Browsing: Military

A Brief History On July 24, 1943, “Operation Gomorrah” began, the eradication of the City of Hamburg with “brimstone and fire from the heavens.”  Like its Biblical namesake, this operation was the purposeful destruction of a city and its inhabitants without regard for the virtues of any individuals or structures.  The entire place was a target to be razed to the ground, people included. Digging Deeper World War II had certainly already had tremendous acts of cruelty and depravity on a large scale by the time the decision to bomb Hamburg was made, but this attack marked a new Allied…

A Brief History On July 20, 1304, the forces of King Edward I of England successfully took Stirling Castle during the First War of Scottish Independence.  Although the Scots would ultimately maintain their independence, key to the English victory was the intimidating-sounding “Warwolf,” allegedly the largest trebuchet ever made.  This mighty siege engine catapulted rocks or other projectiles that weighed up to 300 pounds and was capable of battering down the walls of any castle.    Digging Deeper Intimidated by the weapon, the Scots tried to surrender the castle, but Edward (known as “Longshanks”) wanted to see the effectiveness of…

A Brief History On July 6, 1947, the aptly named AK-47 assault rifle went into production.  After undergoing military trials in the Soviet Union, it was accepted for general use by the Red Army in 1949.  Today, the AK-47 is still in production in many nations, and about 1 out of every 5 firearms in the world is an AK-47 or a closely related weapon.  Production is 75 million rifles and counting, with AK family of related weapons accounting for another 25 million rifles, carbines, pistols and machine guns, including semi-automatic civilian models. Digging Deeper To put the enormous impact…

A Brief History On June 22, 1990, Checkpoint Charlie, the best known crossing point between Soviet-occupied East Germany to Western-occupied West Germany was torn down, a sign that the Cold War that had threatened the world with nuclear annihilation since 1947 was drawing to an end.  Here we list 10 prominent symbols or icons that are closely associated with this time period.  (Honorable mention to the AK-47 and the M-16 assault rifles.) Digging Deeper 10. MiG-15 and F-86.  These are the best of the early jets from both sides that faced off during the Korean War; the fierce debate over which was the…

A Brief History On June 18, 1900, the Dowager Empress Cixi of China proclaimed war against the colonizing powers in China, including diplomats and their families.  This order was made during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), a popular uprising of Chinese against foreign Imperialists who had been imposing their will upon China.  For 55 days, foreigners and Christian Chinese were held under siege at a legation/embassy in Peking, now modern-day Beijing. Digging Deeper A major motion picture, 55 Days at Peking (1963), starring Charlton Heston, David Niven and Ava Gardner is loosely based on this event; it flopped at the box office,…