A Brief History On March 10, 1535, Tomás de Berlanga, a Spanish Bishop based in Panama, accidentally discovered the Galapagos Islands while sailing to Peru. These beautiful islands were not occupied by humans at the time and seem to never have had human inhabitants. The 18 main islands are famous for their unique species of animals and plants and as the inspiration for Darwin’s theory of evolution. Digging Deeper Accidental discoveries have led to great things, including: In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas, finding the Americas while on his way to East Asia, opening a vast and rich…
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 March 9, 1987, Chrysler Corporation, then maker of Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth cars and trucks, announced the absorption of American Motors under the Chrysler banner. American Motors itself was formed in 1954 when Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson Motor Car Company merged. Digging Deeper Try to follow this corporate puzzle when also in 1954, Packard merged with Studebaker, forming Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Meanwhile, Kaiser Motors and Willys-Overland, makers of the Jeep brand, had merged in 1953 to create Kaiser Jeep. Then in 1970, American Motors bought up Kaiser Jeep. American Motors stumbled along until being acquired by Chrysler in…
A Brief History On March 8, 1950, Volkswagen of Wolfsburg, Germany, began production on their second motor vehicle after the iconic Beetle, this time called Bus, Kombi, or Transporter, but known in the US as the VW Bus, the VW Microbus, or later, the Hippie-mobile. Digging Deeper One of the first van type vehicles, the Bus was originally intended as a light cargo van. Powered by engines making 24 to 54 horsepower in the 1st generation, the Bus was not meant for racing! Built until 1967 in Germany and until 1975 in Brazil, the 1st Generation was a versatile platform…
A Brief History On March 7, 2021, the military of Equatorial Guinea experienced one of those “oops moments” leading to disaster when a military base near the port city of Bata suffered a series of massive explosions of stored munitions that devastated the city and left over 100 people dead. Digging Deeper Authorities blamed local farmers and their “slash and burn” farming techniques for starting fires that triggered the explosions, although outside organizations claimed such farming fires had not actually been set anywhere near the military camp. President Obiang did admit that the storage of munitions had been “negligent,” and…
A Brief History On March 6, 2018, founder and former boss of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, was named by Forbes as the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $112 billion. Such wealth makes us wonder, what can you do with all that money? Digging Deeper Currently, the richest individual person is Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, worth $180 billion, while the family of Bernard Arnault of the LVMH commercial conglomerate is worth $211 billion, while the average American household has a net worth of $192,900. So, what can the super-rich buy with their wealth? A new…