A Brief History On June 25, 1940, France surrendered to the military might of Germany after being crushed in the Blitzkrieg. Almost immediately, Adolf Hitler and his gang of thugs began planning their next attack that respected no treaties, no borders, and no decency, the proposed invasion of neutral Switzerland. The Germans never did invade Switzerland during World War II, as they did not invade several other notable places they certainly considered invading or would have greatly benefited from invading. Here we list 10 of those places. Digging Deeper 1. Switzerland. A neutral country made up of German, French and Italian…
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 June 24, 1916, Canadian born Gladys Louise Smith, age 24, became the first Hollywood actor or actress to sign a contract worth at least $1 million when she signed with Adolph Zukor, founder of what would become Paramount Pictures. Digging Deeper Better known as Mary Pickford, the actress was by 1916 the most popular actress in the world of film, only barely surpassed by Charlie Chaplin as most popular overall. (Chaplin got a million dollar contract in 1918 and is sometimes erroneously listed as the first actor to get such a contract.) Pickford’s contract included $10,000…
A Brief History On June 22, 2017, and on every June 22, you (only applies if you are a guy) are commanded to celebrate National Stupid Guy Thing Day. We apparently have idiotic “holidays” such as Sweetest Day, Valentine’s Day, Take Your Kid to Work Day and no end of goofy days. Thank goodness we have today to celebrate the “stupid” (stupid is in the eye of the beholder, and with guys, sometimes it really is in the eye!) things guys do or allegedly do that somebody thinks women and girls do not (normally) do. Digging Deeper Unfortunately, I could…
A Brief History On June 19, 1910, the United States celebrated its first Father’s Day in Spokane, Washington (the city where my sister was born). Other countries had been celebrating Father’s Day on March 19 since the Middle Ages, at least in Catholic countries. Today, in the United States, we celebrate Father’s Day on the third Sunday in June each year. In honor of Father’s Day and of all the wonderful fathers in the world, we will note some significant “fathers” worthy of mention. Digging Deeper 1. George Washington, The Father of Our Country. Our first president and the commanding…
A Brief History On June 9, 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier became the first European (White) man to discover the mighty St. Lawrence River, the gateway into North America for European explorers. Digging One of the mightiest rivers in the world, the St. Lawrence River can be described as consisting of all the Great Lakes as well as the Niagara River and the portion we traditionally refer to as the St. Lawrence itself. Draining over 1 million square kilometers of the United States of America and Canada, the St. Lawrence has a discharge even greater than that of the Mississippi…