Jan. 30, 2004 The longest known siege in history was that of Ashdod (a Hebrew word meaning "stronghold"), Israel. According to Greek historian Herodotus, the siege was invested by Psamtik I of Egypt for 29 years during his reign from 664 - 610 BC.
Jan. 29, 2004 When the Prussians surrounded Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, beef became so scarce that the people in Paris turned to eating horsemeat as an alternative. They still eat horse to this day.
Jan. 28, 2004 When the Persians invaded Egypt and were besieging Pelusium, they used cats as shields. The Egyptians regarded certain animals, especially cats, as being sacred, and would not injure them on any account. The Persians carried the 'sacred' animals in front of them to the attack. The Egyptians did not dare to shoot their arrows for fear of wounding the animals, and so Pelusium was stormed successfully.
Jan. 27, 2004 During the Civil War, one-third to one-half of the currency in circulation was counterfeit.
Jan. 26, 2004 In France, in 1914, during World War I, French General Joseph-Simon Gallieni, military governor of Paris, used a fleet of taxis, the drivers still wearing their caps, to transport his troops from Paris to the Battle of the Marne. This is considered the first operational employment of motorized transport.
Jan. 23, 2004 During the 19th century soldiers who had died in battle had their teeth pulled out to be used as dentures by other people.
Jan. 22, 2004 Sadly, when the battleship USS Arizona was destroyed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor 23 sets of brothers were killed.
Jan. 21, 2004 In 1941, during the German invasion of Russia, for every 100 Russian males aged 18, 99 would have been killed over the next five years.
FACTOID: Jan. 20, 2004
During the Gulf War, allied forces lost just 4 tanks.
Jan. 20, 2004 During the first Gulf war in the 1990's the allied forces lost just 4 tanks out of the 3,360 that were deployed. The Iraqi's however lost 4,000 tanks out of 4,230 they used.
Jan. 16, 2004 To conserve metal during World War II the Academy Awards of Merit — also known as the Oscars -- were made out of wood.
Jan. 15, 2004 During the days of the Manhattan Project all applicants for menial jobs at the plant where the atomic bomb was being built did not get a job if they could read. This was because US authorities didn't want staff reading secret papers.
Jan. 14, 2004 "M&M's"® were developed so that soldiers could eat candy without getting their fingers sticky. Legend has it that on a trip to Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Forrest Mars Sr. encountered soldiers who were eating pellets of chocolate that were encased in a hard sugary coating to prevent them from melting. This inspired him to later create the recipe for M&M® Chocolate.
Jan. 13, 2004 The extras in the battle scenes in the movie Braveheart were reserves in the Irish army.
FACTOID: Jan. 01, 2004
"Hundred Years War" between England and France was the longest war.
Jan. 12, 2004 The Allied land, air and sea operation against the Normandy coasts of France on D-day, 6 June 1944 was the greatest invasion in military history. On the first 3 days, 38 convoys of 745 ships moved in. That was supported by 20,000 vehicles, 347 minesweepers, carrying 185,000 men and 4,055 landing craft.
Jan. 9, 2004 The bloodiest battle fought on earth was the first Battle of the Somme, France from 1 July to 19 November 1916. The battle recorded the greatest number of military casualties at 1,043,896. 623,907 were Allied and the rest German.
Jan. 8, 2004 The most costly war or record in terms of human life was the World War II (1939 -1945). The total number of fatalities of all countries is estimated to have been 54,800,000. Poland was the country that suffered most with 6,028,000 of her population of 35,100,000 killed. In World War I the total combatant death toll was 9,700,000. The figure rouse to 15,600,000 in World War II.
Jan. 7, 2004 During WWII, Americans tried to train bats to drop bombs. They failed.
Jan. 6, 2004 A broken wooden spear found by S. Hazzledine Warren in April 1911 at Clacton-on-Sea is believed to be the oldest known offensive weapon. It is estimated to have been fashioned before 200,000 BC.
Jan. 5, 2004 A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I.
Jan. 2, 2004 In the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, 231 ships and 1,996 aircraft were involved making it the greatest number of ships and aircraft in a sea-air action. 6 US and 26 Japanese ships were sunk. The battle raged from 22 to 27 October 1944.
Jan. 1, 2004 "Hundred Years War" between England and France was the longest war. It lasted for 115 years from 1338 to 1453. It may be said the nine Crusades, comprised a single holy war, extending over 195 years, from First (1096 - 1104) to the Ninth (1270 - 1291).
