Category: People
With Triumphs Like These, Who Needs Defeats? — A Brief History of Pyrrhic Victories
“The term ‘pyrrhic victory’ is named for the ancient ruler of Epirus, King Pyrrhus, who went down in history for winning a string of major battles against Rome and Carthage but still losing the war…
Did Napoleon’s Favourite Marshal End His Days As An American High School Teacher?
“Was this hero of Napoleonic France really shot by a firing squad on Dec. 7, 1815?” “I AM NEY OF FRANCE!” Those were reportedly the last words of an obscure 77-year-old North Carolina schoolmaster whose death…
Bomber Girls — The Women Flyers of World War Two
“Between 1942 and 1944, WASP pilots flew just about every sort of aircraft produced for the U.S. military from fighters and bombers to cargo planes and trainers.” LAST WEEKEND, a 92-year-old Colorado woman did something…
It’s Deadly At the Top — The Age Old Tradition of Executing Generals
“More than 300 generals were executed in a single day in October 1941.” NORTH KOREA’S new leader, Kim Jong Un, is cleaning house in the upper echelons of his army. The 29-year-old dictator reportedly executed…
White House Warriors – Most Presidential Hopefuls Have Served in Uniform
With the results of Monday’s U.S. presidential debates still being parsed by the media, a San Diego-area newspaper has covered a little-reported aspect of the 2012 race for the Oval Office : This is the first…
Star Wars – 30 Celebrities and What They Did in Wartime
ON THE NIGHT of Sept. 23, 1942, a flight of RAF Halifax bombers from No. 76 squadron struck a German harbour facility on the Baltic Sea. During the mission, one of the British planes was…
