History
The expression "officer of the line" is possibly rooted in the 18th- and 19th-century Royal Navy practice of employing sail-powered warships in line formations to maximize the effectiveness of side-mounted cannons. The ships were called ships of the line and their officers were termed line officers. The term also derives from "walking the line" and in many military circles is believed to have come from a "line in the sand" which two groups of officers once used in a political argument to gain power.
Read more about this topic: Line Officer
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“Certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment’s comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)