A Brief History On July 21, 1904, Frenchman Louis Rigolly became the first person to speed past the 100 mph “barrier” when he accomplished the feat in his Gobron-Brillie race car at Ostende in Belgium. Digging Deeper Although the car would seem clunky and slow by our standards, the 13.5 liter beast of an engine (over-bored to 15 liters!) had 2 pistons per cylinder, each opposing each other from opposite directions. The engine probably produced a mere 25-50 horsepower (hp) despite its size. (I could not find the exact horsepower rating, but earlier engines had less than 25-50 hp and…
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 July 20, 1807, the government of Napoleon Bonaparte granted a patent to Nicephore Niepce for a device he called the Pyreolophore, the first internal combustion engine (ICE). Demonstrated by powering a small boat up a river, this event began a long and star crossed relationship between humans and ICE‘s. Powering cars, generators, airplanes, farm equipment, pumps, compressors, boats, lawn mowers and just about anything you can think of that needs power of some sort, the loud, smoke belching engines have been a constant companion of mankind for over 200 years now, slow to catch on, but…
A Brief History On July 20, 1968, the first International Special Olympics for intellectually challenged people was held in Chicago’s Soldier Field. About a thousand athletes competed that day, and today over 4 million participate every year in 170 countries! Digging Deeper Started by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President John F. Kennedy, in 1962, the Special Olympics were particularly personal to the Kennedy family as John and Eunice had a sister that suffered from mental deficiency for which she was given a lobotomy in hopes of correcting her problem, but it only gave her more brain damage. At…
A Brief History On April 14, 1772, the building tension toward open rebellion of Americans against the British erupted in New Hampshire in an incident known as The Pine Tree Riot. The dispute at the core of this incident concerned the protection of Eastern White Pine trees of 12 inches or greater diameter, setting these aside for the exclusive use of British shipbuilders. Obviously, colonists thought they had better uses for the wood growing in their own backyard! Digging Deeper Britain, an island nation of immense naval power, had largely stripped its own land of trees suitable for building ships,…
A Brief History In light of the current troubles with Islamic terrorists and our military operations in Arabic countries (Iraq, Syria, Yemen), we at History and Headlines would like to point out the contribution to American society made by just a few of the many Great Arab-Americans living here or that have made their mark on American society. As you can see, we chose to include mostly highly visible Arab-Americans that you may be familiar with. (Honorable mention to musician Frank Zappa who was mostly Italian, but had Greek and Arab heritage as well.) Digging Deeper 20. Danny Thomas, actor, comedian.…