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.

A Brief History On October 5, 1962, movie goers were introduced to the suave and debonair, handsome, worldly yet deadly spy character, James Bond.  This first Bond movie was Dr. No, and featured Sean Connery in the role of Bond.  Boasting 25 films, there really is no serious competition as the greatest movie spy, but who is number two? Digging Deeper We list a few possible choices for you to choose from in the order we would rank them: Jack Ryan, CIA, star of five major films and a Prime television series. Ethan Hunt, Impossible Mission Force, star of seven…

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A Brief History On October 4, 1993, Russian Army tanks bombarded the Russian parliament, incredibly in the capital of the second most powerful country on Earth.  While we were tempted to try other titles, such as “Tanks, but No Tanks,” or “Tanks for the Memories,” or even “Tanks A Lot!” the main point of this cautionary tale is “Could it happen here?” Digging Deeper In 1989, Beijing, China, was the site of another tanks vs. protestors battle in what we call the “Tiananmen Square Massacre.”  China was the third most powerful country and is currently the second most powerful economic…

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A Brief History On October 3, 1986, Vince DiMaggio died, the eldest of the three DiMaggio brothers of major league baseball, the others being Dom and the most famous, Joltin’ Joe. Digging Deeper Joe DiMaggio is of course one of the all-time greats, while Dom was pretty good, making seven All Star teams, while Vince was more average.  All three played center field.  Are these brothers the best in baseball history?  We list a few other brother sets for you to pick from out of the 275 sets of brothers in MLB history. Paul and Lloyd Waner, the second pair…

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A Brief History On October 2, 2023, Americans celebrate National Name Your Car Day.  A tradition since before the 1990 inaugural “holiday” for naming cars, one poll indicates about 40% of Americans name their car. Digging Deeper We name our children, pets, boats, and sometimes homes or even body parts, but cars have a special place in the hearts of Americans.  Sometimes a “love-hate” relationship, at least according to Adam Sandler!  Female names account for a majority of car names, although some famous ones had male names, such as The General Lee, Herbie, and Kit, all from TV or movies.…

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A Brief History On October 1, 1982, Disney’s latest and greatest attraction opened at their Orlando, Florida Walt Disney World location, EPCOT Center, now known as EPCOT.  An acronym, the name stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, intended to showcase technology and the latest in modern inventions and developments, a sort of “permanent world’s fair.” Digging Deeper Double the size of the original Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom, EPCOT sprawls across over 300 acres.  The park gets plenty of visitors, close to 12.4 million per year, ranking 4th in North American theme parks and 7th in the world. Some…

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