Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On August 6, 1945, the American Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing about 70,000 people right away and perhaps a few tens of thousands later from wounds, burns, and radiation. Ever since this first use of a nuclear weapon against living, human targets the specter of possible nuclear war has hung over the world, casting a pall on humanity. Created by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board in 1947, the Doomsday Clock (https://thebulletin.org/2018-doomsday-clock-statement/) was invented as a way to chart the ongoing threat…

A Brief History On August 5, 1620, 2 small English sailing ships left Southampton Water in England on a trip to the New World, carrying a group of Puritans seeking a land where they could practice their brand of religion without interference. The larger of the 2 ships, the Mayflower, has gone down in history as one of the most famous ships in the English speaking world, while the other, the Speedwell, became an historical afterthought. On July 22, 1620, the pinnace Speedwell left Delfshaven, now part of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, with a cargo of English Pilgrims bound for…

A Brief History On August 3, 2018, just as on every first Friday in August, we celebrate International Beer Day. In fact, here in History and Headlines Land, we celebrate International Beer Day everyday! For those readers that are underage, teetotalers, or lightweight non-hackers, forget this important holiday and go right to National Watermelon Day, which is celebrated on August 3 each year. For that matter, so is Grab Some Nuts Day, a holiday favored by squirrels everywhere. Today is also Airplane Crop Duster Day and Pie Day. We think Pie Day is the more important of those last 2…

A Brief History On August 2, 1916, Austrian saboteurs managed to sink the Italian battleship, Leonardo da Vinci as the great ship lay in Taranto harbor. Was the magazine explosion an accident, or did the Austrians use some sort of novel booby trap to sink the mighty vessel? Either way, World War I, like other wars, saw the imagination of arms designers and military engineers run wild. Previously we have discussed 10 Weird Weapons of World War I, and today we expand our list by another 5 goofy gadgets both sides came up with to pursue victory in this terrible…

A Brief History On August 1, 1993, the Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 came to its peak. Was this disaster the worst flood of the Mississippi River since European colonization of North America? The answer is a solid “maybe.” Different parameters for measuring how “bad” a flood is can leave the subject of which flood is the “worst” open to debate. In some ways, the Great Flood of 1993 can be considered the worst Mississippi River flood in US History. Digging Deeper Big floods often cause big damage, both in dollar amounts and in environmental impact. Washed…