Vodka Supplies Run Dry
76. From the announcement of Germany’s surrender on the radio during World War 2 until Joseph Stalin’s address to the nation 22 hours later, Russia had completely run out of vodka.
77. About 20% of Poland’s population died in World War 2, which was the highest percentage of any country.
78. In World War 2, Winston Churchill needed to fly in a pressurized chamber called the Life Pod because of his health. It had a phone, an ashtray, and an air circulation system so he could smoke.
79. The handbook given to US soldiers in Britain during World War 2 contained the line “the British don’t know how to make a good cup of coffee. You don’t know how to make a good cup of tea. It’s an even swap.”
80. The famous World War 2 dive bomber “scream” comes from two separate acoustic devices fitted to the wings, called Jericho Trumpets, and they have no function other than intimidation.
81. During World War II, the Nazis created an experimental drug mixture, and Nazi doctors found that test subjects carrying equipment who had taken it could march 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) without feeling any fatigue.
82. Chardakhlu, a small Armenian village, sent 1,250 able-bodied men to fight in World War II. Of them, 853 received orders and medals, 2 became Grand Marshals of the Soviet Union, 12 became generals, and 7 became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
83. In 2013, The Wall Street Journal uncovered a collection of records showing that after World War II, the U.S. government lobotomized more than 2,000 veterans against their will. The veterans were lobotomized for reasons including PTSD, depression, schizophrenia, and sometimes homosexuality.
84. During World War II, the Nazis planted explosive devices in skewed hanging pictures inside buildings that were likely targets for Allies to use as command posts. When Allied officers set up a command post, they often straightened the pictures, setting off these “anti-officer crooked picture bombs.”
85. Joseph Medicine Crow became the last Plains Indian war chief ever after completing all four required tasks while fighting in Europe during World War II. These tasks included touching an enemy soldier, taking his weapon, leading a successful war party, and stealing an enemy horse.
Bear Soldier Carries Shells
86. A bear served with the Polish Army in World War II. He transported shells to the front lines and was trained to salute.
87. Modern U.S. swinging began during World War II among fighter pilots who exchanged wives as a bonding custom, with an implied understanding that the two thirds of husbands who survived would care for the widows.
88. A German spy was dispatched to Canada during World War II, but he chose to spend his money moving to Ottawa and then gave himself up to Canadian authorities. They released him because he had caused no harm and had not even spied.
89. World War II began before the VW Bug could enter production, so the Germans instead used Volkswagen parts to make the Volkswagen Kübelwagen and the Schwimmwagen. The Schwimmwagen was essentially an amphibious military version of the Beetle, and more than 14,000 of them served in World War II.
90. Leo Major, a French Canadian soldier in World War II, captured 93 German soldiers on his own and refused the invitation to receive a decoration because, in his view, General Montgomery, who was presenting the award, was incompetent and had no place handing out medals.
91. Eugene Bullard was the first Black fighter pilot in history. He served as a pilot in World War I and played an important role in the French Underground during World War II, becoming a national hero in France. In his later years, he worked in America as an unknown elevator operator.
92. During World War II, the Nazis built a wooden airfield in northern France, and the British were aware of it. As British, they allowed the construction to continue, and once it was completed they dropped a wooden bomb on it.
93. If the atomic bomb had not been used, the planned invasion of Japan in World War II would have been the biggest in history, with 42 carriers, 24 battleships, 400 destroyers, and 6 million soldiers.
94. Ben L. Salomon was a U.S. Army dentist who, during World War II, was shot 24 times while defending an aid station from Japanese forces. He killed as many as 98 attackers, which allowed the wounded to be evacuated, but his Medal of Honor was postponed because medical officers were not meant to take up arms against the enemy.
95. At the start of World War II, the Germans accidentally bombed themselves and then used propaganda to accuse the French and British, while also threatening retaliation five times greater.
Soviet POWs Mass Murdered
96. During World War 2, Nazis killed about 3,500,000 Soviet prisoners of war, labeling them as “sub-humans.”
97. Carrots do not improve eyesight. British soldiers spread this WW2 propaganda to conceal from the Germans that they had invented radar and could spot incoming air raids much earlier.
98. In 1932, Oskar Speck was an unemployed contractor in Germany who set off by kayak to look for work, but along the way changed his mind and chose to travel the world. By 1939, he had kayaked all the way to Australia. Unknown to him, WW2 had begun, and when he arrived he was held as an enemy alien until the war ended.
99. When World War 2 began, London Zoo killed all of its venomous animals in case the zoo was bombed and they got loose.
100. After World War II, Denmark turned down a $100,000,000 offer from the United States to purchase Greenland.
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