A Brief History On May 2, 1863, the Confederate States of America lost their best or second best general, because they shot him! Digging Deeper The not so United States engaged in a titanic Civil War between the Federal Government (Union) and the secessionist Confederate (Southern) states. At the battle of Chancellorsville General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was reentering his own lines when pickets (sentries) mistook him for a “yankee” and shot him in the arm. Jackson’s arm had to be amputated, and as so often in those days, pneumonia set in and Jackson died 8 days later, robbing Robert E.…
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 2, 2012, one of the 4 versions of Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream (Skrik in Norwegian) sold at auction in New York for an American record $120 million. Munch painted 4 versions of his famous painting between 1893 and 1910, with this version (1895) referred to as pastel on cardboard being the most colorful one. Some of the truly great works of art are non-traditional, with no attempt to copy every natural detail like a photograph or replicate styles that came before. Here are 10 examples of great works of art that the artist obviously…
A Brief History On May 1, 1960, CIA employee Gary Powers was flying a reconnaissance mission over the Soviet Union when his high flying top secret U-2 spyplane was shot down by an SA-2 surface to air missile. Digging Deeper In the days before satellite imagery the only way for the US to know what the Soviets were up to was by flying U-2’s over their country. The Lockheed U-2 was designed by legendary airplane designer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. Johnson had designed the World War II fighter, the P-38 Lightning and later designed America’s first practical jet fighter, the Lockheed…
A Brief History On May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced that US Navy SEAL’s had raided the lair of Osama bin Laden, master terrorist, and killed him, finally achieving some justice for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. The Bush administration had failed to find bin Laden despite tough talk and grandiose threats, yet former vice president Dick Cheney among others has opined that President Obama is soft on terrorism. Here is a list of ridiculous statements about Barack Obama that are either untrue or in terribly poor taste. 10. Obama’s mother’s…
A Brief History On May 1, 1991, two incredibly impressive baseball records were set. Ricky Henderson stole his record breaking 939th base and Nolan Ryan pitched his 7th no hitter. Certain baseball records have an awe inspiring quality to them, even if they are later broken. Here we list 10 records that were at the time they were set astounding or lasted for an extraordinarily long time. Digging Deeper 10. Cal Ripken, Jr. Iron Man Streak. Ripken played in 2632 consecutive major league baseball games, having broken Lou Gehrig’s 56 year old record by 502 games! Many experts believed Gehrig’s…