A Brief History On February 5, 1985, a war that started in 149 BC was finally put to rest when the Mayor of Rome, Ugo Vetere, went to Tunisia to meet with Chedli Klibi, the Mayor of Carthage, to sign a treaty of peace and friendship, officially ending the Third Punic War 2,131 years after it began. Digging Deeper The Punic Wars, fought between Rome and Carthage for supremacy in the Mediterranean, started in 264 BC and went through three iterations. The conflict started as Rome was on the rise and sought to establish itself as a naval power, trying…
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.
Read More
A Brief History On February 4, 1899, a war broke out between the First Philippine Republic and the US, called the Tagalog Insurgency, the Filipino-American War, and other names, that lasted until July of 1902, and continued as the Moro Rebellion until 1913. Despite the length of the conflict and the significant casualties suffered by the US, the war remains largely forgotten by many Americans. Digging Deeper A Spanish colonial possession, the Philippines revolted against Spain in 1896, and then in 1898 the Spanish-American War was fought, including the famous naval battle at Manila Bay. Part of the settlement of…
A Brief History On February 3, 1998, a bizarre aircraft accident occurred on the ski slopes of Italy when a USMC EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare jet flew below allowable altitude and cut the cable to a cable car carrying skiers. Digging Deeper The cable car was carrying an operator and 19 passengers, all of whom were killed as the car fell 300 feet from the severed cable. The pilot and navigator of the jet were uninjured, and the damaged jet made a safe landing. The accident happened in the Dolomite mountains at Cavalese, and of course, the Italian public and…
A Brief History On February 2, 1954, the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League played the first ever outdoor hockey game in the history of the NHL in Marquette, Michigan, up North in the Upper Peninsula. Digging Deeper Not only was the outdoor venue a notable first, but the opponents of the Red Wings were also inmates of the Marquette Branch Prison! The prisoners gave their team the apropos name of “Pirates,” but unfortunately for the convicts, their hockey team was not up to NHL standards. The Red Wings won the game by a score of 18 to…
A Brief History On February 1, 1946, Norway’s Trygve Lie was selected as the first ever Secretary General of the United Nations, beginning a long line of names to head the UN that are tricky to pronounce in English. Digging Deeper Succeeding Mr. Lie, a questionable name for a diplomat, was the even harder to pronounce Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden. Next up to the plate was a diplomat with a succinct first name consisting of only a single letter, U Thant of Burma, now Myanmar. After U came the more pedestrian sounding Kurt Waldheim, although this man has been rumored…