Browsing: Lists

A Brief History On May 9, 1926, Richard E. Byrd claimed to have made a flight over the North Pole, making him (the navigator) and his pilot the first men to have achieved that distinction. Doubters surfaced soon afterwards, and the 1996 release of Byrd’s diary clearly showed how he had falsified data to claim he had made the trip when in reality he had turned back without achieving his goal. People lie. Not all the time, but often enough and about big enough subjects that we have compiled a list of 10 big whoppers for you. Digging Deeper 10.…

A Brief History On May 9, 1986, Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay died, the first man to climb Mt. Everest.  Sir Edmund Hilary is usually given that distinction, but it was Norgay that guided him up the tallest mountain in the world and was probably the first to the summit.  History is full of sidekicks, a person close to another that gets most of the fame, fame that would be less likely without the presence of the sidekick.  Kind of like bacon and eggs, or beer and pretzels, the primary and the sidekick just belong together. Here we list 10 of…

A Brief History On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the allies and ceased to exist as a state. You may count Germany invading Poland in 1939 as the start of World War II (also known as The Second World War) or the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1937, but in any case most people would guess correctly that World War II cost more lives than any other war in history. (Please note that total lives lost in each war are also debatable, and the list can be rearranged somewhat depending on your analysis of the sources.) The…

A Brief History On May 7, 1429, Joan of Arc, The Maid of Orleans, pulled an arrow out of her own shoulder and went back to fighting, leading the final charge that lifted the Siege of Orleans. Some warriors are like that, they get wounded and care more about getting the job done than taking care of themselves. Almost all of US Medal of Honor winners qualify in this way, but we would like to present a variety of special warriors from various times and places. Here we list 10 such brave fighters. Digging Deeper 10. Manfred von Richthofen, 1918.…

A Brief History On May 7, 1999, the United States accidentally killed 3 Chinese embassy employees and wounded 20 more when a NATO jet mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Since explosives have been used in warfare, people have accidentally blown up the wrong target, often killing unintended victims. Here are 10 of these more interesting cases (there are many, many cases indeed).  (Note: While Pope Francis dropped an accidental “F-bomb” in March of 2014, those kind of bombs do not count!) Digging Deeper 10. Iraq Suicide Bomb Training. In February of 2014 it was reported a terrorist…