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A Polish crowd welcomes a Soviet ISU-152 tank to Warsaw. Their enthusiasm was likely short-lived. (Twitter.com) On this day in 1945, units of the Soviet Red Army launched the Vistula-Oder Offensive, an effort to capture strategic Polish population centres including Warsaw and Kraków near the end of WWII. Under the command of Soviet Marshals Georgy…
Earhart on one of her aircraft. (Earcraft? Eh...never mind.) (Pinterest) On this day in 1935, American pilot Amelia Earhart completed the first solo flight from Hawaii to California. The same route had claimed the lives of several pilots during the 1927 Dole Air Race, but for Amelia, the long lonely ride presented little challenge. She…
Greek Hoplites on their "mad dash" towards the Persian lines. (Youtube.com) By the 490s BCE, the Persian Empire was the dominant power in the Mediterranean, having spent the past 40 years smashing smaller nations into submission. Luckily for the Greek poleis (city-states), the Persians had focused much of their energy on North Africa and the…
On this day in 1927, the classic science fiction film Metropolis was released in German cinemas. Directed by Fritz Lang, the film - which depicts a futuristic mega-city bristling with exciting new technology - took over a year to film and cost over 5 million Reichsmarks (€18 million if adjusted for inflation). The plot centres…
A dead-drop (exchange of information) between two KGB agents during the 1960s. This is likely how the Portland Spy Ring passed information to their KGB handlers. (National Museum of the USAF) On this day in 1961, British security forces uncovered the Portland Spy Ring, a group of Soviet spies operating in the United Kingdom. The…
Jacobites (in kilts, obviously) engage British troops during the '45 Rebellion. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1745, Jacobites occupied Stirling, England, during the '45 Rebellion (or, the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745). The Jacobites - from the latin Jacobus, or James - were a political movement that aimed to place the House of Stuart back…
A French police operator from GIGN patrols Paris in the wake of a terror attack. (sn.at) On this day in 2015, two gunmen stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo - a Parisian newspaper that featured controversial cartoons - and opened fire. After massacring a number of journalists and cartoonists at the paper's 11th arrondissement office,…
A 1944 colourised photograph of FDR. The president had been worn down by the war at this point, and died soon after. (Histomania) On this day in 1941, American president Franklin D. Roosevelt (or FDR) delivered his state of the union address. In the groundbreaking speech, FDR enumerated Four Freedoms that he believed all human…
A Ford assembly line during the early 20th century. (Focus.de) On this day in 1914, workers at the American Ford Motor Company - famed for producing the Model T car and revolutionizing automobile production - began working 8-hour days and receiving a $5 daily salary. At the orders of founder Henry Ford, Ford workers were…
A drawing from an early edition of "12 Years a Slave". (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1853, Solomon Northup - a Black, free-born American from New York - regained his freedom after 12 years of illegal enslavement. Having worked as a violinist and farmer in the Northern states (where slavery was illegal), Northup travelled…
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