Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On August 2, 1343, Olivier Clisson, a French nobleman from Brittany, was convicted of treason in Paris and beheaded.  He had been fighting the British in the Hundred Years War, and when his success tapered off, he was criticized and accused of treason, perhaps to deflect blame from French losses. Digging Deeper Olivier, miffed and sensing danger, then defected to the English for real and was later arrested.  Taken to Paris for trial, he was beheaded, as was the fate of traitors in those days.  His head was placed on display at Nantes, and his enraged wife (widow)…

A Brief History On August 1, 1831, the new London bridge spanning the River Thames in central London, was completed.  Replacing a medieval stone arch bridge, the new bridge was also of stone arch construction and is what we normally think of when “London Bridge” is referred to. Digging Deeper Prior to 1176 a series of wooden bridges had spanned the Thames, but the sturdy construction of the stone bridge completed in 1176 would last over 650 years.  This “old” bridge was built with a chapel in the middle dedicated to Thomas Becket and had shops crowded along its way. …

A Brief History On August 1, 2007, the Interstate -35 westbound bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis came tumbling down during the evening rush hour, killing 13 and injuring 145.  The incident brought the crumbling infrastructure of the US to the front of the news, but as usual, little if anything was done about it.  Bridges have been falling as long as men have built them.  The sorry state of repair and maintenance of American bridges means more deadly failures are likely to occur, sooner rather than later.  Here we list 10 notable bridge failures, not necessarily the deadliest…

A Brief History On July 31, 1970, the British Royal Navy experienced one of the darkest days in their long and glorious history, Black Tot Day.  This episode was the last day the Royal Navy would follow the long tradition of supplying a daily drink of rum to their sailors.  Many military and civilian traditions have fallen by the wayside, some with good riddance, some longingly missed.  Many of these traditions were written down as official policy, and others were just things people usually did.  Some ended with a clear cut finale, and others faded away.  Here we list 10 of…

A Brief History On July 30, 1864, Union forces exploded 8,000 pounds of black powder in a tunnel underneath Confederate trenches at Petersburg, Virginia, creating a crater 170 feet long and 120 feet wide, and 30 feet deep.  The unorganized rush of Union troops into the crater resulted in Union failure, with Federal troops suffering well over double the casualties inflicted on the Confederate troops.  The Battle of the Crater as this action was called is an example of an unconventional military idea that did not work.  Back on May 15, 2014 History and Headlines featured a list of 10 Weapons and Weapons…