HistoryFILE 017
The Dead Man Who Fooled the Nazis
Operation Mincemeat used one corpse, a fake major, and a set of letters to move an entire German division.
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Category
History
7 stories in History.
HistoryFILE 016
Boston's Tidal Wave of Molasses
A tank of syrup burst in 1919 and sent a wave through the streets at 35 mph. The smell lasted for decades.
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HistoryFILE 015
The Librarian Who Smuggled 350,000 Manuscripts
When extremists seized Timbuktu, one man spent months moving a civilisation's records out of the city in metal trunks.
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HistoryFILE 014
The War That Lasted 335 Years and Killed Nobody
The Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly were allegedly at war from 1651 to 1986. Peace was declared — and historians aren't convinced it was ever real.
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HistoryFILE 008
The Pigeon That Saved 194 Men
Shot through the chest, blind in one eye, one leg hanging by a tendon — and still carrying the message that stopped the artillery.
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HistoryFILE 005
The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice.
In 1925 a con man gathered six scrap-metal dealers in a Paris hotel and sold them a national monument. Then he came back to try it again.
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HistoryFILE 002
Australia Declared War on Emus — and Lost
Two soldiers, two machine guns, ten thousand rounds of ammunition. The emus won.
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