A Brief History On March 24, 1976, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount of Alamein, hero of World War II, died at home in England. Along with Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Montgomery is the most celebrated of British generals and had the ego to match, or even exceed, his reputation. Awarded medals and honors from his own country, “Monty” was also decorated with high honors from many other countries as well, including the U.S., France, Denmark (they made him a Knight of the Order of The Elephant), Belgium, Ethiopia and others. As great as he thought he…
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 March 24, 1944, the hard work of 600 American and British POW’s was ready to pay off, and 200 of them were ready to escape from Stalag Luft III! Digging Deeper Stalag Luft III operated as a prisoner of war camp run by the German Luftwaffe to hold allied aviators (officers) that had been shot down and captured. Having been opened in 1943, the camp held almost 11,000 allied airmen, mostly American with about a quarter of the total British and some 900 from other allied air forces. Determined to escape, 600 of the inmates worked…
A Brief History At an unknown date in 331 BC, a Macedonian army of Alexander the Great, led by his regent, Antipater, defeated the forces of Sparta, led by King Agis III. The Spartan King had conspired with the mortal enemy of the Greeks, the Persians, and had let on his plans to attack the Macedonian forces of Alexander. Digging Deeper Megalopolis, founded in 371 BC and located in the southern Greek region of Arcadia, was the first city of note in Arcadia, boasting a theater that could hold 20,000 people. The city today has a population of less than…
A Brief History On March 23, 1801, some of the Russian nobility and military officers that had been fired expressed their discontent in the time honored tradition of killing the monarch! Digging Deeper Future Czar (or Tsar) Paul I grew up as the son of Catherine, Grand Duchess, and Peter, Grand Duke (and heir to the Russian throne). Well, not really! Paul’s real father was likely one of Catherine’s lovers, a Sergei Saltykov. It seems there was something wrong with Peter (the future Czar Peter III) and advisers told Catherine (later Czarina Catherine the Great) to produce an heir from…
A Brief History On March 22, 1972, the US Supreme Court decided that unmarried Americans were allowed to have sex! Digging Deeper It is hard to imagine that so recently the commonly referred to as liberal state of Massachusetts had a law against distribution of contraceptives except by pharmacists or doctors and then only to married people! The Massachusetts law prohibiting “Crimes against Chastity” was on trial after a lecturer and advocate of population control through contraception purposely violated the law in order to mount the court challenge, known as Eisenstadt v. Baird. At issue was the right of unmarried…