A Brief History On May 14, 2018, we celebrate another one of those goofy pseudo-holidays, this time National Dance Like a Chicken Day, a day in which we acknowledge the superiority of that wedding reception standby (along with the Hokey Pokey), the Chicken Dance. Of course, we must also delve into what chickens are and how they are important to us. Digging Deeper Long before there was a Chicken Dance, people kept Chickens not for food, but for entertainment. About 5,000 years ago in Asia people started keeping the Red Junglefowl (perhaps crossbred with the Grey Junglefowl), the bird that…
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 May 13, 1981, Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish member of the Grey Wolves (ultranationalist Turkish neo-fascist organization), attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II by shooting the pontiff four times with a 9mm Browning semi-automatic pistol. The Pope survived and eventually forgave the attempted assassin. So far this incident was nearly tragic, but not all that exceptional, at least until John Paul II revealed the long held information about the “Third Secret of Fátima” in June of 2000, telling the world that the assassination attempt had been the third prophesy foretold by three Portuguese children in…
A Brief History On May 12, 1593, History shows us a good example of the problems that develop when Church and State are not separate. Playwright Thomas Kyd was swept up with many others in a sweep of suspects in “libelous” postings (“divers lewd and mutinous libels”) around London, England, accused of posting letters denying the Holy Trinity and the Godliness of Jesus Christ (Arianism) and comments critical of the government. Kyd and the others were questioned and tortured by the Privy Council, as was the customary treatment of suspected blasphemers, and their lodgings were searched for evidence. Digging Deeper…
A Brief History On May 11, 1945, the man that would become the famous actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman, was assigned to the USS Bunker Hill CV-17, an Essex class aircraft carrier off the coast of Okinawa when not one, but two Japanese suicide (Kamikaze) aircraft slammed into the ship, killing nearly 350 men and injuring another 300, with another 43 missing. Newman, a crew member on carrier aircraft torpedo bombers survived the devastating attack when the pilot of his plane was ill, and the crew had to wait for his recovery to report to the ship. He went on…
A Brief History On May 10, 1940, the United Kingdom invaded Iceland without the permission of the government of Iceland. With World War II in a dire phase for the British, German occupation of Iceland would have been catastrophic to cross Atlantic shipping, the lifeblood of Britain so despite Iceland’s neutrality, the British occupied the small country as a preventative measure. Today we will discuss some of the places England or the UK invaded that may not have been known to the casual person. Digging Deeper Iceland is strategically positioned to intercept shipping from North America to Northern Europe, especially…