Category: Odd Facts
Fresh Water Fights – Six Naval Battles That Took Place Miles From the Nearest Ocean
“Lake Erie isn’t the only famous ‘sea battle’ not to be fought at sea. Here are some others.” THE MOST DECISIVE NAVAL BATTLE of the War of 1812 took place on Sept. 10, 1813. That’s…
Big Bangs – Some of the Largest Wartime Explosions in History
AT PRECISELY 11:11 a.m. on Nov. 27, 1944, the relative quiet of RAF Fauld near Staffordshire, England was shattered when a 4,000-lb. bomb in the base’s 1,700 sq. ft. underground munitions bunker accidentally detonated. The resulting…
O Say Can You See – Seven Little-Known Facts About Francis Scott Key and the Star Spangled Banner
By Jeffrey Roth Most critics agree that The Star-Spangled-Banner is difficult to sing. Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to the iconic song after watching the Sept. 13 to 14, 1814 British bombardment of Fort…
Old Soldiers – Meet Some of History’s Most Elderly Warriors
“Warfare isn’t always the sole province of the youthful. In fact, throughout military history, there have been a number of examples of the elderly making battlefield contributions.” IN MARCH 1943, a small team of British…
The Atlantic Wall – 11 Key Facts About the Nazi Defences at Normandy
“Although one of the most impressive engineering feats of modern times, British, American and Canadian troops breached the seemingly impregnable Nazi defences along a 80-mile stretch of French coastline at Normandy in a single day:…
D-Day Wasn’t History’s Only June 6th Battle
Brace yourselves, history fans. With the approach of the 70th anniversary of the 1944 Normandy Invasion this Friday, the media is a-buzz with D-Day backgrounders, retrospectives and first-hand accounts from those who were there. Spoiler alert:…
