. Today we list some national leaders that resigned, either in defeat, in protest, or in disgrace. As hard as it must be to quit a top tier corporate job (such…