History Facts They Didn’t Teach You At School

[01dragonslayer]

The Luftwaffe had a master interrogator whose tactic was being as nice as possible.​

Hanns Scharff was a master interrogator who was very much against physical torture and brutality.

His techniques were so successful that the US military later incorporated his methods into their own interrogation schools.

Scharff’s best tactics for squeezing information out of prisoners included: nature walks without guards present, baking them homemade food, cracking jokes, drinking beers and afternoon tea with German fighter aces.

He even took trips to visit fellow POWs and swimming pool parties. And on some rare occasions even test flights of German fighter aircraft.

 

[Thor]

The Luftwaffe had a master interrogator whose tactic was being as nice as possible.​

Hanns Scharff was a master interrogator who was very much against physical torture and brutality.

His techniques were so successful that the US military later incorporated his methods into their own interrogation schools.

Scharff’s best tactics for squeezing information out of prisoners included: nature walks without guards present, baking them homemade food, cracking jokes, drinking beers and afternoon tea with German fighter aces.

He even took trips to visit fellow POWs and swimming pool parties. And on some rare occasions even test flights of German fighter aircraft.

Makes a lot of since, most people will let their guard down if treated very politely.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Makes a lot of since, most people will let their guard down if treated very politely.

Smart tactic.

 

[01dragonslayer]

In Ancient Asia, death by elephant was a popular form of execution.​

As elephants are very intelligent and easy to train, it proved easy enough to train them as executioners and torturers.

They could be taught to slowly break bones, crush skulls, twist off limbs, or even execute people using large blades fitted to their tusks.

In some parts of Asia this method of execution was still popular up to the late 19th century.

 

[Jinko]

The Luftwaffe had a master interrogator whose tactic was being as nice as possible.​

Hanns Scharff was a master interrogator who was very much against physical torture and brutality.

His techniques were so successful that the US military later incorporated his methods into their own interrogation schools.

Scharff’s best tactics for squeezing information out of prisoners included: nature walks without guards present, baking them homemade food, cracking jokes, drinking beers and afternoon tea with German fighter aces.

He even took trips to visit fellow POWs and swimming pool parties. And on some rare occasions even test flights of German fighter aircraft.

You’ll get more with 6 pack a beer and pack of cigarettes then anything else. Gen. Mattis

 

[01dragonslayer]

The UK government collected postcards as intelligence for the D-Day landings.​

Starting in 1942, the BBC issued a public appeal for postcards and photographs of mainland Europe’s coast, from Norway to the Pyrenees.

This was an intelligence-gathering exercise. Initiated by Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan, he was searching for the hardest beaches to defend.

The postcards were sent to the War Office and helped form part of the decision to choose Normandy as the location for the eventual D-Day landings.

 

[01dragonslayer]

When Marcus Crassus died, molten gold was poured down his throat.​

Marcus Licinius Crassus was known as the wealthiest man in Rome during his life.

The son of a Consul of Rome, Crassus fought in Sulla’s Civil War, played a key part in defeating Spartacus and ending the Third Servile War, and formed the first Triumvirate with Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great.

A shrewd man, throughout all he did Crassus accumulated more and more wealth – and it was his thirst for wealth that would eventually lead to his downfall.

Leading his troops in an ill-fated conquest of Parthia (modern-day Iran), Crassus and his forces were brutalized and bested by the Parthians time and time again.

After an unsuccessful parley for peace with the Parthian leaders, Crassus was killed. The Parthians poured molten gold down his throat, as a symbol of his thirst for wealth.

Some even say that his gilded head and hands were sent to the Parthian King to keep as trophies of his victory against Crassus and Rome.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Germany uncover 2,000 tons of unexploded bombs every year.​

Over the course of WWII, the Allied armies dropped roughly 2.7 million tons of bombs over Nazi-occupied Europe. Half of that which landed on Germany.

Before any construction work can begin in Germany, the ground must undergo extensive surveys to look for unexploded ordinance.

Sometimes bombs are discovered naturally. One example was from 2011:

45,000 people were evacuated from their homes when a drought revealed a 4,000-pound “blockbuster” bomb lying on the bed of the River Rhine in the middle of Koblenz.

 

[01dragonslayer]

In Ancient Greece, wearing skirts was manly.​

In fact, the Ancient Greeks viewed trousers as effeminate and would mock any men who wore them.

 

[01dragonslayer]

A singing birthday card has more computer power in it than the entire Allied Army of WWII.​

I bet Hitler, Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt would have killed to get their hands on one of those cards!

The computer chip within them was so powerful by comparison that it would be inconceivable to the leaders of that time how we simply throw them away!

 

[01dragonslayer]

In 1386, a pig was executed in France.​

There wasn’t a great detail of civil rights in the Middle Ages, and as it turns out there weren’t a great of animal rights either. So much so that they were even subject to human justice.

One such case happened in Falaise, France, where a pig attacked a child’s face who went on to later die from their wounds.

The pig was arrested, kept in prison, and then sent to court where it stood trial for murder, was found guilty, and then executed by hanging!

 

[GRIM]

In 1386, a pig was executed in France.​

There wasn’t a great detail of civil rights in the Middle Ages, and as it turns out there weren’t a great of animal rights either. So much so that they were even subject to human justice.

One such case happened in Falaise, France, where a pig attacked a child’s face who went on to later die from their wounds.

The pig was arrested, kept in prison, and then sent to court where it stood trial for murder, was found guilty, and then executed by hanging!

this is funny

 

[01dragonslayer]

Cleopatra’s reign was closer to the moon landings than the Great Pyramid being built.


This is one of those facts that gives you some impression of just how expansive the life of the Egyptian Empire truly was.

Cleopatra reigned from 51 BC to 30 BC, roughly 2,500 years after the Great Pyramid of Giza was built (between roughly 2580 BC – 2560 BC), and roughly 2,000 years before the first lunar landings in 1969.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Shrapnel is named after its inventor.​

British Army Officer Henry Shrapnel was the first person to invent an anti-personnel shell that could transport a large number of bullets to its target before releasing them.

This was all at a far greater distance than current rifle fire at the time.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Since 1945, all British tanks are equipped with tea-making facilities.​

Before this time, British tank crews had to exit their armored vehicles when they wanted to make a quick coffee.

On the road to Caen in 1944, a German Tiger tanked ambushed and destroyed a parked column of almost thirty armored British vehicles in 15 minutes whilst the crew were having an impromptu tea break.

This made the British high command realize if tank crews could make a brew on the go, then they wouldn’t be susceptible to being caught with their pants down and their kettles out by the enemy.

So after this, the next British-designed battle tank, the Centurion, came with a boiler fitted to the interior powered by the tank’s electric circuits so the crew would never be short of a lovely warm cup of tea!

 

[01dragonslayer]

During World War I, the French built a “fake Paris”.​

Complete with a replica Champs-Elysées and Gard Du Nord, this “fake Paris” was built by the French towards the end of WWI. It was built as a means of throwing off German bomber and fighter pilots flying over French skies.

It also even had a fake railway that lit up at certain points to provide the illusion from above of a train moving along the tracks!

 

[01dragonslayer]

The Eastern Roman Empire’s weapon called Greek Fire was used in ship-mounted flamethrowers.​

The secret of how to make Greek Fire was lost with the fall of the Roman Empire.

This weapon so unique and deadly due to the fact that throwing water onto it would only feed the fire. It was almost gelatinous in texture and would stick to things.

It was mostly used in naval warfare, as the large flamethrowers needed for its projectile use could be better accommodated by ships rather than infantry.

The Greek Fire would easily demolish a fleet of wood and canvas ships floating on water.

 

[01dragonslayer]

An ancient text called the Voynich Manuscript still baffles scientists.​

Hand-written in an unknown language, the Voynich Manuscript has been carbon-dated to roughly 1404 – 1438.

Some of the pages are missing, and some of them are foldable pull-out pages, while most pages have illustrations.

Hundreds of cryptographers and master codebreakers have tried to decipher it over the years with none succeeding to grasp its meaning or origin.

 

[GRIM]

Since 1945, all British tanks are equipped with tea-making facilities.​

Before this time, British tank crews had to exit their armored vehicles when they wanted to make a quick coffee.

On the road to Caen in 1944, a German Tiger tanked ambushed and destroyed a parked column of almost thirty armored British vehicles in 15 minutes whilst the crew were having an impromptu tea break.

This made the British high command realize if tank crews could make a brew on the go, then they wouldn’t be susceptible to being caught with their pants down and their kettles out by the enemy.

So after this, the next British-designed battle tank, the Centurion, came with a boiler fitted to the interior powered by the tank’s electric circuits so the crew would never be short of a lovely warm cup of tea!

tea ever so important

 

[01dragonslayer]

A Japanese fighter pilot once dropped wreaths over the ocean to commemorate the dead from both sides.​

During a sea battle in Pacific Ocean during December 1940, two Royal Navy ships, the HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Repulse were sunk by Japanese fighters.

The following day, Japanese Flight Lieutenant Haruki Iki flew to the location of the battle and dropped two wreaths over the seas.

One to commemorate the pilots of the Japanese Naval Air Force, who died. The other for the sailors of the British Navy, who fought so valiantly to defend their ships.