A Brief History On May 9, 2017, if the Toronto Raptors are still alive in the NBA playoffs they will again play the defending League Champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs. We know what a Raptor is, heck, we have all seen the Jurassic Park movies, but what is a “Cavalier?” Digging Deeper Several years ago, I remember watching television when a reporter asked Lebron James, the greatest Cavalier of all time and perhaps the finest overall basketball player in World History if he knew what a “Cavalier” was. Lebron sheepishly admitted at 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 8, 1945, Victory in Europe was declared by the victorious Allied Powers, which included Canada and Nova Scotia. The Port City of Halifax, Capital of Nova Scotia, was the scene of the Halifax Riot, an event simmering just under the surface waiting for the War to end in Europe for the War to begin at home. Digging Deeper Nova Scotia, Canada’s second smallest province, is on the Atlantic Coast and its Capital, Halifax, served during World War II as the important Western terminus of the vital ship lanes to and from England. The influx of…
A Brief History On May 7, 1937, while Europe watched the prelude to World War II develop during the Spanish Civil War, the German “volunteer” Condor Legion was deployed with the Heinkel He-51 biplane fighter, an anachronism already obsolete when it was built. More like a relic of World War I, that is exactly the opposition the He-51 first had in the Nieuport biplane fighters flown by the Spanish Republican Air Force. Digging Deeper Monoplanes and all metal planes were definitely not unknown when the He-51 made its combat debut, but the older fabric covered fuselage and wings, upper and…
A Brief History On May 6, 1882, the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, banning any further immigration of Chinese workers to the United States for the next 10 years. This Act followed previous agreements imposed on China, the Burlingame Treaty of 18689 and the Angell Treaty of 1880 that also sought to limit Chinese immigration to the US. It seems xenophobia was alive and “well” even back then! Digging Deeper The Chinese Exclusion Act was supposed to last 10 years, but was renewed in 1892 by the Geary Act of 1892, which was made “permanent”…
A Brief History On May 5, 2017, as we celebrate Cinco de Mayo (and we do here, believe me!), we would like to expose what we think are 5 of the best and 5 of the worst television theme songs of all time. Despite some of the songs having some popularity, the cloying, smarmy, sappy nature of some of them either makes us want to go to sleep or they are so overly sweet we gag. Others are exciting or have become iconic TV music, even major radio hits. (Maybe next time premium television such as HBO, Showtime and Starz…