Soccer was a popular and successful sport in the US up until the 1930s. However a series of disputes between rival leagues and FIFA (called the Soccer Wars) , and the onset of the Great Depression led to a massive decline in the popularity of the sport. The post Soccer was a popular and successful…… Read More »
The bazooka anti-tank weapon is named after a its resemblance to a novelty musical instrument created by a radio comedian of the 1930s called Bob Burns. After firing the weapon during testing a General commented: “It sure looks like Bob Burns’ bazooka”, and the weapon gained its WWII nickname. The post The bazooka anti-tank weapon…… Read More »
In Feb 1945, Mikhail Devyataev, a Soviet fighter pilot escaped a Nazi concentration camp near Peenemünde with nine other POWs by taking over the commandant’s He 111 bomber. The NKVD didn’t believe his story and classified him as a criminal, but in 1957 he became a Hero of the Soviet Union. The post In Feb… Read More »
In 1965, Arnold Schwarzenegger went AWOL in the Austrian Army (during the 1 year service required by the government) to attend a bodybuilding contest. He spent a week in military prison, but won the contest, propelling the opportunity for larger contests and, ultimately, his ticket to to America. Three years later, he was living in… Read More »
The first Soviet citizen to visit the White House was a female WWII sniper with 309 confirmed kills, one of which was a sniper she dueled for 3 days. But as the tour progressed, Pavlichenko began to bristle at the questions, and her clear, dark eyes found focus. One reporter seemed to criticize the long… Read More »
Following Bruce Lee’s death in 1973, a series of “Brucesploitation” movies got released starring look-alike actors to capitalize on the late star’s fame. The actors had names such as Bruce Le, Bruce Lai, Brute Lee, and Bruce Lie. The post Following Bruce Lee’s death in 1973… appeared first on Crazy Facts. Source
50 years ago, Ham the chimp was launched into space, where he experienced up to 14.7g during a six-minute freefall. He survived his ocean splashdown (although he nearly drown before rescue crews arrived) and lived 20 more years at a zoo in Washington D.C. The post 50 years ago, Ham the chimp was…. appeared first… Read More »