A Brief History On April 11, 1990, British customs officials seized what they believed was to be a barrel for an enormously large super cannon headed for Iraq, presumably to be used to shell Israel and Iran from an immense distance (up to 625 miles) away. Iraq never did get its chance to field a combat ready version of their super cannon, called Project Babylon, but they did get as far as building prototypes for testing, serious cause for concern by the neighbors of Iraq in the Middle East, including Iran and Israel. Digging Deeper Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was…
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 April 10, 1858, the original bell called “Big Ben” in the clock tower at the North end of Westminster Palace was removed because it had cracked when tested. The giant 14.5 metric ton bell was replaced with a smaller version, weighing only 13.76 metric tons (or 30,300 pounds for Yankees), but also called Big Ben. Built by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, the bell called Big Ben is often confused with either the tower the giant clock sits in or the tower itself. Big Ben is really just the bell that chimes the hours. Digging Deeper Like…
A Brief History On April 9, 1948, events in Palestine brought to the forefront the adage that “One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.” (An adage of uncertain origins, but dating back well over a century, or more.) On that fateful day about 120 Zionists from the Irgun and Lehi groups attacked a Palestinian town called Deir Yassin outside Jerusalem, killing about 107 of the Palestinian inhabitants of the village of only 600. In the massacre, 4 Zionists were also killed. Digging Deeper The Civil War in Palestine conducted by Jewish Zionists (those intent on establishing a Jewish state…
A Brief History On April 7, 1868, one year after he helped Canada achieve a measure of independence in the formation of the Canadian Confederation, Irish immigrant to the United States and then Canada, Thomas D’Arcy Etienne Grace Hughes McGee, was assassinated by Patrick J. Whelan, a Fenian Irish nationalist. McGee goes down in history as one of the Founding Fathers of Canada, what they call the Fathers of Confederation. Digging Deeper Ironically, McGee, born and raised in Ireland as a Catholic that hated the British rule over the Emerald Isle, fought against that British rule for Irish independence and…
A Brief History On April 6, 1888, Thomas Green Clemson died, leaving his fortune for the establishment of The Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, the college that became Clemson University. Ranked #24 among all public universities in the United States by US News and World Report magazine, Clemson University is much more than just a college football powerhouse. So happy are Clemson graduates with the education they received there, the school ranks #3 in the US for the percentage of alumni that donate back to the university. And yet this wonderful institution of learning was founded by a man…