Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On June 17, 1932, 17,000 United States military veterans of World War I and 25,000 of their friends and family gathered in Washington, D.C. to demand early payment of their service certificate war bonuses.  Although the bonuses were not due to be paid until 1945, the Great Depression had hit the United States and these veterans were floundering financially.  General Douglas MacArthur, chief of staff of the Army, personally led US troops to forcibly drive away his fellow veterans, even though future 5 star general and president, Maj. Dwight Eisenhower (serving as an aide to MacArthur) counseled…

A Brief History On June 16, 2010, the nation of Bhutan became the first nation in the world to outlaw tobacco.  Growing and otherwise producing tobacco products and the sale of any tobacco product was outlawed.  Harsh penalties were put in place, but within a couple years things eased up a bit.  The actual use and possession of tobacco was not outlawed, just the production and sale.  The government was also mandated to provide anti-tobacco counseling and education. Digging Deeper Not Banned 5.  Tax Revenue. In 2013, the government collected $43.9 billion in tobacco tax revenue, and over half a…

A Brief History On June 16, 1944, 14 year old George Stinney was executed in the electric chair by the State of South Carolina, giving him the distinction of being the youngest American executed in the 20th Century.  Stinney had been convicted of murdering 2 girls, age 11 and 8. Digging Deeper Not surprisingly, the murderer was an African-American boy and the victims were Caucasian girls.  No physical evidence was presented implicating the young man, and his conviction rested only on the fact that he had spoken to the girls shortly before their murders.  In 2014, 70 years after his…

A Brief History On June 15, 1667, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, personal physician to King Louis XIV, performed the first human blood transfusion.  The patient was a 15 year old boy who had been treated by using leeches to suck out “the bad blood.” Digging Deeper Denys used about 12 oz. of Sheep’s blood and the boy lived, probably the first ever transfusion that did not kill the patient.  Trying this technique on other patients, using small quantities of sheep or cow blood so as not to overload the allergic response was not so successful and some of his patients died.…

A Brief History On June 15, 1785, Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier (say that 10 times fast!) and his companion, Pierre Romain became the first people to die in an aircraft accident when the  hot air balloon they were flying crashed in an attempt to cross the English Channel.  Every so often someone finds a new way to die.  After all, somebody had to be the first to die from auto erotic asphyxiation, or from drowning in a bucket.  Here we list 10 of those pioneers that invented new ways die (at least the first known person to die that way).…