A Brief History On May 5, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte, erstwhile Emperor of the French died on the lonely island of St. Helena, whispering his last word, Josephine. Digging Deeper The great man, a shell of his former self, in ill health served his exile on a desolate island. Little did he know, things would get worse. When Napoleon died in the custody of the British military, an autopsy was performed and the doctor snagged a souvenir for himself, the dead emperor’s penis. Apparently you could get away with that sort of shenanigans in those days. Napoleon is certainly not alone…
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 May 4, 1970, Kent State University in Ohio became famous as the scene of a tragic anti-war protest gone wrong, with 4 students dead and 9 wounded. Do you know what Kent State sports teams are known as? Hint: it has nothing to do with this infamous incident. They are known as The Golden Flashes. Many schools have teams named for ferocious animals or some sort of warrior people, but many others have names that leave others to wonder what the heck image they are trying to project. Since the NCAA forced schools to lose derogatory…
A Brief History On May 4, 1970, the M-1 Garand rifles of the Ohio National Guard were used in combat; against college kids! Digging Deeper With the United States torn by the War in Vietnam, protests at college campuses became common. President Nixon had promised to end the War in Vietnam when running for election in 1968, and by 1970 he had sent US forces into Cambodia to eliminate sanctuary for communist Vietnamese forces and disrupt communist supply lines. Many in the US saw this broken promise as an escalation of the unpopular war. Additional fuel for the anti-war fire…
A Brief History On May 3, 752, the Mayan King Bird Jaguar IV began his reign. Not only do we not know what the heck a bird jaguar is, but there were three of them before this one! On April 23 we told you people used to have goofy names. Well, they still do, coming up with new ones all the time. Here are 10 of our favorites from more modern times. (Honorable mention: Yahoo Seriously.) Digging Deeper 10. Elton John. A name he made up for himself, Elton was born Reginald Dwight. Known for a time as The King,…
A Brief History On May 3, 1945, five squadrons of Hawker Typhoon fighter aircraft attacked three ships in Lubeck Bay, Northern Germany and sunk all three. The ships were prisoner ships carrying thousands of inmates from concentration camps. Digging Deeper The ocean liners Cap Arcona and Deutschland and a smaller companion ship, Thielbeck attempted to leave Lubeck. The destination for the 3 ships is a contended point, with some claiming the ships were headed for Sweden, while other claim they were to be sunk after the crews and SS guards got off the ships. Either way, several other passenger carrying…