A Brief History On May 25, 1953, the United States Army conducted a live nuclear artillery test shot, the only time the US ever conducted such a test. Digging Deeper Conducted in the Nevada desert (Nevada Test Site, later renamed the Nevada National Security Site) the test firing and detonation of a live nuclear (fission type) bomb fired from a cannon was called by the code-word Upshot-Knothole Grable. One of only 4 “gun” type atom bombs ever detonated by the US, the warhead was constructed similar to the “Little Boy” bomb that obliterated Hiroshima in 1945. It used 2 chunks…
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 24, 1844, Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse Code (well, duh!) and of the telegraph, famously sent the message “What Hath God Wrought?” to inaugurate his new telegraph. Certain messages in History have become so iconic that they are familiar to most people (though sometimes not remembered with perfect accuracy). Here we list 5 of these Momentous Messages. Digging Deeper 1. “What Hath God Wrought?” – Samuel Morse to Alfred Vail. Morse used a quotation from the Bible (Numbers 23:23) to send his message from the old Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. to his assistant…
A Brief History On May 23, 2014, a mentally disturbed 22 year old man took his mental illness to a new level by killing 3 people with a knife, another 3 with pistols, and injuring another 14 with gunshots and his car, eventually taking his own life as well, in an incident known as the Isla Vista Killings. Digging Deeper Despite having psychiatric care since the age of 8, Elliot Rodger had not been officially diagnosed with a mental illness, even though he had been prescribed anti-psychotic medicine. (Is it me, or does that seem like the doctors thought he…
A Brief History On May 22, 2015, voters in Ireland passed a referendum legalizing same sex marriage. Digging Deeper With the passage of the Thirty Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland, the land of Shamrocks and Leprechauns became the first country in the world to legalize same sex (Gay) marriage by a direct vote of the people (referendum), meaning gay people have every right to be as miserable as everyone else! (Kidding!) The gay marriage referendum passed with a 62.07% for and 37.03 against vote. Turnout for the election was only 60% of registered voters, but that actually compares…
A Brief History On May 21, 1924, a pair of well to do college students from the University of Chicago kidnapped and murdered a 14-year-old boy, just for the thrill of committing murder and getting away with it. They did not get away with it! Digging Deeper Richard Albert Loeb was the son of a wealthy lawyer that had been a vice president of Sears, a highly intelligent lad that skipped several grades in school, graduating from the University of Michigan at the age of 17. Despite his intellect, Richard was described as lazy and obsessed with crime and detective…