The Mongols’ fast and furious conquest of Asia and much of Europe in the early 13th Century has been attributed to many factors: superior horsemanship, rigid discipline, devastating archery, and even the…
Year: 2014
“Dear Mom, I Miss You!” – 1,800-Year-Old Letter Home From Roman Soldier Translated
“His emotions are really no different than those of soldiers today who are longing to go home.” AN AMERICAN GRADUATE student has translated fragments of a letter written by a 3rd Century Roman…
Greek Fire – Nine Little-Known Facts About The Byzantine Empire’s Most Secret Weapon
As far back as the 7th Century, fighting ships of the Byzantine Empire were dousing enemy vessels with a flaming liquid known by western historians as “Greek fire”. While the ingredients of…
One Way Ticket – Japan’s Kamikazes Weren’t the Only Suicide Pilots of WW2
“Another Axis power also hoping to stave off defeat considered its own version of the kamikaze.” IN 1944, JAPAN’S MILITARY SHOCKED THE WORLD when it sent the kamikaze into battle. With the…
The Wild Geese – A Brief History of Ireland’s ‘Foreign Armies’
“The St. Patrick’s were actually just one of a long list of Gaelic regiments to serve in other countries’ armies over the centuries.” ON SEPT. 21, 1846, General Zachery Taylor‘s American Army of Occupation…
On the Brink – Five International Crises That Nearly Led To Nuclear War
“A number of emergencies, communication errors and computer glitches have very nearly precipitated nuclear war.” ON MORE THAN one occasion over the past 50 years, the world’s super powers have nearly ended all life…
By The Numbers – Some of the World’s Longest and Shortest Wars
By MHN Staff HISTORY HAS WITNESSED hundreds of civil wars, at least two “world wars” and more than 40 distinct wars of independence. Other conflicts have been named for kings, queens, dogs, pigs,…
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army — Inside One of WW2’s Strangest Resistance Movements
“The group was one of the Second World War’s most peculiar resistance movements in that it received no support from the Allies and battled both Soviets and Nazis alike.” THINGS ARE HEATING…