A Brief History On August 1, 1981, the world of music and television changed forever when MTV made its debut on satellite and cable television, when John Lack announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll!” Playing in the background was video of the Space Shuttle Columbia and footage of Apollo 11. A theme song played in the background and then the very first MTV music video followed. Digging Deeper That first video, the answer to the trivia question, “What was the first MTV video?” was the ever so apropos “Video Killed the Radio Star” performed by The Buggles. The television…
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 July 31, 2017, when you visit your local animal shelter, you will find that 80% of the dogs there are mixed breeds, or “Mutts,” and around 53% of all American dogs are mutts. As the single most prevalent “breed” of dog, there must be something these mongrels that make them so popular. Digging Deeper Dogs are all of the same species, Canis familiaris, and all are descendants of the Wolf, Canis lupus. Dogs came about when humans began raising wolf cubs and selectively breeding only those that were most compatible with people. Even before humans got…
A Brief History On July 30, 2003, in Puebla, Mexico of all places, the last of the “old style” (what we like to call “real”) Volkswagen Beetles came off the assembly line, ending the longest and most prolific manufacturing streak of any car platform ever made. Digging Deeper (Note: The Toyota Corolla has sold 40 million units under that name, but the car has definitely not been the same basic car for its lifespan, from 1966 to Present. It is the same in name only.) The Volkswagen Beetle was the brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche (yes, as in that Porsche) who…
A Brief History On July 29, 1973, British race car driver Roger Williamson met his death when his Formula 1race car crashed at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands. The 25 year old 2 time British Formula 3 champion was trapped under his flipped car, not seriously hurt from the crash, but was burned to death as the car was engulfed in flames. We wrote about that crash in our July 29 article, “10 Famous Car Wrecks”. Today we look at another 5 famous/infamous car crashes that you may find interesting. Digging Deeper 1. Tiger Woods, November…
A Brief History On July 28, 1935, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress made its initial flight. Called the Flying Fortress because of its unprecedented heavy armament of 12 (later13) .50 caliber machine guns, this mighty bomber would be eclipsed by other planes in future years. Here we list 10 of the Most Heavily Armed Warplanes, meaning armed with machine guns and cannons. (No significance to the order listed.) Obviously, World War II was the golden age of gun armament, with modern fighters using missiles as primary armament. Still, some modern planes have impressive guns nonetheless. Digging Deeper 1. Convair B-36 Peacemaker…