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.
WWI
The phrase “The First World War” was used…
The phrase “The First World War” was used as early as 1918, by a journalist who felt it would not be the last.
A goat called Sergeant Bill became a Canadian war…
A goat called Sergeant Bill became a Canadian war hero during WWI when he head-butted three soldiers into a trench to avoid an exploding shell.
The most decorated American WWI veteran from Texas…
The most decorated American WWI veteran from Texas was an undocumented Mexican immigrant named Marcelino Serna. He was also the first Hispanic to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
During WWI, King Albert I of Belgium personally lead the desperate…
During WWI, King Albert I of Belgium personally lead the desperate defense against the Germans, while the Queen served as a nurse, and their son, the 14 year-old Crown Prince enlisted in the infantry as a private.
In 1917, the U.S. War Industries Board asked women to stop…
In 1917, the U.S. War Industries Board asked women to stop buying corsets to free up metal for war production. This was said to have saved some 28,000 tons of metal, enough to build two battleships.
The British Army considered (and attempted) training seagulls…
The British Army considered (and attempted) training seagulls to poo on enemy submarines periscopes before realizing that seagulls don’t fly that far out to sea.
In the US being clean shaven became popular after troops returned…
In the US being clean shaven became popular after troops returned as heroes from WWI–they had been required to shave so gas masks would securely fit.
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 1914, British WWI soldier Thomas Hughes tossed a beer bottle with a letter to his wife…
In 1914, British WWI soldier Thomas Hughes tossed a beer bottle with a letter to his wife into the English Channel. He was killed two days later. In 1999, a fisherman dredged up the bottle in the River Thames. Although Hughes’ wife had died in 1979, it was delivered to his 86-year old daughter.