A Brief History On December 22, 1880, English writer George Eliot, author of such novels as Adam Bede and Silas Marner, died at the age of 61 of a throat infection and chronic kidney problems. Eliot was actually a woman, born Mary Ann Evans in Warwickshire, England, and was sent by her family to receive a quality education, a relatively rare thing for a girl in those days. Digging Deeper Despite her obvious intelligence, the reason for her referral to the academic world was because she was not expected to land a husband with her decidedly mediocre physical appearance! Her…
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 December 21, 1990, one of the greatest contributors to American military technology and perhaps the greatest airplane designer of all time passed away quietly in Burbank, California at the age of 80. Born in a small Michigan town to poor Swedish parents, Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson was an enthusiastic student and showed a glimpse of the future when he designed his first airplane at the age of 13! Digging Deeper Education at Flint Junior College and the University of Michigan followed, where he was awarded a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering. At Michigan Johnson realized a…
A Brief History On December 20, 1957, one of the most important flights in the history of passenger airlines took place when the Boeing 707 jetliner made its first flight. Although not the first jetliner to carry passengers, the 707 was the first successful commercial passenger jet, and remains in limited service today. Digging Deeper Developed from the Boeing prototype jetliner 367-80, circa 1954, the 707 also traces its lineage to the great Boeing bombers of the post-World War II era, the B-47 and the B-52. Like those bombers, the 707 has a relatively narrow fuselage and carries its 4…
A Brief History On December 19, 2016, another part of our democratic process will take place when the 538 electors of the Electoral College vote in the official US Presidential election of 2016. All those millions of individual votes could either be confirmed or thrown out with the trash, depending on how the electors vote. Digging Deeper With a mandatory majority of 270 votes needed to be elected President, if no candidate gets that many electors to vote for him/her the vote would be remanded to the House of Representatives, who would then choose our next president. Who are these…
A Brief History On December 19,1961, the armed forces of India completed Operation Vijay, a land, sea and air assault against the Portuguese enclaves on Indian soil in the Goa region. The mini-war only lasted 2 days, but it ended 451 years of Portuguese colonialism in India. Digging Deeper Portugal had grabbed a piece of India during the age of exploration when European colonial powers were conducting land grabs all over the world. Portugal had established bases on the Indian sub-continent in the area of Goa and nearby regions, a modest holding by colonial standards, and Goa today is India’s…