Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the US, was a lifelong pacifist; she voted against entering WWI, voted the sole vote against declaring war against Japan after Pearl Harbor, and later led peace activism against US military intervention in Vietnam while in her 80s.
war
In the 1920s, one reason corsets…
In the 1920s, one reason corsets went out of style was because they were made of lots of metal which was needed for tools during WWI. The U.S War Industries Board even asked women to stop buying them which helped them save enough metal to build two battleships.
In 2002, a duel was proposed…
In 2002, a duel was proposed by the Iraqi government between the presidents of both nations instead of going to war.
In a study of 640 dream journals…
In a study of 640 dream journals conducted by Harvard, psychologists determined the dreams of prisoners in WWII POW camps were less aggressive than the standard male population. Rather than visions of extreme violence, the majority of soldiers dreamed of escape, family, loneliness, and home.
The longest war in recorded history…
The longest war in recorded history lasted 335 years and 19 days. It was between the Dutch and the Isles of Scilly, there were no casualties, and the Dutch actually forgot about the conflict until a Scilly historian contacted them about it in 1985. A treaty was signed between them in 1986.
Artists in Kashmir have started walking cabbages…
Artists in Kashmir have started walking cabbages (and other vegetables) on a leash, as a way to protest the ongoing military conflict over the region. One artist explains: “What I wanted to do basically is juxtapose the absurdity of this performance with what was happening around—the structures of violence that I was seeing around me.”
Pope John Paul II sent a letter to a US leader asking…
Pope John Paul II sent a letter to a US leader asking not to invade Iraq. When the Cardinal arrived he handed this letter to the President. He placed this letter on a table without opening or reading it then told the cardinal that he, the president, “was convinced it was God’s will”.
There is a restaurant in Pittsburgh, the Conflict Kitchen…
There is a restaurant in Pittsburgh, the Conflict Kitchen, that only serves cuisines from countries that the US is in conflict with. When they started serving Palestinian food, they received death threats.
For nearly a century, the French have prohibited entry into an area of more than 460…
For nearly a century, the French have prohibited entry into an area of more than 460 square miles because there is an almost impossible amount of ammunition and dead bodies to recover from the battlefield’s of World War One. The area is called “Zone Rouge”, and much of it is still off limits.
In 1941, more than three million cars were manufactured…
In 1941, more than three million cars were manufactured in the United States. Only 139 more were made during the entire war. By the end of the war, more than half of all industrial production in the world would take place in the United States.