Category: Odd Facts
We Have Met the Enemy And They Are Small – A Brief History of Bug Warfare
National Geographic reported last week that biologists from the University of Tübingen in Germany have uncovered evidence that the Nazis may have tested malaria-carrying mosquitoes for possible use against the Allies. According to the article, which…
Culture Wars – Meet Nazi Germany’s ‘Monuments Men’
“From the very outset of the Second World War, Axis agents fanned out across the occupied territories in an epic campaign to snatch up Europe’s paintings, statues, artifacts and ancient manuscripts.” The Monuments Men, George…
Meet Wilmer McLean – One of the Civil War’s First and Last Victims
“The war exacted a heavy toll on McLean’s business.” WILMER MCLEAN WAS was too old to fight in the American Civil War. But that didn’t stop the 47-year-old Virginia farmer and merchant from finding himself…
The Battle of Nauru – Nazi Germany’s Forgotten Foray into the Pacific
“German warships would carry to the fight against the Allies to the very shores of Nauru. The ensuing battle would represent the only Nazi military action of World War Two to take place in the…
Cold Wars – Just How Freezing Was It On History’s Most Bone-Chilling Battlefields?
“Sub-zero temperatures, driving snow and winter storms didn’t stop some of history’s armies from soldiering on.” (Originally publishing on Jan. 10, 2014) THIS PAST WEEK, much of North America was in the grip of a…
Barbed Wire War – How One Farmer’s Innovation Changed The Battlefield
“One expert estimated that by 1918, at least a million miles of the stuff had been strung throughout Flanders alone – enough to circle the earth 40 times.” PERHAPS NOTHING IS MORE emblematic of warfare…
