A Brief History On January 2, 2009, Maria de Jesus of Portugal died in her home at age 115. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living person in the world and the 20th oldest recorded person ever to live. Maria ate fish, but not meat, and never drank alcohol or smoked. Digging Deeper Every so often, you hear of a centenarian who drank and smoked every day of his or her life right up to the end, which was not the case with Maria. So what does the trick? Did Maria live so long due to her healthy diet and habits? …
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 1, 1902, Pasadena, California hosted the Rose Bowl, the first college football “bowl” ever. In case you have ever wondered why sportscasters refer to the Rose Bowl as “The Grandaddy of ‘em all,” this is why. It was the first and is still arguably the most prestigious college football bowl game. Digging Deeper Billed as a contest of East vs. West, the first Rose Bowl game was played between Michigan and Stanford, the representatives of the Big 10 and Pacific Coast Conferences. (The former PCC is now the Pac 12.) Traditionally, this annual championship game is…
A Brief History On December 31, 1695, a tax on windows went into effect in England, which resulted in many people boarding up or bricking up their windows so that they would not be subject to the tax. In a never-ending quest to take every penny, farthing, ruble, peseta, pfennig, shekel and sou from every last working person, governments all around the world show unlimited ingenuity when it comes to dreaming up things to tax, no matter how stupid. Digging Deeper Russia made a bid for a spot in this article by passing a tax on beards in 1698, which was an effort to force…
A Brief History On December 30, 1813, during the War of 1812, arson-happy British troops set the small city of Buffalo, New York ablaze as a means of punishing the upstart Americans. Less than a year later, the British also ignited Washington D.C., the nation’s capital. Digging Deeper In fact, the British threated to burn towns down in an effort to extract ransoms from the townsfolk in exchange for not torching the buildings. In this case, however, perhaps the British ire was somewhat justified because it was the U.S. that had declared war on Great Britain in the first place. Of course, there…
A Brief History On December 29, Catholics and Lutherans celebrate the feast day of David, a man from the Bible perhaps most famous for slaying the giant Goliath. Listed as 6 cubits tall (9 feet in today’s cubits, 6 feet according to some scholars), Goliath was the mightiest warrior of the Philistines, Israel’s go-to nemesis in those days. David, as with other Biblical characters, is considered a “legendary” character by many historians and other people. To believers, however, he is an historical figure that also happens to be a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ. Digging Deeper With a rock that…