Give me a mind-blowing history fact

195,734 Views | 1096 Replies | Last: 6 min ago by YZ250
Aggie1205
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AG
Heard this on a podcast recommended on another thread. It's a WW2 podcast called "We have ways of making you speak". They said that in the interwar years the US only produced around 300 tanks. From 1941 on the US produced 80,000 tanks.
LMCane
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On one day within 2 miles of each other, the following people fought on the same battlefield (Third Winchester 19 September 1864):

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes- future President of the United States 1876-1880

Major William McKinley- future President of the United States 1896-1901

Colonel George S. Patton (the Grandfather of WWII General Patton) who was killed fighting for the Confederacy on 19 September

George Armstrong Custer (13 years before being killed with his entire 7th Cavalry command at Little Big Horn)

General John Gordon - future two term Senator from Georgia, fought for Confederacy

General John C. Breckinridge - former Vice President of the United States 1856-1860 fighting for the Confederacy. escaped United States in 1865 and traveled to Mexico, Cuba on a raft, and ended up in Canada until 1869

General Fitzhugh Lee - nephew of Robert E. Lee, future Ambassador to Cuba during the Spanish American War

Phil Sheridan (future Chief of the US Army)

Emory Upton- rose to highest ranks in US Army and set doctrine and tactics for the military in the 1880s and 1890s

General Jubal A. Early- commander of all Confederate forces in Shenandoah Valley, led the efforts of the "Lost Cause" claiming the South only lost due to Union manpower superiority

Ranald Mackenzie- viewed as the best young officer in the Army by General US Grant, greatest Indian fighter in the US Army in the 1880s. died of suicide

General William Averell - died in the sinking of the Veracruz off Florida in the 1880s after he offered a seat on lifeboat to female
Rabid Cougar
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AG
LMCane said:

On one day within 2 miles of each other, the following people fought on the same battlefield (Third Winchester 19 September 1864):

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes- future President of the United States 1876-1880

Major William McKinley- future President of the United States 1896-1901

Colonel George S. Patton (the Grandfather of WWII General Patton) who was killed fighting for the Confederacy on 19 September

George Armstrong Custer (13 years before being killed with his entire 7th Cavalry command at Little Big Horn)

General John Gordon - future two term Senator from Georgia, fought for Confederacy

General John C. Breckinridge - former Vice President of the United States 1856-1860 fighting for the Confederacy. escaped United States in 1865 and traveled to Mexico, Cuba on a raft, and ended up in Canada until 1869

General Fitzhugh Lee - nephew of Robert E. Lee, future Ambassador to Cuba during the Spanish American War

Phil Sheridan (future Chief of the US Army)

Emory Upton- rose to highest ranks in US Army and set doctrine and tactics for the military in the 1880s and 1890s

General Jubal A. Early- commander of all Confederate forces in Shenandoah Valley, led the efforts of the "Lost Cause" claiming the South only lost due to Union manpower superiority

Ranald Mackenzie- viewed as the best young officer in the Army by General US Grant, greatest Indian fighter in the US Army in the 1880s. died of suicide

General William Averell - died in the sinking of the Veracruz off Florida in the 1880s after he offered a seat on lifeboat to female

Now do Gettysburg.....

and Jubal Early was correct...
BQ78
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AG
Then George Washington should have lost too.
CanyonAg77
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AG
LMCane said:

On one day within 2 miles of each other, the following people fought on the same battlefield (Third Winchester 19 September 1864):


George Armstrong Custer (13 years before being killed with his entire 7th Cavalry command at Little Big Horn)

Last in the West Point graduating class of 1861

Ranald Mackenzie- viewed as the best young officer in the Army by General US Grant, greatest Indian fighter in the US Army in the 1880s. died of suicide

First in the West Point graduating class of 1862


Both would become famous for Indian Wars service.
BQ78
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AG
And the stupid one gets more history cred than the smart one.
CanyonAg77
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AG
BQ78 said:

And the stupid one gets more history cred than the smart one.
Custer had Libbie.

And I guess going out in a blaze of (stupid) glory always gets better press than a quiet, tragic passing.
Sapper Redux
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The Confederacy was bulldozed in the west before manpower ever became an issue
Rongagin71
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AG
There were more battles fought in Missouri than any other state,
but the Western Confederates were very poorly armed and
even lost battles like Pea Ridge where they outnumbered the Feds.

Edit to post this song which makes the doubtful claim that the
Confederates lost 10,000 men at Pea Ridge.
So many of the Confederates were poor Scotch-Irish volunteers
that losses were probably greatly understated.

p_bubel
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September 3, 1967, was a big day for Sweden. Högertrafikomlggningen, or more simply, Dagen-H. It was the day the country switched from driving on the left to the right side of the road.

Some 360,000 street signs had to be switched nationwide, which largely took place on a single day before the move to right-hand driving, with council workers joined by the military and working late into the night to ensure the task got done before H-Day formally revved into gear on Sunday morning. All but essential traffic was banned from the roads.

But as Dagen H finally dawned, the hard work all appeared to pay off. Swedes began cautiously driving on the right-hand side of roads around the country at precisely 5am on 3 September 1967, following a radio countdown.

In safety terms, the project was declared a success almost immediately. As Swedes began their working week on the day after H-Day, 157 minor traffic accidents were reported around the country, slightly less than average for a typical Monday. Nobody died.
p_bubel
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The SEEANDBEE, once the largest and mostly costly inland side paddle wheel steamer, began its career on the Great Lakes on 6 Nov. 1912.In March 1942, renamed Wolverine, she was converted to a training aircraft carrier and received the designation of IX-64. During the war, she trained hundreds of pilots on Lake Michigan.





She was one of two converted side wheel training carriers in the Great Lakes.
P.H. Dexippus
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AG
BQ78 said:

Then George Washington should have lost too.

Tell me about France's involvement in the two wars.
jkag89
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P.H. Dexippus said:

BQ78 said:

Then George Washington should have lost too.

Tell me about France's involvement in the two wars.
Shouldn't start wars that you can't finish quickly then, see Japan.
BQ78
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AG
Britain had several years to win before France showed up but they didn't do it. Don't like that one? Okay, Mexico should have won the Mexican War, the US should have won Vietnam, Austria should have beat both Frederick the Great and Napoleon.

The point is, the biggest battalions are not always destined for victory and that is especially so with the Civil War, just my opinion, your's may vary.
p_bubel
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In 1672 a Dutch mob murdered and partially ate the mutilated remains of their Prime Minister Johan de Witt and his brother.
JABQ04
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AG
Neutral Switzerland shot down 10 allied planes and 11 German planes during WWII for violating its neutrality.

Sapper Redux
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JABQ04 said:

Neutral Switzerland shot down 10 allied planes and 11 German planes during WWII for violating its neutrality.


Jabin
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Most excellent, Sapper!
CanyonAg77
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AG
JABQ04 said:

Neutral Switzerland shot down 10 allied planes and 11 German planes during WWII for violating its neutrality.



That's interesting. I recall reading that crews would land in Switzerland and be interned for the rest of the war. Or maybe it was Sweden?

If I'm right, wonder why some were allowed to land and some shot down?
BQ78
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AG
Lost and shooting up Swiss transport? Didn't get on the radio and declare an emergency or didn't respond to radio requests or intercepts?

Many more were interned than shot down.
JABQ04
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AG
Mark Felton has a video on this. Long story short some of the planes who landed and were interred had damage and couldn't make it back to friendly lines so Switzerland was the best option. The Swiss also forced some planes to land. There's some debate on whether we bombed some stuff in Switzerland due to navigational/pilot errors or to send a message.


Also read of at least one occurrence (and video covers it) of a P51 dogfighting Swiss interceptors. (Who also flew BF-109s).
Who?mikejones!
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All steel produced after the 1950s is slightly radioactive

Someone check me on this claim
CanyonAg77
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AG
Agthatbuilds said:

All steel produced after the 1950s is slightly radioactive

Someone check me on this claim
100% correct.

For precise radiation work, pre-August 1945 steel is sought out because it doesn't contain radioactive material. Anything after the Trinity Test is likely contaminated.

Somewhat related, we had a piece of farm equipment that was made out of oil field pipe. We tried to take it to a salvage yard, and they rejected it because it was radioactive. I'm not sure if it was from pumping oil, or from radioactive well logging.
Sapper Redux
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What's the physics behind this? Is it the iron ore that has been contaminated?
CanyonAg77
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AG
Sapper Redux said:

What's the physics behind this? Is it the iron ore that has been contaminated?
Not a physicist, don't even play one on the Internet.

But I believe the problem is that ever since the Trinity Test, there has been radioactive contamination in the atmosphere. During the production of steel, when it is melted, it is impossible to exclude that contamination from the production process.
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CanyonAg77
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AG
Here's an article on "low background steel", which I think most here would enjoy reading. History-related, the search for such steel is one of the reasons for raiding the wrecks of WWII ship graves such as HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales

https://edconway.substack.com/p/the-eerie-story-of-low-background

Quote:

The other week a Chinese vessel was detained by Malaysian authorities off the coast of Johor, under suspicion of having plundered old WWII era shipwrecks in the region.

HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, both of which sank in Malaysian waters in 1941, have had large sections of their bodies and armaments stolen in this way. The practice has been going on for years - these raiders targeting shipwrecks which are also effectively war graves - but this was one of the rare occasions when someone was seemingly caught in the act.

But why, you might be wondering, would anyone go to these lengths to obtain scrap metal. The price of steel hardly merits this kind of effort and risk. So what are these raiders really after? Gold? Silver? Stolen artworks?

The answer, it turns out, is far more interesting: a very, very rare form of metal. Something called "low background steel".

Steel itself is one of the cheapest types of metal (an alloy technically) but the type of steel we're talking about is one of the rarest substances in the world. For low background steel doesn't contain radionuclides, traces of radiation such as cobalt-60. These trace amounts don't matter for most uses but when you're making products highly sensitive to radiation - eg special scientific equipment or Geiger counters - you need this steel.

And here's the thing: all steel made since 1945 contains radionuclides.
CanyonAg77
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Bregxit said:


Radionuclide levels in the atmosphere have dropped to nearly natural levels now and low background steel is not really a thing anymore...for newly produced steel anyway.

An article that backs your info

https://medium.com/a-microbiome-scientist-at-large/good-news-our-steel-is-no-longer-radioactive-47d70124c531
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Rabid Cougar
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Sapper Redux said:

The Confederacy was bulldozed in the west before manpower ever became an issue
Totally correct . Leadership was piss poor.

Manpower was a very significant issue the entire war in the East... And Lee was winning battle despite of it.

I am pretty sure that was the jest of Jubal's comment.
Tecolote
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AG
CanyonAg77 said:

Agthatbuilds said:

All steel produced after the 1950s is slightly radioactive

Someone check me on this claim
100% correct.

For precise radiation work, pre-August 1945 steel is sought out because it doesn't contain radioactive material. Anything after the Trinity Test is likely contaminated.

Somewhat related, we had a piece of farm equipment that was made out of oil field pipe. We tried to take it to a salvage yard, and they rejected it because it was radioactive. I'm not sure if it was from pumping oil, or from radioactive well logging.
Is pre 1945 steel worth anything? I can lay my hands on lots of steel from the 1910s.
CanyonAg77
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AG
I really have no idea. As someone said above, atmospheric radiation is very low these days, and only people who need zero radiation in the metal care about it. So you'd need to talk to someone doing manufacturing of Geiger counters or other devices needing zero background
agrams
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AG
the radioactive material in the environment has been used for a number of scientific discoveries:

one was the confirmation that the human body does create new neurons in the brain. when cells split they use some carbon from the environment, and they can map the density of carbon 14 in the Enivornment to that in cells to see how old the cells are relative to the human (were they life-long cells? or newly created after the birth).


https://theconversation.com/nuclear-bomb-tests-reveal-formation-of-new-brain-cells-15014


there was also the baby-tooth survey.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Tooth_Survey
p_bubel
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The Great Fire of Meireki, also known as the Great Furisode Fire, destroyed 60-70% of the Japanese capital city of Edo (now Tokyo) on 2 March 1657, the third year of the Meireki Imperial era. The fire lasted for three days, and in combination with a severe blizzard that quickly followed, it is estimated to have killed over 100,000 people.
Quad Dog
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AG
There was a brief period of time where Abraham Lincoln could have received a fax from a samurai.
 
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