A Brief History On March 12, 1894, Coca-Cola, the preeminent soft drink on the planet, was first bottled and sold in Vicksburg, Mississippi by Joseph Beidenharn, a soda fountain operator who owned a candy store. Previously sold by its creator the pharmacist John Pemberton who lived in Atlanta, Georgia and others under various formulas and names since 1886, it was Beidenharn who first bottled Coca-Cola. A few years later, the first Coca-Cola bottling plant for mass production was founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Digging Deeper At first made with alcohol, the drink was marketed as an elixir or medicine that could cure…
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 11, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act that allowed him to let American factories become “The Arsenal of Democracy” and equip the country’s Allies with American-built war materials. Digging Deeper This could be done on an enormous scale since U.S. wartime production was unhindered by fighting within its own borders and because all raw materials could be easily obtained (unlike in Germany and Japan). Among the major weapon systems provided to the Allies, mainly the Soviet Union, was one of the most under-appreciated fighter aircraft of World War II, the Bell P-39 Airacobra. Sleek and lethal looking, this plane certainly…
A Brief History On March 10, 1831, King Louis Phillipe of France established the world-famous Foreign Legion (Légion Étrangère) to help with the pacification of Algeria. Digging Deeper Commanded by French officers, the troops are made up chiefly of foreigners, although French citizens are also allowed to join. (As of 2007, French citizens make up approximately 25% of new recruits.) Current members come from around 140 different countries! Though women have been allowed to join the Legion since the year 2000, a woman has yet to do so. An elite fighting corps feared and respected world wide, the Legion puts its men through a…
A Brief History On March 9, 1959, the world of toys was taken by storm in New York City with the introduction of the Barbie Doll by toy manufacturer Mattel at the American International Toy Fair. Digging Deeper Said to have been inspired by a German doll called Bild Lilli, it was a woman named Ruth Handler who invented Barbie after she noticed her own daughter playing with dolls in adult roles instead of holding them like a type of surrogate baby. At first, Barbie was marketed with either blonde or brown hair as a “teen-age fashion model” wearing a zebra pattern swimsuit. From her birth on, the…
A Brief History On March 8, 1910, the Aero-Club of France issued pilot license #36 to Raymonde de Laroche, making her the first licensed female pilot in the world. Although sometimes referred to as the first woman to fly an airplane, it is likely that 2 other women had flown before her. Note: A female aviator is also called an “aviatrix.” Digging Deeper Laroche had been born Elise Raymonde Deroche in France in 1882. Despite the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers, the fervor over the new aeronautical industry was in Europe, not North America, and Laroche took her keen interest in the new sport to…