Even in the small chance you’ll succeed in your mission, you’ll never know. “During World War II, Japanese Special Attack Units (特別攻撃隊, tokubetsu kōgeki tai, often abbreviated to 特攻隊 tokkōtai), also called shimbu-tai, were specialized units of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army normally used for doomed missions. […]
During WWII, Britain had a rather questionable plan involving a dead body. Surprisingly, it was hugely successful. “Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a […]
This chicken did more for the world than you likely ever will. Thank you for your service, chicken. “Over the summer of 1944, Lt. Pat Glover and some of his fellow soldiers of the British 1st Airborne Division had a short debate among themselves over whether or not chickens could […]
The Fulton Skyhook was a less-than-pleasant method to travel from ground to airborne plane. It’s as impressive and terrifying as you would imagine. “The Fulton surface-to-air recovery system (STARS), also known as Skyhook, is a system used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States Air Force, and United States […]
The biggest ship in history? Made from an unusual and obscure building material? How’d that go? “Project Habakkuk or Habbakuk (spelling varies) was a plan by the British during the Second World War to construct an aircraft carrier out of pykrete, a mixture of wood pulp and ice, for use […]
Saving Private Ryan (1998) — 15 Weird Facts You Didn’t Know! #rememberwhen Saving Private Ryan redefined the war movie with its unforgettable D-Day landing and one of the most realistic battle sequences ever filmed? Released in 1998, Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning epic starred Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, […]
“We want to be taken somewhere. We want to be shown something new. We want to feel like we’ve learned something.” Academy Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser joins Ronny Chieng to talk about playing General Dwight D. Eisenhower in his new film, “Pressure,” a project that checks every one of those […]
This photo conceals a clue to a brutal story of vengeance. Correction: Many of you pointed out that we erroneously used “Russia” and “Russian” interchangeably with “Soviet Union” and “Soviet” in this video. The Soviet Union was a multiethnic federation, and indeed many non-Russians bore the brunt of Hitler’s initial […]
Another day, another fight. This time a very unusual one – we’re going back to World War II, and the time US and German Forces united. “The Battle for Castle Itter (German: Schlacht um Schloss Itter) was fought in the Austrian North Tyrol village of Itter on 5 May 1945, […]
What’s the worst thing your co-workers have ever done to you? “Operation Wikinger (English: “Viking”) was a sortie into the North Sea by German World War II destroyers (1st Destroyer Flotilla) of the Kriegsmarine, in February 1940. During this operation, poor inter-service communication and cooperation between the Kriegsmarine and the […]
