Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On October 25, 1944, the U.S. submarine USS Tang (SS-306), commanded by ace submarine skipper Richard O’Kane, was sunk when a torpedo that it had fired malfunctioned, turned around, and struck the hapless submarine. Digging Deeper You may have read the History and Headlines article “There is No Such Thing as Friendly Fire!”  Friendly fire is the accidental coming of harm to one’s own troops through one’s own weapons.  As military instructors are quick to point out, however, no fire is “friendly fire,” as bullets, bombs and shells will kill you no matter who launched them in the first place.  Weapons of…

A Brief History On October 23, 1939, the Japanese G4M, named the “Betty” bomber by the Allies, made its maiden flight.  Destined to be the main Japanese land-based bomber for the entire war, it was, like other Japanese planes, state of the art at the beginning of World War II but grossly outmatched by American models later in the war.  Made by Mitsubishi, the same company that made the Zero and now makes cars and trucks, its performance was roughly on par with the American B-25 as far as speed and climb, and it had better range. Digging Deeper Unfortunately for some Japanese airmen,…

A Brief History On October 22, 2014 and again on October 29, 2014, the FX channel television production American Horror Story: Freak Show features a two-faced character based on an alleged real-life human freak named Edward Mordrake. Digging Deeper With actor Wes Bentley portraying the unfortunate, two-faced man, the show takes us back to 1952 in Jupiter, Florida where a troupe of human freaks is assembled as a carnival sideshow.  If you have ever seen the iconic 1932 film Freaks, you might know that by that time in history, the public was beginning to not take too kindly to deformed humans…

A Brief History On October 22, 1964, French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre became the first person to voluntarily refuse a Nobel Prize, in his case the prize for literature.  Incredibly for a Frenchman, in 1945 Sarte had also refused the Legion of Honor (Legion d’honneur), France’s highest award. Digging Deeper Sartre said that though he was honored to be selected for the Nobel Prize, he refused to accept it because he did not want to become part of the “establishment.”  He also feared his acceptance of an award that had been issued by a Western institution might make him look as if he had taken sides…

A Brief History On October 21, 1995, Spanish illustrator and author Jesús Blasco died at age 76.  Although largely unknown in the United States, he worked extensively on British comics in the 1960s and 70s. His parents had seen fit to name him after the son of God, something that is not so common outside of Catholic Spanish-speaking countries.  Granted there are many Mohammeds, how many people who go by the first name of Buddha, Allah, Jehovah or God do you know?  You might have better luck meeting someone named after a mythological god such as Zeus, Thor, Odin, Aphrodite, Athena, Venus, etc.  History…