Dear General: We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. This telegram might not resonate with most readers, but among enthusiasts of Anglo-American naval history, it holds a certain fame. On September 10, 1813, Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry sent this message to his superior, U.S. […]
Wars
Posted inAntiquity
How Ashurbanipal Destroyed Babylon, Whose King Was His Own Elder Brother
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…” Revelation, 14:08 This verse from the Bible likely sounds familiar to many; it refers to the conquest of the Mesopotamian city by Cyrus the Great and the Persians in 539 BCE, the year they ended a period of Babylonian splendor led by Nebuchadnezzar […]
Posted inModern Era
Shiroyama, the Epic Battle That Marked the End of the Samurai
Some time ago, we published an article titled Saigō Takamori, the True Story of the Last Samurai, recounting the story of this singular figure, ending with a brief narration of his death. He perished in the Battle of Shiroyama, a fight that marked the end of the so-called Satsuma Rebellion. This occurred amidst the turbulent, […]
Posted inSecond World War
How the Germans Developed and Used the First Operational Jet Bomber in History During World War II
The first operational jet bomber in history was called the Arado Ar 234 Blitz and entered service with the Luftwaffe in 1943 during World War II. It participated in several operations, demonstrating a speed that made it impossible for enemy fighters to intercept. However, it did not have the impact it could have had because […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Philopoemen, the “Last of the Greeks”, Who Finally Ended Sparta’s Power
In the same year, 183 BCE, two great figures of ancient military history passed away. One was the Roman Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus; the other, a Greek whose body was cremated in a ceremony of great solemnity, attended by emotional Achaean warriors, where the historian Polybius had the honor of carrying the urn containing the […]
Posted inModern Era
The World’s Richest Man in the First Half of the 19th Century Was a Chinese Merchant Who Lent Money to American Millionaires
If we asked who the wealthiest person in the world was in the first half of the 19th century, many would likely think of Queen Victoria or an American multimillionaire like Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Morgan, or Ford. But the queen did not ascend the throne until 1837 and thus needed decades to amass her fortune, estimated […]
Posted inAge of Exploration
George Anson, the British seafarer who circumnavigated the world to capture the Spanish Acapulco Galleon
The War of Jenkins’ Ear pitted Britain against Spain from 1739 to 1748, leaving three particularly noteworthy episodes in its wake. One was the incident that sparked it, leading the British to name it that way while Spanish call it Guerra del Asiento. Another was Admiral Howard Vernon’s disastrous attempt to conquer Cartagena de Indias, […]
Posted inFirst World War
White Friday: The Avalanches That Buried Thousands of Soldiers in the Alps in World War I
Many people are eagerly watching the calendar, awaiting the arrival of Black Friday on November to take advantage of tempting deals, even if it means braving the crowds to do so. But, while each year we laugh at the videos circulating of these scuffles, the truth is that the White Friday was much worse. Unlike […]
Posted inModern Era
How the Siege of Paris in 1871 Enabled German Unification, Proclaimed in Versailles
On October 7, 1870, one of those minor, anecdotal episodes that pepper History amidst greater events took place. A hydrogen balloon named Armand-Barbès lifted off from Paris, setting out towards Tours with an unusual passenger: none other than Léon Michel Gambetta, Minister of the Interior and War in the National Defense Government, a provisional administration […]
Posted inArchaeology, Second World War
German WWII Soldier’s Grave Found in Poland with Mesolithic Tools, Roman and Byzantine Coins, and Other Artifacts
The Tuchola Forest in northern Poland continues to reveal its secrets as archaeologists explore its vast woods and lakes. A team of archaeologists led by Olaf Popkiewicz made an exceptional discovery near Grzybek, in Wdecki Landscape Park, on the shores of the Żur Reservoir. What began as a routine expedition quickly turned into a surprising […]
