A Brief History On September 23, 1641, off the coast of Cornwall, England, a British merchant ship named the Merchant Royal sank with her cargo of Spanish treasure. She has not yet been found, and your treasure possibly awaits you somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, southwest of England. Digging Deeper If lost treasure interests you, then pay attention! The Merchant Royal, despite being leaky and somewhat weary after long travels, had been contracted to transport gold and silver from Cadiz, Spain, to Antwerp in modern-day Belgium (which at that time was part of the Spanish Netherlands), to pay…
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 21, 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin triggered the Russian Constitutional Crisis of 1993 by throwing out the constitution and dissolving Parliament. The resulting chaos included the worst riots and fighting seen in Moscow since the 1917 revolution. Digging Deeper Relations between Yeltsin and Parliament had been deteriorating for some time when Yeltsin decided to dissolve Parliament, although he did not have the power to do so according to the constitution. In turn, Parliament declared Yeltsin’s decision null and void, impeached him and barricaded themselves within the parliament building known as the White House. Both sides made…
A Brief History On September 20, 2000, the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), an agency also known as MI6, suffered the indignity of being hit by a Soviet-made RPG-22 anti-tank rocket. No suspect has ever been identified or arrested. Digging Deeper The rocket hit the exterior of the building at the level of the 8th floor. It caused superficial damage and thankfully no injuries. Of course, the pride of James Bond, M, Q and Moneypenny was severely shaken! The anti-terrorist branch of the Metropolitan Police believed that the perpetrators belonged to the Real IRA, a breakaway group from the Provisional IRA, but did not name…
A Brief History On September 19, 1976, two F-4 Phantom IIs of the Imperial Iranian Air Force flew out to intercept a UFO over the capital city of Tehran. As each fighter jet approached the UFO, navigation, weapons, communications and other avionics systems suddenly became inoperable. Only after the F-4s distanced themselves from the UFO, did the pilots regain control. Digging Deeper The Iranian Air Force had received numerous reports of an object in the sky that appeared brighter and larger than a star, and commanders ordered that the object be intercepted. The first jet got within 25 miles of…
A Brief History On September 18, 2001, in the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, people in the United States were jumpy and on edge, not knowing if another attack would occur. They did not have to wait long. Just one week later, the first “Anthrax Letters” were mailed. Believed at first to be “weaponized” Anthrax, that is Anthrax enhanced with silica to facilitate infection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ultimately refuted this claim. Digging Deeper Called the “Amerithrax Case” by the FBI, a series of letters laced with powdery Anthrax were sent in two batches in September and…