A Brief History On September 26, 1944, Operation Market Garden came to an end, failing to take all the objectives and suffering greater losses than the Germans, a fairly unusual occurrence at that point in the war. Normally maddeningly conservative, Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery placed his faith in a rapid advance to and across the Rhine by seizing a series of bridges including parachute drops on a large scale. Digging Deeper Particularly unsuccessful was the assault on the bridge at Arnhem over the Rhine, the most important of all the bridges targeted. British paratroopers briefly held one end of…
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 September 25, 1066, the Battle of Stamford Bridge signaled the end of the Viking invasions of England. This significant English victory was soon superseded by the Battle of Hastings only 3 weeks later, in which the Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the British. Bridges have often been focal points of battles, often pivotal ones of great importance. Here we list 10 Battles at Bridges that are either famous or significant. (The order of listing does not signify importance.) (Note: See tomorrow’s article about the ill fated attack on bridges during World War II called Operation…
A Brief History On September 20, 1835, Brazilian rebels captured Porto Alegre, starting a rebellion that lasted almost 10 years called The Ragamuffin War. The longest war against the Imperial Brazilian government (and second bloodiest), the Ragamuffin war raged between southern, rural “Ragamuffins” or “Gauchos” (cowboys) that wanted a Republican form of government against the northern portion of the country. Digging Deeper Despite an offer of amnesty and peace in 1840, the rebels continued the fight even though no realistic chance of winning existed. The famed Italian revolutionary and uniter, Giuseppe Garibaldi, came to assist the rebels in 1839 and…
A Brief History On September 16, 2001, 83 year old B-movie producer Samuel Z. Arkoff died, bringing an end to an era of movies so bad they were good. Born in Iowa in 1918 to a Russian -Jewish family did not seem to lead to Hollywood, especially with an initial direction toward studying law (graduating from Loyola of LA with a law degree). Digging Deeper Still, Arkoff managed to find his way into the movie business, where he produced low budget, slapped together movies that almost invariably succeeded in making money. Responsible for starting the genre of outlaw biker movie…
A Brief History On September 10, 1960, the final event of the Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy, was the scene of the first Sub-Saharan African (Black) to win an Olympic Gold Medal. Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the prestigious Olympic Marathon race (about 26.2 miles long) and won it in high fashion, that is, barefoot! Digging Deeper Only 126 lbs, this slim 5’11” runner was 28 years old when he ran his historic race, and for good measure he won the Olympic Gold Medal in the Marathon in the 1964 Olympics as well. The course of events that led…