A Brief History On September 7, 1776, American patriot Ezra Lee made the first attack by a submarine against a surface warship in history against the HMS Eagle in New York Harbor. The attack failed when the screw designed to attach an explosive mine to the side of the Eagle failed to penetrate the ship’s hull, allowing the bomb to float away and explode harmlessly. Last year on this date we list 10 Underperforming Weapons, weapons and weapon systems that did not live up to expectations though they may have had some level of limited success. Also see our articles…
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 September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken, Jr., infielder for the Baltimore Orioles, set a new major league baseball record by playing in his 2131st consecutive baseball game, breaking the record held by Lou Gehrig for 56 years. Digging Deeper Ripken played another 6 years, stretching his incredible record to 2632 games, finally retiring in 2001 after a stellar 20 year career. He had hit safely 3184 times and knocked in 1695 runs, earned 2 Gold Gloves and 2 MVP trophys. Named to the All Century Team, Ripken was a 19 time All Star, and was elected to…
A Brief History On September 5, 1725, Louis the XV, King of France, married Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczynska, the daughter of King Stanislaw I of Poland. Known as Queen (consort) Marie of France, she served in that role until her death in 1768 at the age of 65. For a whopping 43 years between Louis XIV (“The Sun King” famous for his namesake furniture style) and Louis XVI (the guy that wed Marie Antoinette and got his head lopped off) there was a Polish lady serving as Queen of France. If you did not know this, perhaps you are…
A Brief History On an unknown date in 324 BC, the Macedonian (Greek) King Alexander the Great arranged about 80 weddings in the Persian city of Susa between the daughters of Persian nobles and Greeks of high office. An astute judge of culture, Alexander regularly acknowledged a conquered people’s customs and culture and attempted to show respect and acceptance for their ways in order to better incorporate the new lands into his empire. Of course, Alexander also meant to further Greek culture into conquered lands as well. Digging Deeper Alexander had already married Roxana (aka Roxanne or Roxanna) the beautiful…
A Brief History On an unknown date in 495 BC, one of the greatest Athenian heroes of their “Golden Age” was born, Pericles, the man that came to be known as “The First Citizen of Athens.” So important and influential was Pericles that his time as leader of Athens is called “The Age of Pericles” (461-429 BC). Digging Deeper Like many truly great men, Pericles was multi-dimensional, and served as a military general, statesman, and orator, as well as being a great patron of the arts and education. A strong advocate of democracy, Pericles is responsible for most of the…