WTFhistory

Don’t befriend writers unless you want texts like this at 4:17 in the morning.

You think that's bad, you should see History students.

wrathofprawn:

how the fuck is this not taught in every single history class ever

pilots (◡‿◡✿) 

girl pilots (◕‿◕✿)

girl pilots killing nazis ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* \(◕ヮ◕✿)/ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

But, remember, women never did anything in history.

This is laughably incorrect.

Fact 1: Although technologically obsolete as of WWII, the Polikarpov Po-2 “Kukuruznik” biplanes flown by the 588th Night Bomber Regiment were in no way ” the oldest, noisiest, crappest planes in the entire world.” The Po-2 was first flown in 1929 and remained in production until 1953 due to its low cost and extreme reliability. It is, in fact, the second most produced aircraft in history, and the most produced biplane in history. The night bombers flew brand new, specially modified Po-2s fitted with bomb racks and machine guns.

Fact 2: The Po-2 was extremely quiet; Germans nicknamed it the Nähmaschine (“sewing machine”) due to the muted rattling sound its tiny little 99-horsepower radial engine made. The night bombers would fly these quiet little planes just a few meters off the ground, then climb to higher altitude, cut the engine, and glide to the attack point so that the Germans would have no warning of an incoming attack other than wind whistling through the wing bracing-wires. It wasn’t because the engines were unreliable, it was a planned attack pattern.

Fact 3: Saying “their leader flew over 200 missions” is both inaccurate and damning with faint praise. Whereas most combat pilots fly only one or two sorties per day, all of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment pilots flew multiple missions every night, with the record being eighteen missions flown back-to-back-to-back-to-back in a single night. By the end of the war, most of the “Night Witches” had around a thousand combat sorties under their belts.

The Night Witches were THAT fucking badass, and it pisses me off when people get it all wrong because they’re too damn lazy to do their homework.

And this is one of the rare times the correction makes things more badass.

Wow, I now totally want to write the Temeraire-universe story of this regiment.

NIGHT WITCHES <3 <3 <3  

Love it when history posts update.

Paper Knife

The knife features zigzag assay marks occurring on one voluted panel and one section of the grip. Most of the individual pieces are scratched with an “x” to indicate placement.

UNF

Gas masks for babies tested at an English hospital, 1940 (via Imgur)

I like that they come with handles.

Artificial left hand and forearm, Europe, 1501-1600: Surgical amputations are referred to by Hippocrates. They were for many years a main function of the surgeon. This artificial hand dates from the 1500s. Most limbs were amputated in this era due to war injuries or accidents. It consists of a metal casing. This wrapped around the forearm stump and was secured by metal or leather straps. An internal mechanical structure (now missing) may have allowed the fingers basic movement. The fingers were created as a solid mass. However, they can flex at the largest knuckle joint. French military surgeon Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) gained experience as a private surgeon to generals in the French Army during the 1500s. His books on surgery described new operations and treatments. These writings describe artificial substitutes he devised to replace amputated limbs. Some were simple. Others were elaborate highly-mechanised devices that simulated the natural movement and function of the limb.

Kim Phuc was pictured in a world-famous and iconic photograph from the Vietnam war, running naked from an airborne attack, horribly burned with napalm, in June of 1972. Since then, Kim has found peace, and a message she can offer, borne of her suffering.

She runs The Kim Foundation International, and she acts as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNESCO. She has transformed into a viable, visible symbol of peace and hope. Hers is an important story of resilience, courage, and forgiveness.

look also at this link

If she does not amaze you, I don't know what does.

1800’s French Military Uniform

Today’s Military Uniforms

where did all the style go

where was the time when you could just

out-fab your opponents

Well, to be fair, the nature of combat has changed. Those beautiful uniforms were form the days when you kind of just got together at a (sort of) planned time and went at it out in the open.

We don't do it like that anymore. The advent of guerrilla warfare has made camo the thing to have.

Just ask the lads in the American Revolution. You've got the guys fighting in homespun dark, natural colors... and the snappy but sore-thumb obvious guys in bright red and white. Who do you think got the jump on whom?

(EDIT: I'm not saying that's why they won. In fact a big part of why they won because they learned to fight like the Brits were fighting. But in terms of sneak attacks, a better blended costume helped substantially.)

And the pants of that particular uniform were SO TIGHT that they had to be soaked and put on wet. Not terribly practical.

That said, I'm inclined to agree. Didn't they just look so damn dashing?