History

The Hundred Years’ War was fought over 126 years (1337-1453). The British won most of the battles, but the French won the war. The main reason for the war from day one was for control over the French throne. The two primary Houses involved in the conflict were the House of Valois and the House … Read more

Union General Ambrose Burnside’s fuzzy and odd-looking whiskers inspired people to call that kind of facial hair “burnsides.” As time passed, wits whimsically reversed the name into “sideburns,” which sort of makes sense because they’re on the side of the face. The name stuck.

William Randolph Hearst said “You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war” in 1897. His newspapers were notorious for finding news, even where there was none. In 1897, things were tense between the United States and Spain, and rumors of war were widespread. Fueled by patriotism and a desire for inflammatory front-page material for … Read more

No, the slang term for a prostitute “hooker” did not originate with soldiers serving under the Civil War general Joseph Hooker. The term was already in use in 1845, two decades before the Civil War. A more reasonable origin for the term comes from Webster’s New World Dictionary, which says that a hooker was “originally … Read more

Confederate general Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men as he returned from a battle near Chancellorsville, VA. And it was his own darned fault. Before he left to scout out the battle lines, he had ordered the soldiers guarding the front lines to “shoot first, ask questions later” if anyone approached. A while … Read more

That would be Confederate General Richard Ewell who sometimes behaved like a bird, and was known as “Old Baldy” to his men. He was at Gettysburg under Robert E. Lee and served admirably. However, he was a true eccentric, partial to surreal jokes and nonsensical nonsequiturs. But there may have been a reason for his … Read more

The Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil. In three days 5,662 soldiers were confirmed killed, 10,584 were missing, and 27,203 were wounded. As mentioned, the Civil War was the bloodiest for Americans. More Americans died in that war than in all of its other wars combined. How bad … Read more

Here’s how the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 was started. A Confederate soldier found a local newspaper that announced a sale on a storehouse of shoes in Gettysburg. Major General Henry Heth decided that too many of his soldiers were marching barefoot, so he sent his 7,500 men down to take possession of the warehouse … Read more

The easiest way to figure out the odds of surviving any particular war is to compare the number of people who served with the number of people who died. For the sake of encompassing all the dangers of war—bullets, bombs, epidemics, mistreatment in POW camps, deaths while traveling to and from, even getting run down … Read more

There were no fewer than three different conflicts known as the Pig Wars in three different times and places. Although none of them actually resulted in shots being fired, each could have had serious ramifications, and there are some historians who say that Pig War #3 probably helped plant the seeds for the events that … Read more

There were many strange and weird causes of war throughout history. Along with the Soccer War, here are some other wars you might want to consider while contemplating the tragic foolishness of humanity. The War of the Oaken Bucket (1325-37). This twelve-year war between the Italian cities of Modena and Bologna was triggered by the … Read more

According to those who study these things, there was one eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington around 2000 B.C. that was larger than the one in 1980. Mount St. Helens has been an active volcano for over 40,000 years, and scientists have predicted that another eruption could happen in the next 20 or 30 … Read more

Yes, there were two survivors of the 1902 volcanic eruption of Mount Pelee on the island of Martinque. The other 29,000 inhabitants were wiped out. Similar catastrophic volcanic eruptions that have occurred in history include the famous incident at Pompei which wiped out the entire city.

The F scale that measures the severity of a tornado is actually named after the meteorologist who came up with the scale. His name was Tetsuya Theodore (Ted) Fujita, or “Mr. Tornado” to those who knew him. The “F” came from his last name.

St. Elmo’s Fire, or, to a layperson: static electricity caused the fire that destroyed the Hindenburg in 1937. In actuality, it was probably the highly combustible hydrogen used to fuel the air ship. Why would the Nazis stupidly use hydrogen if it’s so flammable, you may be asking? Because times were tough and the U.S. … Read more

The dam at Johnstown Pennsylvania that broke loose and flooded the town shares a name with J. R. Ewing’s homestead: South Fork.

Tidal waves, more accurately called tsunamis, have hit the U.S. several times, most often in Hawaii or Alaska. However, California has been hit a couple of times in the last hundred years as well. The most deadly, but surprisingly obscure, tsunami to strike the contiguous U.S. took place in 1964. A record-shattering earthquake in Alaska … Read more

It’s true that during a particularly rough championship football (futbol) match between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969, people rioted in the streets and the stadium. When the Salvadorans won the soccer championship on a disputed call, Honduras declared war. Before a cease-fire was negotiated by international authorities, 2,000 people were killed, much of El … Read more

Well, we could tell you that the United States invaded by a foreign power during the war of 1812 because of our mostly friendly neighbors and the difficulties of crossing an ocean with an invasion force large enough to do the job. We could do that, but instead we’d rather cast scorn because your teacher … Read more

That’s exactly what the Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 was, a molasses flood. Just after noon on January 15, 1919, at the United States Alcohol Company in Boston, a fifty-eight-foot tall, 90-feet wide steel structure, holding 2.5 million gallons of hot molasses, burst open. Metal flew everywhere, and a geyser of sticky, boiling liquid spewed … Read more

From the quake directly and from the burning aftermath, about 3,000 people were killed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. At the time, the San Francisco city government downplayed the numbers and blamed them primarily on the fire. They figured that tourists and newcomers would be less frightened by fire as a familiar danger than … Read more

No, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was not the deadliest U.S. natural disaster in history. Hurricane Frederick, which pounded Galveston, Texas, in 1900, holds that honor. It left over 6,000 dead.

The worst earthquake in recorded history happened on January 23, 1556, in Shansi, China. The quake killed over 830,000 people. Compare that to some of the other “big ones” throughout history: Tangshan, China, 1976—officially 255,000 dead; unofficial estimates put it at around 600,000 Aleppo, Syria, 1138-230,000 dead Xining, China, 1927-200,000 dead Messina, Italy, 1908-70,000-100,000 dead … Read more

Tsunami means Harbor Wave in Japanese. Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes and can cause major destruction to populated coastal areas. Low lying coastal areas bear the most risk and damage when these huge waves hit. One signal of a Tsunami is rapidly retreating water in the area. But by then it is usually too late … Read more

In dollars and cents, the 1989 Loma Prieta quake was the costliest earthquake at $5.9 billion, whereas the 1906 San Francisco quake totaled a mere $400 million. Some would argue that in today’s money, that would equal about $7.6 billion dollars. However, in today’s money, the 1989 damage would equal about $8.2 billion. So do … Read more

No one knows exactly who invented the screwdriver. But it was most likely some poor squire, sick and tired of trying to figure out a way to tighten a knight into his armor with just his fingertips, or while searching through the grass for that dropped and missing bolt. But we do know the screwdriver … Read more

The merry-go-round is the oldest amusement ride that still exists today and was originally created during the Middle Ages as a device for training knights to joust. It took tragedy to popularize the ride. When Catherine de Medicis’ husband was killed during a jousting tournament in 1559, the merry-go-round began to take the place of … Read more

Mount Vesuvius, the active volcano on the coast of Italy, has erupted more than 50 times since burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D. It’s estimated that the first reported eruption killed about 3,400 people, mostly by burying them in thick pumice deposits. From that date, and probably before that date, Mount … Read more

No, the deadliest volcano in history award goes to Mount Tambora, Indonesia, for its eruption in 1815. Journalist Judith Coan describes it like this: The largest eruption during the last two centuries, as well as the deadliest volcano in recorded history, Mount Tambora exploded April 10-11, 1815. It killed an estimated 92,000 people. Almost 80,000 … Read more

Besides the dryness in the air and the wood chips, the houses that burned in the Chicago fire of 1871 were old, wooden, and packed in tightly. There may have been little anyone could have done to prevent the disaster. However, it didn’t help that the firemen were misdirected when the initial call came in. … Read more

The 1666 London fire burned four-fifths of the city and an additional 63 acres outside the city walls. The London fire burned longer, covered more land, and wreaked more architectural devastation: London’s Guildhall, the Custom House, the Royal Exchange, and beautiful St. Paul’s Cathedral. Still, the Chicago fire was worse in some ways, including lives … Read more

There were 2,227 passengers aboard the ship called the Titanic when it sunk in 1912. Of those, only 375 survived the icy waters off the coast of Newfoundland. No ships since the Titanic have struck icebergs and gone down. One of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history, one of the main reasons for the … Read more

The Exxon Valdez oil tanker hit a reef in Alaska, not an iceberg in 1989. They have reefs in Alaska, too, you know. The oil spill was one of the biggest in history and was also one of the largest environmental and ecological disasters, killing many wildlife and taking years to clean up completely. At … Read more

No, a cow probably did not cause the Chicago fire in 1871, although the fire did start in the O’Leary’s barn. There’s no reason to believe the fire was anything more than the result of an extraordinary dry spell of weather mixed with the practice of keeping dry wood chips around as a cheap source … Read more

“Songe d’Automne,” also called “Dream of Autumn,” by Archibald Joyce (1908) could have been the last song the band played on the Titanic before it sank. Or it could have been the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee,” the bandleader’s favorite and the tune many survivors remember hearing last. The truth is that no one … Read more

The Huang He or Yellow River in China is often called “China’s Sorrow”. Flooding has been a problem for years, but with deforestation of the mountains in the north, the flood lines have widened and changed the course of the river several times. The worst, most sorrowful flood on record happened in 1931. The waters … Read more

Initially the Bubonic Plague was called the Black Death because of the black sores that developed on the bodies of the afflicted. However, once a connection was made with the swollen lymph nodes called “buboes,” “Bubonic Plague” seemed a fitting and accurate label for the disease. The Black Death wiped out half of the population … Read more

The Black Death that ran through China and across Europe in the 14th century is considered the worst plague in recorded history. Depending on the way the virus was contracted, 70 to 90 percent of those exposed to the plague died from it. During a five-year period, from 1347 to 1352, over 25 million people … Read more

From the time of exposure, flea bite, animal bite, or exposure to mucus, to the onset of the first symptoms, headache, fever, nausea, aching, and swollen buboes, it took about six days on average for someone to die from the Bubonic Plague or Black Death. The next stage—hemorrhaging and respiratory problems stemming from severe pneumonia—came … Read more

If “stupid” means “pointy” or “heart-shaped,” then the answer to why women wore those stupid-looking hats back in the Dark Ages is fairly simple: style. The tall, pointed headdress was called a steeple cap and consisted of a wire frame, which was covered by linen or silk handkerchiefs. It was worn by the noble class … Read more

Depending on whose story you read, there may have been 12 or 24 or 150 or thousands. There are many tales of King Arthur’s Round Table from different years, in both French and English. And of the traditional 12 knights, there are different lists of names. It’s anyone’s guess about the original group. First, a … Read more

You watch too much TV. Tights on men of the Middle Ages were an invention of stage and screen, perhaps to give the actors something of the look of the age without going to the trouble of finding accurate costumes. Men, both the Anglo-Saxon pagans and the Christians of the early Middle Ages, sometimes wore … Read more

The root for the word “villain” is found in the Old French word vilain, which in turn came from the Late Latin word villanus. Both mean “farm servant.” In today’s context, it often refers to a criminal character or antagonist, and is often used in describing fictional characters in books and film.

The term scullery maid originated from Old French: escueillier, a place where bowls are kept. A scullery maid was (and still is, although the term isn’t as common as it was in the Middle Ages) a kitchen helper. In the Middle Ages, many wealthy folks in England had the luxury of being able to afford … Read more

An early Middle Ages anecdote notes that etiquette suggested a nobleman go “an arrow’s flight” distance into the gardens before relieving himself. Unfortunately, records indicate that not all royalty felt the need to abide by such social rules. One shocked English nobleman’s story tells of a visiting king who appallingly defecated wherever he wished throughout … Read more

The reason Knights abandoned chain mail for plate armor during the Middle Ages was simple. Have you ever seen what a crossbow can do? It’s not pretty. It could shoot through the thin metal pieces of chain mail and straight through the leather. So plate mail was invented to protect against the crossbow, primarily. But … Read more

A full suit of plate armor, that is, plates of steel covering almost the entire body of the Knight and his horse, could cost as much as a small farm during the Middle Ages. The horse itself would cost the same amount, in today’s money, as a luxury car. Much like playing polo and collecting … Read more

A knight who had served in a Crusade was indeed prepared for burial in a special way, sort of. Traditionally, his legs were crossed instead of left straight. Knights in The Middle Ages were pretty high up in the social system and were treated that way with an honorable burial.

A vassal in The Middle Ages was a knight who came from the bottom of the nobility and was bound in military service to his king. In exchange, his lord swore protection to him and gave him land to farm either for himself or commercially. Above him in social ranking were dukes, barons, earls, and … Read more

Surprisingly, chain mail was really good at protecting against arrows and bludgeoning weapons during the Middle Ages. Soldiers who could afford and wear chain mail also wore leather tunics underneath, to keep the rings from being driven into their skin if they were clubbed. They relied heavily on their shields for defense as well. So … Read more

Knights wore full plate armor for tournament jousting because the battlers simply had to charge in one direction and see clearly enough to point. At the same time, their squires could rush out and attend to them once they were knocked on their breastplates or cruppers. However, if a squire were to help scoop his … Read more

The rock group Iron Maiden got its name from the medieval torture device of the same name. The most famous of these devices was the iron maiden of Nuremberg. It was destroyed during WWII air attacks, but pictures remain. In essence, it was a standing box. Spikes protruded from the back of the box, and … Read more

If a French Tickler and Spanish Tickler were the same thing, heretics of the late Middle Ages would’ve been very happy indeed. Alas, the Spanish Tickler, also known as a Cat’s Paw, was a torture device. It was, in essence, a metal claw about the size of a large man’s hand. It was used to … Read more

There isn’t much difference between The Middle Ages, Dark Ages, and Medieval Times. Although the Dark Ages traditionally refers to the first several centuries of the medieval period. Commonly, this whole medieval period extended from the end of the ancient Roman empire (somewhere around 400 A.D.) until the beginning of what is seen as “modern … Read more

The 1,000 terra-cotta soldiers, chariots, and horses were made, then buried with the first great emperor, Shi Huangdi, of the Qin Dynasty, a little over 2,000 years ago. Up until this time, it was commonplace for live soldiers, concubines, and others to be buried alive in the tombs of deceased emperors. Emperor Shi Huangdi is … Read more

Walking in armor wasn’t an easy task, particularly once armor went from chain mail to plate mail, at which point knights and their horses were covered in huge chunks of metal all over their bodies. A knight’s plate mail armor weighed upwards of 50 pounds for the full suit and got as heavy as 100 … Read more

The word “medieval” comes from two Latin words: medium and aevum. Respectively they mean “middle” and “age.”

Historians don’t call the Dark Ages that anymore; that term’s as outdated as the Edsel. The disparaging label came about sometime during the Renaissance years (from the 1300s to the 1600s) when the common man could read and write, and science and technology were flourishing. Much of the scientific and technological legacies left by the … Read more

In the movies, harakiri appeared very real. Realistically, it’s not clear how often the practice of ritual suicide—or seppuku—was voluntarily carried out to clear a samurai’s honor. The practice was more frequently used as a form of punishment, not as a completely voluntary act. What was involved is also often portrayed inaccurately: After donning white … Read more

The following is dubbed the Warrior’s Creed, found on just about every martial arts page on the Internet. The poem is heavy on religious principle, very Zen in nature, and attributed to an anonymous samurai from the 14th century. It might even be legitimate. I have no parents: I make the heavens and Earth my … Read more

It’s reported that the 1666 fire that swept London was actually started by King Charles II’s baker, Thomas Farrinor, who accidentally went to bed with his oven still burning. The phrase “from pudding to pie” comes directly from the Great Fire of London. Farrinor’s house was situated on Pudding Lane. Pie Lane is located on … Read more

We aren’t that far removed from the Romans, alas. Look at our own sports; look at our movies and TV shows; listen to rap lyrics. At least the Romans claimed that they had a higher purpose in their blood lust. They thought that seeing death would train their population to be good warriors. Furthermore, the … Read more

That would be Spartacus and his gang. A deserter from the Roman army, Spartacus was sold as a slave and trained as a gladiator. He escaped in 73 B.C. and gathered an army of 70,000 runaway slaves on Mount Vesuvius. They defeated five Roman armies and escaped to Cisalpine Gaul, where Spartacus intended to disband … Read more

No, the gladiola didn’t get its name from “gladiator”, but both the warrior and the plant got their names from gladius, Latin for “sword.” If you look at a gladiola and squint your eyes a bit, you can sort of see that the leaves surrounding the flower stalk look like green swords. And no, the … Read more

During the Civil War, the submarine the H. L. Hunley (named after its financier, Horace Hunley) was (sort of) successfully used in battle. Although it sank the Union’s Housatonic in shallow water by ramming bombs up against the sides of the battleship, in the process it sank itself as well. Five lives were lost on … Read more

This slang word “greenbacks” for Union money came from the mouths of American Civil War soldiers—or, as they called each other, graybacks and yankees. A slue of slang terms originated from these guys, many of them still in use today. Take for instance breadbasket (stomach), Chief cook and bottle washer (someone in charge who can … Read more

There is evidence that nomadic tribes of warrior women existed in Asia Minor, as Greek accounts have suggested, but it’s clear that not everything in these tales was based in fact. In tombs unearthed in the region (and other regions, it might be noted) both men and women were buried with weapons. This suggested that … Read more

The word “arena” was passed down to us from the ancient Romans. To sop up the endlessly flowing blood, the staging area of an ancient Roman arena was made of wood but covered with sand. “Sand” is harena in Latin, from which the word “arena” was spawned. Underneath the wood and harena was a dark, … Read more

Blood sports became so popular in Rome that the Colosseum was built specially for that purpose. The Colosseum had seating for about 50,000 people. The ringside seats were reserved for the emperor, senators, and other bigwigs. People of progressively lower status sat farther away, proportionate to their rank. Women and foreigners were seated in the … Read more

Well, think of the job description for a Roman Gladiator: “Fight and be killed for the amusement of others.” Consider the oath when you signed up where you agreed to be “burned with fire, shackled with chains, whipped with rods and killed with steel.” Would you choose to apply for a job like this? To … Read more

Actually, it was a matter of honor that the animal fighters, called bestiarii, were considered below true gladiators in rank. However, neither is to be confused with the condemned criminals, who were thrown defenseless into the midst of hungry animals to be because they were torn to pieces for sport. Actually, a bestiarum had a … Read more

There were about 4,000 Japanese Kamikaze pilots in World War II. Not all piloted planes—some were the drivers inside “smart bombs,” torpedoes, and small, explosive-filled boats. Others volunteered to wear bombs on their bodies and throw themselves under the wheels of tanks. Despite their best intentions, some kamikazes did survive.

The last Japanese soldier from World War II surrendered in 1974. Somebody neglected to tell Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda that the war had ended. He stayed at his post on Lubang Island in the Philippines, and held out for 30 more years. When he finally was coaxed out by his long-retired commanding officer and learned the … Read more

The Australian Aborigines didn’t get their boomerangs to return to them if they hit something while hunting. As you would suspect, if a returning boomerang actually makes contact with something, its flight is cut short and it won’t return to the thrower. Here’s a quick primer on boomerangs: Boomerangs are simply a curved version of … Read more

Kamikaze means “divine wind” in Japanese. The term was coined in 1281, referring to typhoons that wiped out a Mongol invasion fleet before it could arrive on Japan’s shores. In the same way, the kamikaze hoped that their suicide missions would stop the Allies as they approached Japan.

You’re working under the modern assumption that helmets were worn by Japanese Kamikaze pilots to prevent death and injury. But helmets wouldn’t do much in a plane crash, anyway. They were there for warmth, to hold the two-way radio for communication, and to protect your head from minor bangs that can occur from a sudden … Read more

Strange, but true: They have been described as being somewhat psychologically typical of Japanese youths at the time. A recurring theme in Japanese literature is that suicide of young people is a touchingly beautiful thing, like cherry blossoms falling before wilting, etc. Another theme was that it was honorable for soldiers to die for the … Read more

These days, only special time travel will provide a chance of becoming a samurai warrior. The samurai began as a class of warriors in feudal Japan and stayed in power through the 17th century. But even if you could transport back to the days of the samurai, chances are you wouldn’t have measured up. Few … Read more

Much like a western European chivalrous code of ethics, the Japanese samurai had a code of their own, which was orally transmitted from generation to generation. It was a code that evolved from a combination of strict military code, Zen Buddhism, Shintoism, and Confucianism. It was written down in the 17th century as Way of … Read more

A samurai is a warrior, protector, and leader. A Ninja is someone who practices ninjutsu. Ninjutsu is covert activities, or if literally translated from the Japanese, “the art of stealing in.” Ninjutsu came about from Japanese mystics during the rise of the samurai. It didn’t exclude combat, but fighting was only a small part of … Read more

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the leader of Japan during the medieval ages. In the late 1100s, he was the leader of the Minamoto clan. He set up Japan’s very first warrior government, or shogunate, and was much lauded for uniting the country. As a result of this unification, Japan saw the birth of a long … Read more

The Norse heaven for slain warriors was called Valhalla, meaning, literally, “hall of the slain.” In Old Norse mythology, brave warriors killed in battle were brought to Valhalla by Valkyries, special death maidens. During an average day in the afterlife, dead warriors fought battles, and their wounds from a hard day of fighting were miraculously … Read more

Indeed, a battle-axe was different from a regular wood-chopping axe in medieval times. The battle-axe had a shorter handle. When chopping wood, a long handle is necessary for a wide swing. In battle, and in dealing with flesh, a short blow yields more accuracy and damage.

From the 13th to the 16th centuries, the long bow, a bow longer than the four-foot regular bow, was the official weapon of the British army. It could fire off 10 to 12 arrows a minute and was almost as powerful as the crossbow. Be assured, it won many a war during those days and … Read more

Women did serve in the Buffalo Soldier regiment, but not legally. However, there was a woman named Cathay Williams—a former slave from Independence, Missouri—who secretly served as soldier William Cathay for two years during the Civil War. When she fell ill in 1868, she was discovered and discharged. She later opened a boarding house in … Read more

A battle-axe is certainly a better weapon than a guy with a joust on a horse. Why? Because a joust isn’t a weapon in and of itself; it’s a specific type of competition at a medieval tournament. Two armored knights would mount horses and face one another, each holding a lance. They would then charge … Read more

Native Americans gave the troops the name, probably because they hadn’t seen many African Americans and thought the soldiers’ short, dark, curly hair resembled the mane of the buffalo. The name was thought to be a sign of respect because the buffalo was an important animal to the Indians. The name originated with the Cheyenne … Read more

The Buffalo Soldiers were the ninth and tenth cavalries of the United States Army, which, in those segregated times, were made up entirely of African Americans. The first peacetime all-black regiments in the regular U.S. Army, they were first formed in 1866 and sent to the West to fight Indians, protect settlers, capture outlaws, and … Read more

The Zulu perform an intricate ritual before going to battle. The regiment, which is up to 1,000 warriors, congregate in the cattle kraal (the area blocked off for cattle near or within the village area) and jump around, miming their moves in battle. This is done in full war regalia, which can include headdresses of … Read more

Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders did not exist for very long, except in American legend. Teddy Roosevelt, anxious for a war with Spain, resigned as Secretary of the Navy and was authorized to put together a thousand-man volunteer cavalry force. Roosevelt was a Harvard boy, and so most of his early recruits were of similar ivy-league … Read more