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If there’s one thing we as humans are going to do, it’s fight. Whether it’s brawls in a bar parking lot, childish skirmishes on the playground, or global, devastating armed conflicts — we humans know how to wreck some stuff.
Throughout history, there have been many kinds of conflicts: the 335-year war, where everyone forgot they were fighting; the friendliest “Whiskey War” between Canada and Denmark; or the Pig War in San Juan, where both sides realized how ridiculous the cause was and just stopped fighting.
We rarely get to see moments from these types of events, but thanks to the “Explaining All Wars” page on Instagram, now we can. With 139k followers, the account shares photographs of historical moments many of us have probably not seen before. Here’s your chance to see the origins of the baseball, the daily routine of President Eisenhower, and how a random starving donkey became the mascot of the French Foreign Legion.
More info: Instagram
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#3
Brian Garcia 1 day ago
Simply epic! And the odds have to be ridiculous...all survivors from the war AND still alive considering their likely ages AND the same plane??
Many experts refer to the period we're currently living in as "Long Peace." Some historians and anthropologists suggest that this is the longest period of peace that human civilization has ever experienced. Granted, there have been military conflicts since 1945, but none have reached a global scale that experts would consider a "World War."
However, some historians disagree, calling such a definition too simplistic. Just because there's no war going on in America or the Western world in general, doesn't mean that there's no devastating military conflict elsewhere. Some experts suggest that the world has split into "zones of peace" and "zones of war." Zones of war usually envelop countries in the developing world, while zones of peace are states that no longer have civil and interstate wars or "the security dilemma."
#4
Robin Roper 1 day ago
My FIL landed on Omaha Beach in the first wave of men (29th Div. 116, G Company), fought in the hedgerows and helped liberate Saint-Lô, then fought until VE Day. He also landed in the Incheon Invasion and fought until the end of the Korean Conflict. Later, he served in Vietnam as a sniper. He was a heluva dude!
#5
#6
General Anaesthesia 1 day ago (edited)
Today's US could very conceivably have joined the Axis.
In today's world, the prospect of conflict is on many people's minds, even in the "developed" world. According to a 2025 survey, more than 40% of Americans and people in Western European countries believe a third global conflict is due in the next 5 to 10 years. Many see similarities between today's political climate, the rise of far-right power, and the events that eventually led to the previous two World Wars.
What's more, many people anticipate this coming conflict to be even more devastating than WWII. 68% to 76% respondents believed that the war would include nuclear weapons, and most see Russia as the main possible aggressor. The sad part is that only the minorities of respondents in the countries think their armed forces would be able to defend them.
#7
Analyn Lahr 2 days ago
"Drink copious amounts of alcohol and wait for the inevitable blast wave. "
But maybe "Long Peace" is an illusion. Also called Pax Americana, it's hardly a period of peace, if we think about it. Even today, if we check the CrisisWatch Conflict Tracker, more than half of the world map lights up with at least some form of armed conflict.
Peace is an unusual state for human civilization. As The New York Times reported in 2003, we've had peace for a total of 268 days over the past 3,400 years. Given that we've been here for around 5,000 years, that's about eight percent of our documented time here on Earth.
Not all conflicts are solved with violence. The Whiskey War between Canada and Denmark, for example, was resolvedthrough diplomacy. For 50 years, from 1973 to 2023, both wanted to claim Hans Island for themselves. In 1984, Canada raised its flag on the island and left behind a bottle of whiskey.
Then Denmark's Minister of Greenland Affairs came for a visit, swapped the Canadian flag for the Danish one, and left a bottle of Danish schnapps. Both countries went back and forth like this until 2022, when they signed a treaty in Ottawa and divided the island roughly in half.
#13
Russell Bowman 2 days ago
One round hit her ammo magazine ... she broke her back and sank in three minutes
#14
Elladine DesIsles 2 days ago
FYI, this was a Soviet unit, since the text above doesn't locate them.
#15
The 335-year war, where everyone forgot they were fighting, was between the Isles of Scilly and the Netherlands. Until 1986, it was the longest-running war in history, but, just like with the Whiskey War, there was zero bloodshed. The Dutch declared war on the Isles of Scilly, but because of the English Civil War, they packed up and left.
If not for the local historian Roy Duncan, they still might be at war today. He wrote a letter to the Dutch embassy in London, and the embassy found documents confirming that both sides were indeed still at war. In 1986, the Dutch ambassador Rein Huydecoper signed a peace treaty, ending the 335-year war.
#17
Russell Bowman 2 days ago
The Panzer V, aka Panther, was one of the smaller tanks ... only about 45 tons. Thats a hell of a crane load
Which of these historical tidbits surprised you the most, Pandas? Did you learn something new? Drop your favorite fact about a war down below in the comments! If you want to delve deeper into history, check out our previous publications about unique historical treasures and the weird side of history.
#22
Beak Hookage 1 day ago
A bird did this to my mum's windscreen once. A perfect imprint of every feather.
#23
#31
Beak Hookage 1 day ago
And so the Empire descended from an age of gold to an age of iron and rust.
#33
General Anaesthesia 1 day ago
"...And you, madam, are ugly. But in the morning, I shall be sober..." - one of Churchill's little white lies.
#36
Kenny Kulbiski 2 days ago
Kinda like when my cat drags me around on his walk. Except I don't have that cool Samurai gear.
#38
ॐBoyGanesh 1 day ago (edited)
Dunno why he’s downvoted. It’s a little sarcastic, but there is an entire world of truth to what he’s saying. Congress wasn’t about to act without the support of their constituents. This may seem absurd in the modern age, but during the world wars, they kinda did their jobs representing their districts. In reality, it was more opportunistic on the part of the executive rather than the legislative simply reacting to the bombing.
#39
marianne eliza 2 days ago
On some documentary I watched on TV, a Japanese woman, in charge of a Hiroshima memorial, had the cojones to accuse the USA of crimes against humanity for the bombing. Seems her school didn't teach her about China, Pearl Harbor, Comfort Women, D***h Marches, a*****e POW camps, and so on./s
#40
marianne eliza 2 days ago
Poland needs to admit that civilians participated in purges, murders, and other crimes against the Jewish population. They were not the total victims some claim they were.
#42
Ham Fright 1 day ago
Is the kid in the back about to whack him? Is this story about to take a turn?
#46
Michael Largey 1 day ago
If you want to talk about dumb, the US tried to ban all alcoholic drinks.
#47
Onan Hag All 1 day ago
"I know Zelenskyy well. I know Putin well. I would get that ended in a period of 24 hours." Some random f#ckwit.
#50
Forrest Hobbs 2 days ago
W S Churchill deserves a lot of criticism. But for all his flaws, he did have personal courage - joined the British army as a young man, and as it turned out, actually took part in the last significant British cavalry charge. Compare and contrast to some of the current crop of world leaders... 🤔
#54
43Duckies 1 day ago
In the *broadest* sense of the word, conflict may be necessary for technology to evolve; but "conflict" could refer to any problem that needs a solution. *Armed* conflict certainly is not necessary for technology to develop... but it does tend to speed it up, because of the higher stakes and increased urgency.
#56
Michael Largey 1 day ago
Oppenheimer: "Mr. President, I have good news and bad news." Truman: ""What's the good news?" Oppenheimer: "We have completed our work on the atomic b**b." Truman: "Then what's the bad news?" Oppenheimer: "It works."
#57
#58
Ryan O'Hara 10 hours ago
They tried to get him to surrender several times, but he believed it was propaganda the war had eneded. He was k*****g Filapinos the whole time is was manning his post. They finally tracked down his old commanding officer to tell him to stand down. That is the man in the suit on the right.
#59
#60
Upstaged75 1 day ago
It was called Operation Babylift. Unfortunately the first flight crashed and many lost their lives. 😥
#61
Forrest Hobbs 1 day ago
I think the fact that they only made a few of these horrific gas masks makes the point that actually, they were much more terrifying than the normal gas masks. Yes, 'over 1000' is only a few - the entire UK population at the time was supplied with gas masks.
#63
Forrest Hobbs 2 days ago
This is a fake. There's no photograph of the actual event - and by the pilot's account, he was flying straight and level at the time in any case. To cut a long story short and quoting Wikipedia he was 'arrested and later invalided out of the RAF on medical grounds, which avoided a court martial' - 'and the embarrassment to the government of Pollock publicising the reason for his stunt and perhaps receiving the support of the public'. He didn't actually plan on flying under Tower Bridge's walkways. From what I recall reading, it's just that he was flying along the route of the Thames and the bridge was there, and he basically just couldn't help himself... 😁
#64
marianne eliza 2 days ago
Gawd some people are dumb. Those were mostly covered by the high tides and were to prevent landing craft.
#65
Forrest Hobbs 2 days ago
Warsaw? Try looking up Dresden. Berlin got off very lightly, all things considered. Well, the buildings did. The inhabitants? Well, Stalin took the view that since his troops had fought their way all across eastern Europe to get there, they were entitled to a bit of 'fun' at the expense of any local females... 🤢 Wars are nasty things, and some wars get nastier than others.
#66
Russell Bowman 2 days ago
Similar to what the Soviets did with a seized B-29 ... made a carbon copy called the Tu-4
#67
Russell Bowman 2 days ago
Many of them ended up getting their heads shaved and run out of town when the Germans retreated
#69
Forrest Hobbs 1 day ago
Umm, seriously? I think everyone with half an ounce of sense objected to all the d3aths relating to the many decades of recent warmongering in Afghanistan (you could start in the 1970s with the Soviet invasion, and the causes of that invasion). Putting the blame on the Taliban is ignoring those who are to blame for the rise of the Taliban - they have at least as much guilt. The history is very complicated.
#71
Forrest Hobbs 2 days ago
Er, this is massively misleading. Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev came up with the periodic table. Moseley's experimental results sorted out some issues, yes; but lots of other people were involved at that point. Link follows.
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marianne eliza 2 days ago
Jezuz H Khrist!! There are so many errors, ,misinformation, and downright internet derived stupidity. Don't make the same mistake. Don't repeat erroneous info.
marianne eliza 2 days ago
Jezuz H Khrist!! There are so many errors, ,misinformation, and downright internet derived stupidity. Don't make the same mistake. Don't repeat erroneous info.
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