Every match between rivaling athletic teams is described in terms of a military conflict. Despite that, who would expect much more taunts and fight songs to be used as weapons? When soccer […]
Athletic Rivalry Taken to the Extreme
The Unkillable General Adrian Carton de Wiart
In the realm of science fiction, one of the most formidable fighters of all time is a Terminator. These robotic soldiers from the future are the ultimate killing machine because they are […]
Sybil Ludington, the Female Paul Revere
Originally posted on Today in History:
“Listen my children and you shall hear,Of the midnight ride of” …Sybil Ludington. Wait…What? Paul Revere’s famous “midnight ride” began on the night of April 18,…
The Great Panjamdrum — the Hilarious and Horrible Failed Weapon of WWII
Necessity is the mother of invention. Few things create greater necessity than war. Consequently, some of the greatest innovations in technology have arisen out of military conflict. World War II generated great […]
Making Nuclear Reactors Safe From Butt-Pinching
Harnessing the power of the atom provides humanity with virtually unlimited power. It also poses devastating consequences if things go poorly. The nuclear disasters at Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island happened […]
Less Than Half of American Colonists Supported the Revolution
At the heart of American democracy is the concept of democracy. Every government and civics textbook declares the noble principle that self-governing people preserve the rights of the minority, but it is […]
Patton’s Pugnacious Party Pummeling
The greatest battlefield commander of the modern age was, by most accounts, General George S. Patton. His understanding of military history, instinctive grasp of technological innovation, and dogged determination rightly cemented his […]
The Contagious Insanity of the Lincoln Assassination
It wasn’t that long ago that people believed mental illness behaved like the common cold. One of the reasons for the establishment of mental asylums was to quarantine the insane, thus protecting […]
The Nazi Invasion of Winnipeg
If you have spent any amount of time learning about World War II, you were probably taught that the lands of North America were blessedly exempt from combat. If so, you may […]
Did a Monkey Get Hanged For Being a French Spy?
Just when we thought we had thoroughly combed the historical record and reported all interesting tidbits on a subject, we are reminded that there is no limit to strange stories from the […]
The Prime Minister Who Got Eaten By His People
You know what they say about pursuing a career in politics. It is a vocation fraught with hazards. The public is so fickle and can love you one day, only to chew […]
How a Brilliant Military Maneuver Conquered the Wrong City
You may not hear a lot about him today, but in the 9th century, Hastein was a rising star in the Viking community. The chieftain made his name with raids in the […]
Peace Treaties More than 2,000 Years in the Making
In the movie Patton, we see General George S. Patton visiting a battlefield from the Third Punic War. He describes the battle that was fought there 2,000 years earlier and proclaims, “I […]
How General Patton’s Latrine Became a National Hero
Many monuments have been inspired by the horrors of war. None is more significant than the graves of soldiers who were killed in combat. Battlefield burial sites stand as sober reminders of […]
An Argument Over an Unpaid Wig Triggered the American Revolution
The greatest historical events can be triggered by the smallest of incidents. This is especially true of warfare. There is the bloody war that was fought over a bucket. Another war was […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 