Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On February 3, 1959, a Beechcraft Bonanza airplane crashed in Clear Lake, Iowa, a crash that would become one of the most famous plane crashes in aviation and music history.  When the light plane hit the ground in wintry weather, the lives of 3 early Rock and Roll stars were lost, an incident often referred to as “The Day the Music Died.”  On that fateful day, music fans lost Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper (aka J.P. Richardson), and the young Ritchie Valens. Digging Deeper The airplane involved in the tragedy was a 1947 model of the Beechcraft…

A Brief History On February 2, 2004, Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer ascended to the #1 ranking in the World, a position he would hold for 237 consecutive weeks, an all-time record.  He would go on to be the #1 male tennis pro for a total of 310 weeks, again, a number unmatched by any other male tennis star.  The ranking of tennis professional players by the Association of Tennis Professionals’ (ATP) is but one measure of the greatness of Roger Federer.  Perhaps his record number of 20 Grand Slam titles is an even better indication of his dominance over…

A Brief History On February 1, 1964, the British sensational band, The Beatles, hit the top of the American charts for the first time with their smash hit, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”  The iconic rock song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and would be the first of many such #1 hits by this song writing and singing pair.  In fact, the Beatles would go on to post a record 20 #1 hits in the US.  The Beatles would go on to probably the greatest career for any band in musical history, let alone Rock and…

A Brief History On January 31, 1918, Britain’s Royal Navy “fought” a battle with itself in the Scottish Firth of Forth near the Isle of May, a series of naval accidents in the dark and the mist that led to the loss of 104 British sailors killed.  A total of 8 Royal Navy submarines and ships were involved in 5 collisions, resulting in the loss of 2 submarines and damage to another 4 submarines and a light cruiser.  Our retelling of tale after tale of Naval “Oops” Moments (we have many articles in addition to the one in this link,…

A Brief History On January 30, 1835, for the first time in American History an assassination attempt was made on the President of the United States.  Richard Lawrence, a 35 year old housepainter that had immigrated to the United States from England pulled the triggers on 2 pistols aimed at the back of President Andrew Jackson, but incredibly both pistols misfired and the assassination attempt failed.  In the decades that followed, several other attempted assassinations of American Presidents have taken place, with Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy fatally wounded by their assassins. Digging Deeper Lawrence had come to the…