Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On May 21, 2011, Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping had predicted that the world as we know it would end, with the return of Jesus Christ and the advent of the “Rapture,” followed by months of fire and brimstone resulting in the destruction of Earth. If you were paying attention on that date, you will note that the end of times did not in fact begin on May 21, 2011! Many people have predicted the end of the world or the end of the world as we know it, and so far, each has been wrong.  We…

A Brief History On May 20, 1521, the man that would become Saint Ignatius of Loyola was seriously wounded at Pamplona in a battle between the Spanish and the French supported Navarrese during the Spanish Conquest of Navarre, the region of land on the Iberian Peninsula between France and Spain.  Spanish soldier Inigo Lopez de Loyola, later known as St. Ignatius of Loyola and the principal founder of the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits), had suffered a cannonball injury to his leg, but bore his injury with such courage that his Navarrese foes acknowledged his bravery by…

A Brief History On May 19, 1921, the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921 became effective, a law also called The Emergency Quota Act, a law specifically designed to limit the immigration of certain people to the United States.  The goal of this legislation and previous legislation was to attempt to keep the ethnic and national origin percentages existing in the American demography the same, without allowing new influxes of immigrants to change the complexion of the American population. Digging Deeper Using the 1910 Census, the law required that no more than 3% of the same nationality already existing in the…

A Brief History On May 17, 1900, the L. Frank Baum fantasy story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was published.  In 1902, the story was adapted as a Broadway musical, titled The Wizard of Oz, and in 1939, the famous movie adaptation again titled the story The Wizard of Oz.  Of these 3 ways to tell the story, it is the iconic moving picture that has been an integral part of Americana and is the vehicle by which most Americans are familiar with the story.  Today, we look at this marvelous tale and tell you about 10 things you may…

A Brief History On May 15, 1848, Serfdom was abolished in the Habsburg Austrian region of Galicia, ending the slavery of peasants in an area now occupied by Poland and the Ukraine.  The freedom of the Serfs came about as a result of the Revolutions of 1848, a widespread revolt across Feudal Europe, a so called “Bourgeois revolution” against the monarchies that controlled lands not native to the rulers.  The upheaval was part of what Karl Marx was referring to when he predicted the people would rise up to overthrow the elites.  Serfdom was a form of slavery practiced in…