A Brief History On November 4, 1979, a mob of angry Iranians stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took 90 people hostage. Americans made up 52 of those hostages, and included US Marines assigned to the embassy and diplomatic workers. Violation of an embassy by another country is normally considered an act of war, but in this case the US never treated it as such, and 52 of our citizens remained hostages for 444 days. No reprisals were ever carried out. Digging Deeper The mob storming the embassy claimed to be college students associated with the group Muslim Student…
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 October 20, 2016, former Redflex Traffic Systems CEO Karen L. Finley was sentenced to 14 months in Federal prison for her part in attempting to bribe Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, Ohio municipal officials into contracting with her company that installs and administers red light and photo radar traffic cameras. Another Redflex official, lobbyist John Raphael started his own 15 month stretch in prison this August. This criminal action is the result of an 8 year Federal probe. Too bad it took so long! Digging Deeper As we have told you before, red light and photo radar…
A Brief History On November 1, 1944, the first of what would end up to be thousands of missions by the famous Boeing B-29 Superfortress flew over Tokyo, Japan on a reconnaissance mission, the first allied aircraft over Tokyo since the 1942 Doolittle Raid. The aircraft was a special photo-reconnaissance version of the big bomber, equipped with 3 powerful cameras. Unlike many other warplanes fitted for reconnaissance, the F-13 and F-13A versions of the B-29 retained their defensive guns and bombing equipment. The 118 F-13 and F-13A Superfortresses were later re-designated RB-29 and RB-29A in 1948. Digging Deeper Although military…
A Brief History On October 31, 2016, millions of kids across the United States will go out in costumes trick or treating for Halloween, while millions more adults will attend costume parties for the spooky holiday. One thing it is highly advisable not to wear? Clown costumes! Digging Deeper In the months preceding Halloween 2016 a craze had spread across the United States of people dressing up in ultra-creepy clown outfits and then terrifying people by stalking them, staking out their houses, accosting them on dark sidewalks and the like. This latest fad degenerated into kids donning their clown outfits…
A Brief History On October 30, 1806, 5,300 Prussian soldiers defending the city of Stettin surrendered to only 800 French soldiers commanded by General Lassalle, falling for the ruse that the French force was much larger. Lieutenant General Friedrich von Romberg must have been awful embarrassed when he found out the blunder he had made! Stettin, now known as Szczecin, Poland, was a fortified city, making the surrender all the more ridiculous. Apparently during campaigns at this time Prussian soldiers were not the Spartans of their day that Prussians are often portrayed as, since other surrenders to inferior forces had…