Category: Odd Facts
Those Brave Jackasses — Meet Some Heroic Wartime Donkeys
“The British army in the First World War actually promoted a donkey to the rank of Sergeant.” FOR THE FIRST 180 years of its existence as a sovereign nation, the United States supposedly never lost…
Eureka Moments — Seven Everyday Inventions That Came From Warfare
“An array of peacetime products, ideas and amenities that civilians now use on a daily basis, were all pioneered during the major wars of the past 200 years.” HUMAN CONFLICT has driven innovation. All manner of…
Stoned in the Ranks – Drug and alcohol abuse nothing new in military culture
“Substance abuse in the service is a centuries old phenomenon.” AN OUTRIGHT ban on drinking alcohol in combat seems to have had little impact on American soldiers’ consumption of booze, according to an article last week…
A Brief History of Wartime PTSD — From Ancient Greece to Afghanistan
“For centuries, even millennia, eye-witnesses of conflict have suffered from PTSD. Consider these early accounts.” WHILE THE TERM post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) wasn’t officially coined until 1980, psychologists, both civilian and military, have long been aware of the…
We Fought a Zoo — Animal Weapons Throughout History
“As recently as the Second World War, militaries weaponized animals.” HUMANS HAVE BEEN domesticating animals for use in combat since the first warriors of Eurasia rode into battle on horses around 3000 BCE. But what…
Surrounded – Some of History’s Most Incredible Sieges
Encircled, cut off and facing attack by government troops, the northern Syrian city of Aleppo has been under what’s being described as a state of siege since late July. Elements of the 11th and 18th…
