The place to learn about the past and present,
Click for Part 1 Retreat from Kabul, 1842 In the 19th Century, Great Britain greatly feared that the Russian Empire's expansionism could spill into the Asian subcontinent. To counter this threat, they moved to establish a presence in Afghanistan (a buffer between the two empires) and install a pro-British regime. In 1839 a 20,000 strong... Continue Reading →
'We lose many battles, except the last' - an adage referring to how the British prevailed in a catalogue of conflicts from the British Empire's inception in 1707 until its end in the 1950s, yet were mauled on many an occasion. This article includes the worst military calamity of (almost) every decade - failures little... Continue Reading →
The time the US accidently dropped not one, but three nuclear bombs on Spanish soil. The imagery of a nuclear fireball inspires awe and terror in equal doses; we all understand the capacity a massive ball of rising red flame, seen on the horizon, has to turn flesh to dust and obliterate anything in its... Continue Reading →
What's the best way to promote train travel to Texas? Stage a train crash for people to come and see there, of course! Read about what happened on the big day when the guy in charge of health and safety took the day off. We know that one to two hundred years back, people’s faith... Continue Reading →
When a poodle fell off a high rise balcony in Buenos Aires, it is hard to understand how it could result in the deaths of three pedestrians below. Cachi’s beady eyes were locked on to the tennis ball the Montoya family’s youngest boy bounced, so engrossed his head nodded up and down to its rebound.... Continue Reading →
When investigators found the bodies of nine missing trekkers in the Artic tundra half-dressed and away from their tent for no apparent reason, it began perhaps the spookiest mystery in Russian history. It was the depths of winter and 23-year-old Igor Alekseyevich Dyatlov with eight other fit, young men and women arrived at the town... Continue Reading →
To fly is a dream, and every kid imagines acquiring enough helium balloons for a little aerial adventure. Big kid Larry Walters actually pulled off the stunt for real in an epic flight over Los Angeles. Read about how he did it here. Who hasn’t held a bunch of helium balloons as a kid and... Continue Reading →
Find out how one woman survived a 10,000 metre freefall when her plane was blown out of the sky by terrorists. It was 2:30pm on the 26 of January, 1972 and Serbian flight attendant Vesna Vulovic was at Copenhagen Airport waiting to board a DC 9 aircraft of JAT Flight 367 “I saw all the... Continue Reading →
Of all the trials and tribulations a farmer must face, a field of theirs erupting into a volcano takes some beating. But that is exactly what happened to a Mexican farmer one February day. How do you think you would handle a volcano bursting up in your back garden in one day? It might make... Continue Reading →
When a pregnant young queen started to drown, her attendants wouldn't help. Find out why. The protocol around royalty which governs how they interact with commoners is usually ancient, rigid and ensures royal family members’ inviolability. On one occasion however it caused an entirely avoidable tragedy for the Chakri royal dynasty of Siam, modern-day Thailand.... Continue Reading →
History and Things 