Drawing the Middle East modern borders on map with a ruler certainly seemed simple. Perhaps that’s why the lines, set in 1916 by Englishman Sir Mark Sykes and Frenchman Francois Georges-Picot were straight ones. The infamous Sykes-Picot Agreement was a pact between Great Britain and France, made in the middle of World War I (withContinue reading “Podcast: Why Does the Middle East have Straight Line Borders?”
Author Archives: andrewspaulw
Razor Tojo – Japan’s Adolf Hitler
Contrary to popular myth, Japan’s version of Adolf Hitler was not the Emperor (Showa) Hirohito but rather its infamous War Minister Hideki Tojo.
The Forgotten Graf Zeppelin, Hindenberg’s Big Brother
While the Hindenburg is the most notorious airship that ever flew, primarily due to its Titanic-like end in the U.S., its predecessor, the Graf Zeppelin, was the most successful.
The Nazi’s Wilhelm Gustloff – the World’s Worst Maritime Disaster
The sinking of MS WILHELM GUSTLOFF was the worst maritime disaster in world history, with more dead than the Titanic AND Lusitania combined. It was a German refugee ship fleeing Poland and the advancing Russian army near the end of World War II. The Gustloff sank in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by theContinue reading “The Nazi’s Wilhelm Gustloff – the World’s Worst Maritime Disaster”
The Bubonic Plague Pandemic, AKA the Black Death
The Bubonic Plague, better known as the Black Death, was one of the worst catastrophes in recorded history. From 1347 to 1351, it ravaged kingdoms across Europe, eradicating one- third of Europe’s inhabitants.
IN FLANDERS FIELDS World War I Poem Written over 100 Years Ago
Over 100 Years ago during World War I, the famous & haunting poem IN FLANDERS FIELDS was written by 41 year old Canadian Physician & Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae in May 1915.
The Audacious Career of Journalist Nellie Bly
Nellie Bly was the penname of the daring 18th century journalist and entrepreneur Elizabeth Cochrane.
Who Drained Russia’s Vast Aral Sea?
The Aral Sea is actually situated in Central Asia, between Northern Uzbekistan and Southern Kazakhstan. Once the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world, the vanishing Aral Sea is nearly empty now, thanks to a decades-old, Soviet-begun desert irrigation program.
Podcast: Castle Bravo – a Human-made Armageddon
On Monday March 1st, 1954, at 6:45 am, the U.S. carried out its largest nuclear detonation ever – CASTLE BRAVO – at the Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific Marshall Islands. Both military servicemen and Marshall Islanders got to experience first-hand what Armageddon would truly be like. The explosion turned out to be 2.5 timesContinue reading “Podcast: Castle Bravo – a Human-made Armageddon”
The Forgotten Great Chinese Famine of 1959
From 1959 to 1961, the Chinese people were decimated, not by the coronavirus and COVID-19, but by a devastating famine. The death toll, concealed by the Communist government at the time, is still a matter of debate. The consensus however is that at least 30 million people died, though some estimates take it as high as 50 MILLION.