Gist of History

Gist of History Gist of History brings you short, engaging stories from world history - battles, kings, mysteries, and the turning points that shaped humanity.

06/12/2026

Sometimes morale breaks long before the line does.

USS Missouri (BB-63), helicopter picking up officer from the battleship’s deck. U.S. Navy Photograph, USN 705710. Ph...
06/12/2026

USS Missouri (BB-63), helicopter picking up officer from the battleship’s deck.

U.S. Navy Photograph, USN 705710.

Photograph filed January 10, 1949.
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06/12/2026

They planned for a missing carrier. Yorktown showed up anyway.

The U.S. Navy battleships USS Mississippi (BB-41), foreground, and USS Idaho (BB-42) during their modernisation refit at...
06/12/2026

The U.S. Navy battleships USS Mississippi (BB-41), foreground, and USS Idaho (BB-42) during their modernisation refit at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia (USA), on 30 May 1933.
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Fires a salvo from the forward 16"/50 gun turret, during her shakedown period, circa August 1944..
06/12/2026

Fires a salvo from the forward 16"/50 gun turret, during her shakedown period, circa August 1944.
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06/12/2026

The shotgun was deadly in the Pacific, but not the miracle weapon people imagine. What’s your favorite Pacific Theater weapon?

Aerial view of warships at the base piers of Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia (USA), circa August 1944. Among them are:the b...
06/11/2026

Aerial view of warships at the base piers of Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia (USA), circa August 1944. Among them are:

the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), the largest ship;
the battlecruiser USS Alaska (CB-1), on the other side of the pier;
the es**rt carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25), and two destroyers, a Fletcher-class destroyer at the pier and a Clemson/Wilkes-class-destroyer moored outboard.

06/11/2026

Imagine surviving the enemy, only to be killed by your own shot.

Underway off the U.S. east coast, 11 April 1944. Photographed from a blimp of squadron ZP-11. Official U.S. Navy Photogr...
06/11/2026

Underway off the U.S. east coast, 11 April 1944. Photographed from a blimp of squadron ZP-11.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph.
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Spectators and photographers pick vantage spots on the deck of the USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay, to witness the formal... N...
06/11/2026

Spectators and photographers pick vantage spots on the deck of the USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay, to witness the formal...

NARA - 531312
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