Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On March 14, 1988, the earliest known reference to Pi Day was declared by physicist Larry Shaw at the San Francisco Exploratorium (a science museum along the lines of the Ontario Science Center in Toronto or the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland). Unlike many of the so called “National” or “International” days of the year listed as dedicated to a particular thing or activity, we at least have some of the origin story for this one. Digging Deeper Celebrating the numerical ratio of “Pi,” a mathematical constant, the relationship between the diameter/radius of a circle and…

A Brief History On March 13, 1962, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Lyman Lemnitzer, proposed a “false flag” operation in Cuba where the US would conduct terrorist acts against our own installations at Guantanamo Bay! That the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff led by the senior military official in the nation would propose hijackings and bombings against US personnel and property is and should be shocking. President Kennedy fired Lemnitzer for making the proposal, so at least the President was thinking! (Of course, perhaps that decision got the president murdered. Any conspiracy theorists out there? Digging…

A Brief History On March 12, 2018, we join movie fans in celebrating Alfred Hitchcock Day, remembering all the great films and television this English director brought to us over the years from 1919 to 1980, one of the longest and greatest directorial careers in cinema history. (Once again, we could not find out who started this day and when. Alas!) Digging Deeper Born outside of East London in 1899, young Alfred was a loner, though he did well at Catholic school, although the strict physical discipline instilled a strong sense of fear in the boy. Likewise, Alfred feared the…

A Brief History On March 11, 2009, Germany experienced the pain and horror of a mass shooting at a high school, an incident in which 16 people were killed and 9 others wounded. The weapon? A Beretta pistol similar to the kind American servicemen carry on duty, a Model 92FS in 9mm Luger caliber (9 X 19mm). Digging Deeper The shooter, 17 year old Kretschmer, had graduated from Albertville-Realschule in Winnenden, Germany only a year before the shooting. He had stolen the 9mm pistol from his parent’s bedroom at home, went to his former school and at 9:30 am started…

A Brief History On March 10, 2018, as we have done every March 10 since 1990, Americans celebrate Harriet Tubman Day, a holiday signed into law on March 9, 1990, by President George HW Bush. Tubman, an escaped African American slave, famously made 13 rescue missions into the slave holding Southern states to rescue at least 70 slaves via her network for escaped slaves known as the “Underground Railroad.” An advocate for the abolition of slavery, Tubman also served as a Union spy during the American Civil War and advocated for women’s suffrage after the Civil War. While you may…