HistoryNet

11/27/2022

How Allied Air Attacks Evolved During World War II

In October 1943, the U.S. Eighth Air Force's losses became critical, forcing a reappraisal of the American daylight bombing strategy.

11/27/2022

How Bobby the Antelope Became One of the British Army’s Cutest Mascots

Antelopes represented one of Britain’s oldest infantry regiments for more than 200 years—even if they were sometimes prone to butting unsuspecting soldiers.

Antelopes represented one of Britain’s oldest infantry regiments for more than 200 years—even if they were sometimes prone to butting unsuspecting soldiers

11/27/2022

The Many Times Rommel Escaped Death or Capture During World War II

Erwin Rommel’s hands-on approach to military leadership in World War II brought him into constant brushes with danger and death.

11/26/2022

General George S. Patton's Race to Capture Messina

When plans for the Allied conquest of Sicily called for the British army to capture the key port of Messina, Patton decided he would get there first.

11/26/2022

Ace for the Ages: World War I Fighter Pilot Manfred von Richthofen

Over a century since his death on the Western Front, fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen's fame remains undimmed.

11/26/2022

How 60 Knights Paused a War to Fight a Battle Royale Death Match

In 1351 opposing hosts of medieval knights and squires met on a field—not to settle a war, but to test one another’s mettle.

In 1351 opposing hosts of medieval knights and squires met on a field—not to settle a war, but to test one another’s mettle

11/26/2022

Brewster Buffalo: The Plane That Knocked the Soviets on Their Heels

This unloved American plane proved itself in Finnish pilots' hands as it beat back the Soviets in World War II.

11/25/2022

The 10 Most Interesting Wild West Characters ... Some May Surprise You

Can you tell what all these legendary Wild West characters had in common?

11/25/2022

First Italo-Abyssinian War: Battle of Adwa

On March 1, 1896, Italian General Oreste Baratieri knew he was outnumbered. But he seriously underestimated his Ethiopian opponents—and overestimated the merits of his own battle plan.

11/25/2022

Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Hlobane

Colonel Henry Evelyn Wood had expected little trouble as his cavalry ascended Hlobane Mountain. What he got was a Zulu army, 22,000 men strong.

11/25/2022

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11/25/2022

German Submarine U-505 Crewmember Hans Goebeler Recalls Being Captured During World War II

A German submarine became the first enemy vessel captured on the high seas by the U.S. Navy since the War of 1812. Hans Goebeler survived the ordeal aboard the U-boat.

11/25/2022

The Warriors Who Nearly Destroyed Cortés — Before Joining Him

As Hernán Cortés made his way toward the Aztecan heart of Mexico, the conquistador ran up against the Tlaxcalans, a people who could ally with or annihilate him.

As Hernán Cortés made his way toward the Aztecan heart of Mexico, the conquistador ran up against the Tlaxcalans, a people who could ally with or annihilate him

11/25/2022

Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett: First to Fly over the North Pole

The Fokker Trimotor Josephine Ford survived mishaps and beat fierce competition to be the first aircraft to fly over the top of the world, carrying Richard E. Byrd into history.

11/24/2022

They Assumed the Enemy in Vietnam Was Incapable of Intercepting Radio Communications. They Were Wrong.

Senior U.S. commanders thought the NVA and Viet Cong were too "primitive" to eavesdrop and make deadly use of radio intelligence. Careless communications cost American lives.

Senior U.S. commanders thought the NVA and Viet Cong were too "primitive" to make deadly use of radio intel. Careless communications cost American lives.

11/24/2022

How An Artist Painted Nature To Reveal the Horrors of War

Arguably, the most famous example of surrealist painting depicting war is Pablo Picasso's Guernica. But Paul Nash's body of artwork spans two wars, depicting a fantastic, grotesque, dreamlike vision of the battlefields he witnessed.

Paul Nash’s paintings reveal what soldiers—and the land itself—endured in two world wars.

11/24/2022

How Thanksgiving Evolved: Thanks to the Woman Who Wrote 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' (Seriously!)

Give credit for the national holiday to a woman who wouldn't give up.

11/24/2022

Why the Pilgrim Story Is Mostly Stuffing

One of the main crops at Plimoth Plantation was historical fiction.

11/24/2022

This Confederate Officer Couldn't Go To War Without His One-Gallon Whiskey Jug

Shanks Evans was a rip-roaring, knock-kneed fighter—and his fondness for alcohol made him his own worst enemy.

11/24/2022

That Time FDR Changed the Date of Thanksgiving — and Alienated Half the Country

In 1939, the last Thursday in November fell on the last day of the month. Business leaders, struggling through the Great Depression and concerned about holiday sales, went to FDR, who moved the holiday.

It did not go well.

The president was trying to placate business leaders, but his 'Franksgiving' gaffe sent the nation into a tizzy.

11/24/2022

How I Spent My Thanksgiving in Saigon

Here's how an Army first lieutenant hooked up with his college buddy to celebrate Thanksgiving "just down the road" in Vietnam.

11/24/2022

The 10 Worst WW2 Fighter Planes, From Bad Designs to, Well, Worse

There's lots of competition for the best fighter planes of World War II. These, however, are not them. These are the worst—candidates for the Hall of Shame.

11/24/2022

This WWII Battle Was a Footnote in American History — It Haunted This Marine for the Rest of His Life

Some veterans are haunted by ghosts that have never gone away. Some, though, have tried to exorcise the ghosts and put the past aside.

11/24/2022

The Hidden Battlefield Where Black Troops Avenged Fallen Comrades — and Earned the Medal of Honor.

Piles of brown leaves, as well as gnarly tree roots, scattered broken twigs, tree branches and limbs, carpet the forest floor. About a half-mile away, traffic hums on six lanes of Interstate 295, which slices through the battlefield like a bayonet through the heart.

That's where in a charge about daybreak on September 29, 1864, Black troops shouted: “Remember Fort Pillow! No quarter for the Rebels.”

Tucked into thick forest off an interstate is a largely forgotten battlefield, where 14 U.S. Colored Troops soldiers and two white officers earned the nation's highest military honor.

11/23/2022

New Study Looks at a Grim Mission: Bringing WWII's Dead Back Home

“For many families, the war did not end in 1945,” author Kim Clarke says.

More than 171,000 dead Americans were returned home after the fighting, but it's "a largely unknown chapter of the war."

11/23/2022

Memphis Belle: 25 Trips to Hell and Back

In the flak-filled sky over a German U-boat installation in occupied France on January 23, 1943, Memphis Belle was battling for her life.

In the flak-filled sky over a German U-boat installation in occupied France on January 23, 1943, Memphis Belle was battling for her life. The U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17F,

11/23/2022

Kharkiv Is No Stranger To Invasion—The N***s Fought Four Battles Over It

Ukraine’s second-largest city today was one of the most hotly-contested objectives on World War II’s Eastern Front.

11/23/2022

Last Ditch Rebel Stand at Petersburg

After nearly 10 months of trench warfare, Confederate resistance at Petersburg, Va., suddenly collapsed. Desperate to save his army, Robert E. Lee called on his soldiers for one last miracle.

11/23/2022

'A Town Destroyed by the Civil War'

During the Civil War, Confederate and Union troops surged back and forth through Centreville, Virginia, especially during the time surrounding the battles that took place in nearby Manassas on July 21, 1861, and Aug. 28-30, 1862. The town’s central location between Leesburg, Middleburg, Warrenton, Washington, Georgetown and Alexandria made it a prime spot for massive fortifications and winter camps built by Confederate forces at the start of the conflict and later used by Union soldiers throughout the war, as pictured here.

According to the Fairfax County Park Authority, the Civil War effectively destroyed the Centreville community and surrounding areas. “If ever a village was killed in war it was Centreville,” the Washington Sunday Star said in 1914.

It wasn’t until the early 1900s that the town began to resume growth as a residential area. The D.C. suburb’s population exploded in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to the influx of technology companies in the Northern Virginia area. According to the 2010 census, Centreville had a population of 71,135 — a far cry from the war-torn town the Star called “stagnant and drowsy” in 1914.

11/23/2022

Why Did the Roman Empire Fall?

The vast empire that reigned supreme for more than two millennia crumbled in just a few short centuries.

11/23/2022

Stugna-P Missile: Ukrainian Widows' Revenge Against Russia

This homegrown antitank weapon has already avenged Ukrainian soldiers in their fight against an invading Russia.

11/23/2022

Was There Anything Funny About the Vietnam War? Robin Williams Thought So

"If it works, there’s a certain catharsis in laughter,” Robin Williams said during production of "Good Morning, Vietnam."

Revisiting 'Good Morning, Vietnam' more than 30 years after its release

11/22/2022

This Minor Sea Battle in Hudson Bay Handed North America to France — For a Time

On Sept. 5, 1697, wooden warships from England and France waged a bitter, hours-long battle in Hudson Bay. Though long forgotten, the clash marked the largest naval action ever fought off what today is far northeastern Canada.

The nearly-forgotten clash shifted the balance of colonial power in the New World.

11/22/2022

This Confederate Officer Couldn't Go To War Without His One-Gallon Whiskey Jug

Confederate Col. Nathan George “Shanks” Evans was a rip-roaring, knock-kneed fighter—and his fondness for alcohol made him his own worst enemy.

Shanks Evans was a rip-roaring, knock-kneed fighter—and his fondness for alcohol made him his own worst enemy.

11/22/2022

'President Kennedy has been shot' — Memories of JFK's Assassination More Than 58 Years Later

It was an early Friday afternoon on Nov. 22, with the crispness of fall overtaking much of the nation and the end of the work week before the Thanksgiving holiday. For those near a TV tuned to CBS, 11 minutes into the soap opera "As the World Turns," a bulletin flashed on the screen.

It was an early Friday afternoon with the crispness of fall overtaking much of the nation, the end of the work week before the Thanksgiving holiday.

11/22/2022

Dien Bien Phu: What Happened at the Pivotal 1954 Battle | HistoryNet

Read Bernard B. Fall's classic account of the pivotal 1954 battle at Dien Bien Phu, where the French garrison fell to the Viet Minh.

11/22/2022

'The Abyss: The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962' Review: Inside a Ploy to Shock and Amaze a Young President

You may think you know the missile crisis story, but author Max Hastings’s research and narrative skills will prove otherwise.

The world stood at the verge of ending not with a whimper but a bang.

11/22/2022

Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus

On August 9, 48 bc, the power struggle for Rome reached its climax as Gaius Julius Caesar faced off against the commander he regarded as the most formidable adversary of his military career: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

11/22/2022

At Hamburger Hill in Vietnam, a Can of Peaches Meant Life or Death

Since the tiny can (of peaches) could not realistically feed a dozen men, I decided to get it over with and quickly ate the rest of the fruit. No one said anything, but their cold stares confirmed that I had made a mistake.

This sergeant almost died on Hamburger Hill because he once refused to share his C-rations.

11/22/2022

Meals, Revolting to Eat: The Most Disgusting Military Rations Ever

Through the ages soldiers have had to stomach all kinds of food that can only be described as awful. Here’s a sampling.