A Brief History On February 9, 1964, Beatlemania hit the US when the Fab Four made their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, snagging 73 million American viewers. The Ed Sullivan Show, at a time when most Americans had a choice of only three channels, was the big time for performers, a rite of passage. Digging Deeper The Ed Sullivan Show ran from 1948 to 1971 for over 1,000 episodes, making it one of the building blocks of TV history. Some of the other iconic appearances on the “shew…” included: Elvis Presley in 1956, although Ed had vowed to never…
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 February 8, 1960, Queen Elizabeth II of the UK proclaimed that henceforth the House of Windsor and the surname Mountbatten-Windsor would apply to all her descendants. Digging Deeper The convoluted family ties in European royal houses are due to monarchs over the centuries coming from countries other than the country reigned over. Back in 1701, Sophia of Hanover, a German, became the heiress presumptive of the throne of Great Britain and Ireland, and her son became King George I, the first of the Hanoverian monarchs of Britain. In 1901, the Germanic House of Hanover was superseded…
A Brief History On February 7, 2014, scientists in England verified that footprints found in an uncovered sediment layer in Happisburgh, Norfolk were of human, or “hominid” origin and dated back about 900,000 years. The footprints, called “The Happisburgh footprints” thus became the oldest known human footprints ever found outside of Africa. Digging Deeper The prints were found under an ancient forest bed the previous year and were meticulously photographed and documented before a rising tide covered and destroyed the impressions. Prior to this epic discovery, the previously known oldest hominid footprints found outside of Africa were found in Italy,…
A Brief History On February 6, 1862, Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant led American Union forces to victory in the Battle of Fort Henry in Tennessee, in what was arguably the first battle of significance won by the Union Army in the US Civil War. Grant became known as a Union general that could win battles and rode that success to leadership of the US Army and later to the White House as President of the US. Digging Deeper Union forces got off to a bad start in the Civil War, losing at Fort Sumter and then at the First…
A Brief History On February 5, 2024, Royal spokespersons released information that the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, King Charles III, had been diagnosed and is under treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. Digging Deeper King Charles, age 75, has been receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate gland which resulted in the cancer being discovered. While not specifically naming the nature of the cancer, it was reported to not be prostate cancer. No prognosis has been released, and the King is being treated on an outpatient basis. He is expected to resume…