A Brief History One year ago today, on January 25, 2014, an unknown thief or thieves stole a reliquary from an Italian mountainside chapel containing a piece of the bloodied robe Pope John Paul II had been wearing when he had gotten shot during the failed 1981 assassination attempt on his life. Obviously, if a person or persons were true believers in the Catholic faith, they would not steal such a holy relic because whatever magical properties it might have had would certainly be cancelled by the wrath of God, or at least so you would think. Digging Deeper Italian police believed the theft was…
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 January 24, 2003, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began its operations. This new agency was born from the ashes of the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. It had been painfully obvious that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA) and military intelligence agencies had not been effectively communicating with each other and that unless something was done to institutionalize such coordination, the U.S. would be vulnerable to more such attacks. Digging Deeper Given the mission of protecting the United States and its territories from both manmade and natural disasters, as…
A Brief History On January 23, 971, troops of the Chinese Song Dynasty managed to defeat the War Elephant Corps of the Southern Han Kingdom by the use of deadly crossbows. In those days, elephants were the equivalent of today’s tanks and were a fearsome and seemingly unstoppable force on the battlefield. There was nothing else like warrior pachyderms until tanks were introduced in World War I. Digging Deeper The crossbow, consisting of a horizontal bow crossed by a straight stock held by the bowman, had been invented in China perhaps as early as the 4th century B.C. or even earlier. The string would be held back…
A Brief History On January 22, 1987, Pennsylvania State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer called a news conference to read a statement in front of the gathered journalists and television cameras. Digging Deeper Dwyer had been convicted of accepting bribes in connection with giving a contract to an accounting firm hired to determine what refunds were owed to Pennsylvania government workers who had been overtaxed. Throughout the entire process, Dwyer adamantly insisted upon his complete innocence and said he was being framed. Scheduled to be sentenced the next day by a judge who was known for stiff sentences and who had gloated over the guilty verdict, after Dwyer…
A Brief History On January 21, 1535, in the aftermath of “The Affair of the Placards,” French Protestants were burned at the stake in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Digging Deeper Starting in October of 1534, in the largest French cities, Protestant activists had been hanging up posters (placards) casting aspersions on the Catholic Church, the most gutsy move being the hanging of such a poster on King Franςois I’s bedroom door! This action apparently was the last straw for the frightened King who reaffirmed his Catholic faith as the religion of the land and…