A Brief History On December 28, 1503, the exiled Gran Maestro of Florence, Piero di Lorenzo de Medici, known as Piero the Unfortunate, drowned in the Garigliano River while trying to escape the advancing French and Spanish armies that had just defeated the Italians in a battle over the control of Naples. Digging Deeper Piero was the son of Lorenzo de Medici, also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (a much more positive sounding moniker) who died of natural causes at the age of 43 (not good, but better than Piero who died at the age of 31). The elder Medici…
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 December 27, 1922, the Imperial Japanese Navy commissioned the first aircraft carrier in the world that was designed and built as an aircraft carrier, the Hōshō. Digging Deeper Prior to the Hōshō, some ships such as the USS Langley CV-1 were converted (in 1920) to aircraft carriers from other warships or merchant ships. The Royal Navy (British) Ark Royal is probably the first of what we would recognize as a more or less modern carrier, commissioned as a carrier in 1914 after being converted from a freighter that was in the process of being built in…
A Brief History On December 26, 1982, Time Magazine broke with tradition and for the first time ever named a non-human as its “Man of the Year” (MOY) when they named the Personal Computer the cover model of its iconic issue. Digging Deeper Of course, the “Man of the Year” title is somewhat dated, as since 1999 the “award” has been officially called “Person of the Year” (POY) and the tradition goes back to 1927 when the magazine named aviator Charles Lindbergh as its first person recognized as most influential in the world, whether for good or for bad. In…
A Brief History On December 25, 1868, much maligned and embattled President of the United States Andrew Johnson issued a blanket pardon for all Confederate veterans of the US Civil War. Digging Deeper A Southerner himself, Johnson had been born in North Carolina and lived in Tennessee where he served as Governor and US Senator before becoming Abraham Lincoln’s vice-president in the 1864 election. When Lincoln was killed and Johnson assumed the presidency in 1865, the Civil War was now over and Johnson was eager to get the South back into normal operation, allowing the former Confederate States to hold…
A Brief History On December 24, 1865, six former Confederate veterans of the recently concluded US Civil War formed the first known chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, an organization largely founded on the principles of White Supremacy and violence against African Americans and those not in agreement with Klan beliefs. Klansmen were characterized by their scary apparel that hid the identity of the individuals, evolving into the familiar white robes and hoods. Digging Deeper As disaffected Confederate veterans across the South formed other chapters and similar organizations, a loose umbrella organization developed with former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest…