The Soccer Match That Kicked Off A War

by Toby Luckhurst BBC In 1969, El Salvador and Honduras fought a four-day conflict that cost thousands of lives and displaced thousands more – a bloody struggle still remembered as the Football War.    It was 2-2 after 90 minutes at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. This was the third game between Honduras and …

New Sweden: The “Secret” American Colony

by Eliot Stein BBC    Ask most Americans and they’ll tell you that the United States started in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 when the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence.    But chances are, almost none of those coming realizes that the US’s political and ideological birthplace was once part of a little-known …

Wartime Innovations We Can’t Live Without

by Dictionary Scoop    War is hell said the soldiers of old. But it’s also the mother of invention. Conflict and the urgent necessities of war have driven rapid innovation.    Many everyday products trace their origins back to military needs. Here are ten objects with surprisingly martial origins. 1-Nylon    Now a ubiquitous fabric …

Countries That Have Changed Their Names

by Dictionary Scoop    It is always a delicate matter when a country changes its name, as it signifies a shift not only for the geographical area but also for its inhabitants.    The very identity of a nation is affected, which is why such changes are relatively rare. But they do happen. Not many …

Last Word On Last Letter: Canada Says “Zed”

by Kevin Burton    It’s the beginning of a new year, so leave it to Page 7 to take you to the end – of the alphabet that is.    May I be the first to wish you a very happy International Z Day.    “Z Day, celebrated on Jan. 1, is a quirky and …

The Origins Of Six Classic Christmas Songs

by Tim Ott interestingfacts.com    The ubiquity of holiday songs on television, radio, and social media from Thanksgiving through Christmas ensures that we’ll be able to sing these anthems in our sleep.    But lesser known are the backstories behind these famous tunes, which share common themes but draw from vastly different sources. From centuries-old …

Sky-High Facts (And One Myth) About Clouds

Skby interestingfacts.com    Clouds have a way of capturing our attention. They can tower majestically over a crimson sunset, pack millions of gallons of water in a foreboding gray mass, or even resemble cute animals.    But aside from their aesthetic appeal, clouds serve important functions in nature, acting as barriers for heat moving in …

Blinded Ukrainian Commander Helps Others

by ABC World News (LVIV, Ukraine) — Col. Oleh Avtomeenko was wounded while performing a combat mission in Donetsk region, in the first days of the Russian full-scale invasion in late Feb. 2022, and lost his eyesight.    And now, after 20 years in the Ukrainian Army, he has to say goodbye to it and …

Facts You Might Not Know About M*A*S*H

by Interestingfacts.com    From its premiere on CBS in Sept. 1972 through its historic series finale watched by more than 106 million Americans in Feb. 1983, M*A*S*H changed television forever.     The series followed the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War of the early 1950s and seamlessly blended comedy and drama like never before. …

Five More Unbelievable But True Stories

by Kevin Burton    The best fiction writers will have to go some to match these strange-but-true tales, compiled by Dictionary Scoop.    We told five of their stories yesterday. Today we mostly have tales of war, but not always the customary kind. We briefly dip into the cola wars, sort of: 6 The year …