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The British Were Harvesting Soldiers’ Organs During WWI

Soldiers kneeling over an injured comrade on the battlefield

A book by Canadian historian Tim Cook has brought to light some disturbing evidence regarding a British program that saw the harvesting of slain Canadian…

Panamax: How the Panama Canal Has Impacted Naval Ship Design

Elisabeth Edwards
Ship passing through the Panama Canal + Aerial view of the Panama Canal

Roughly 14,000 ships pass through the Panama Canal annually, but more than half can barely squeeze through the over 100-year-old locks, which are only 110…

Seven Reasons Why the Italian Forces Performed So Poorly During World War II

Italian soldiers walking down a street while waving white flags

When it comes to the Second World War, France is often made the butt of the joke for its surrender to Germany in 1940. However,…

Battles of the Isonzo: Two Years, Over One Million Casualties

Austrian soldiers take aim with rifles on a mountaintop

Many of the bloodiest battles in World War I occurred along the Western Front. There was, however, another lesser-known combat theater that was as equally…

Nuclear Weapons Were Almost Deployed During the Korean War

Two commanding officers reading a newspaper announcing the armistice being signed to pause the Korean War

The end of the Second World War ended with a literal bang for the Americans when they forced the Japanese surrender by dropping atomic bombs…

How Norwegian Commandos Sabotaged Germany’s Atomic Bomb Research

Richard Harris and Kirk Douglas as Knut Straud and Dr. Rolf Pederson in 'The Heroes of Telemark'

As the Second World War dragged on, both the Allied and Axis powers invested heavily in research that would create the first atomic weapons. The…

Why Did the German Cruiser Deutschland Change Her Name During WWII?

German cruiser Deutschland at sea

Many ships have had their names changed or passed on to another. For example, the US Navy has had eight different vessels called Enterprise, with…

Spetsnaz: How Russia’s Special Forces Became So Deadly

Five Russian Spetsnaz jumping from an aircraft

Russia’s Spetsnaz forces were shaped by the Cold War to be stealthy, efficient and, above all, lethal. Geared toward “political warfare,” the group has been…

A British Challenger 1 Set the Record for the Longest Tank-on-Tank Kill in 1991

Challenger 1 tank parked

The FV4030/4 Challenger 1 tank had a rocky start. It wasn’t very reliable and had a poor rate of fire. As such, a lot of…

Did the US Try to Give France Nuclear Weapons to Use in Vietnam?

Soldiers holding up a flag + Mushroom cloud

Vietnam has been a desirable target for many of the world’s most powerful countries since the French conquest in 1858. China, Japan and the United…

The Doolittle Bombers Traded Their Tail Guns for Broomsticks

James Doolittle and his crew standing together

On April 18, 1942, the United States responded to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor by doing something that had never been done before: launching bombers…

The US Military Used Tourist Maps to Prepare for the Invasion of Grenada

Samantha Franco
US Marines sitting on a captured Soviet-made BRDM-2 amphibious armored scout car

When the US military invaded Grenada in 1983, troops were grossly unprepared. Knowing little about the country, officials had to get inventive in order to…