On the morning of July 27, 1943, U.S. Army Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Duckworth sat down to breakfast at Bryan Field near Galveston, Texas. Outside the wind howled as a category 2 hurricane bore down upon the coast. The storm had come as a complete surprise; as a precaution against U-boat attacks a radio blackout had been ordered for […]

On September 1, 1939, 66 infantry divisions, 2,750 tanks, and 1,315 aircraft of the German Wehrmacht thundered across Germany’s eastern border into neighbouring Poland, plunging Europe into the Second World War. Two weeks later on September 17, the Soviet Red Army followed suit, invading Poland from the east with 33 divisions. The Polish armed forces, brave but outnumbered and outgunned, […]

As we’ve previously covered in our video What was Hitler Like as a Child?, Adolf Hitler had in some ways a rather nice childhood, centering around an upper-middle class lifestyle and all the opportunities and niceties that entails. But on the other hand, he was regularly severely abused as a child by his alcoholic father, who also regularly abused Hitler’s […]

First introduced in 1954, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter looked like something out of science fiction. Designed by legendary aircraft designer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, mastermind behind the U-2, A-12, and SR-71 spy planes, the F-104 was built around the powerful General Electric J79 jet engine and featured an unusually slender, needle-shaped fuselage and short, stubby wings, earning it the nickname “the […]

Karuika asks: Who was the first person to figure out what dinosaur bones were? From around 250 to 66 million years ago various dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Today the only dinosaurs left are birds, which are coelurosauria theropods- funny enough the same sub-group Tyrannosauruses belong to. (Think about that the next time you’re enjoying a McDinosaur sandwich or scrambling up […]

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader How real are the TV shows that focus on police and lawyers? A few go all out for accuracy, while others get laughed at by the professions they portray. But they’ve all had an impact on society…both positive and negative. FAMILIAR FORMULA If there were no cops, prosecutors, or defense […]

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader One amazing woman in Poland—and four teens in Kansas who tracked her down and told her story. SENDLER’S LIST In 1999 a teacher at Uniontown High School in Kansas encouraged four students to do a project for a national History Day contest. Norm Conard told his 9th-grade students—Elizabeth Cambers, Megan […]

Becky R. asks: Why do they use 21 guns in the 21 gun salute? The 21-gun salute that we know today has its roots in the ancient tradition of warriors demonstrating their peaceful intentions by resting the point of their weapons on the ground. The notion of making a soldier’s weapons useless to show that he came in peace continued […]

This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The “Witch of Wall Street” Long before the likes of Warren Buffet, Hetty Green dominated Wall Street through extremely shrewd investing, frugality, and exploiting the lax investment rules of her age, managing to amass one of the greatest fortunes in history. Hetty, […]