After fighting in WWI, A. A. Milne had PTSD so severe, he was reminded of whizzing bullets by buzzing bees, and cannons firing by balloons popping. Wanting a lighthearted distraction and a way to explain to his son the difficulties of war, he wrote Winnie the Pooh stories as his way of doing so.
WWI
Skywriting was invented by the Royal…
Skywriting was invented by the Royal Air Force in World War I to send messages to troops on the ground. After the war, Pepsi built a fleet of skywriting biplanes.
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.
William Henry Johnson was awarded the Medal of Honor…
William Henry Johnson was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2015 for fighting off a German raid in hand-to-hand combat, killing multiple German soldiers and rescuing a fellow soldier while experiencing 21 wounds on May 14, 1918.
Kleenex was invented and intended…
Kleenex was invented and intended as a paper filter for gas-masks during World-War I.
The first battle of WWI consisted …
The first battle of WWI consisted of a British ship firing a single shot at a German ship on Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi) in Africa, and taking the captain “prisoner.” The two captains had been drinking buddies for years, and weren’t about to let the war ruin it.
Captain Berndt, in command of the ship Von Wissmann, was stunned when his friend opened fire, and rowed out to confront him, yelling: “G#* damn, Rhoades, are you drunk?”
Before dogfighting was a thing….
Before dogfighting was a thing, enemy pilots would simply exchange waves or shake their fists at one another. At the beginning of WWI, recon pilots would often resort to throwing bricks, grenades, and even rope in hopes that it would get entangled in the enemy’s propellor.
In WWI, many British naval…
In WWI, many British naval ships were painted with “Dazzle Camo”, a camouflage scheme designed not to make them hard to see, but rather to create a confusing perspective that made judging ship type, speed, and direction difficult.
When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was…
When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered in his car – triggering the start of World War One – the number plate of his and his wife’s car read “AIII 118”. 11/11/18 was the date when the armistice was finally signed.
During World War I, a Canadian soldier…
During World War I, a Canadian soldier made a black bear his pet and named her Winnipeg. “Winnie” was later a resident of the London Zoological Gardens where she was an adored attraction, especially to a boy named Christopher Robin. The boy even named his teddy bear after her.