On the afternoon of September 7, 1940, the people of London heard a sound they had been dreading for years: the ominous drone of aero engines. High above, the sky filled with waves of German bombers, and a torrent of high explosives and incendiaries began to rain down on the British capital. The bombardment continued… Read More »
Pretty much as long as Santa has been Santaing, kids have been trying to send him messages through various means, including, of course, in written form. But when these written messages are mailed, what do the post offices’ the world over actually do with the letters? Well, it turns out, some rather interesting things in… Read More »
In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, a massive Allied invasion force comprising some 5,000 ships, 1,200 aircraft, and 160,000 troops steamed across the English Channel towards the beaches of Normandy. It was the opening act of Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious invasion in history and the battle that would finally secure an… Read More »
In September 2013, food critic Matt Gross sat down at the Second Annual New York City Hot Sauce Expo and prepared to face a daunting challenge. Before him on the table lay three small, dark red, shrivelled peppers, which he was to eat as quickly as he could. Gross, a veteran spice connoisseur or “chilihead”,… Read More »
It is the ultimate naval weapon. Lurking unseen beneath the waves, it can travel the world’s oceans at will and appear without warning, unleashing a deadly salvo of ship-killing torpedoes or world-ending nuclear missiles before melting away back into the depths. It is, of course, the submarine. But the stealthy, ultra-sophisticated nuclear submarines of today… Read More »
If you ever read the Iliad, you might find yourself asking a few questions: Why does the story pick up nine years into the war? Where’s the Trojan Horse? Wait, they don’t sack Troy in this poem? Will Achilles ever stop whining? What about his heel? Reading the Iliad for the first time can be… Read More »
Of all major military conflicts of the Twentieth Century, the Second World War stands apart. Not only was it the deadliest conflict in modern history, claiming an estimated 85 million lives, or about 1 in every 25 people, but it was also arguably history’s first truly technological war. While many now-ubiquitous military technologies such as… Read More »
On the 25th of April, 1917, the British satirical magazine Punch ran an evocative political cartoon. In it, a stern Kaiser Wilhelm II, dressed in full regalia, stands before a young German army recruit. Pointing out the window to a giant factory belching black smoke, he declares: “And don’t forget that your Kaiser will find… Read More »
In the modern world, if you step out your door and travel to neighboring cities or even countries, you’ll generally be greeted by a slew of familiar food related franchises for your respective region, with some of the most popular in the world today including McDonald’s, Subway, Starbucks, KFC, Dunkin, and the like. In all… Read More »
It is one of the most iconic and enduring images in American history: a hollow-cheeked, white-haired figure with bushy eyebrows and a pointy goatee dressed in a tophat and tails emblazoned with the stars and stripes, pointing sternly at the viewer and declaring I WANT YOU FOR THE U.S. ARMY. This, of course, is Uncle… Read More »
If I say the word “balloon”, the image that pops into your head is likely a benign one – a colourful helium party balloon, perhaps; or a hot air balloon drifting serenely over a city. But, as with pretty much all of mankind’s creations, these seemingly docile flying machines can and have been turned into… Read More »