Strange or interesting events in history

[[FnG]magnolia]

The Japanese were fanatically dedicated to warfare in WW2, even going so far as to commit suicide just to ensure they killed their targets (kamikaze). But did you know that some of them were so dedicated to the war that they continued fighting almost 30 years after the war was over?

Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda is a former Japanese army intelligence officer who fought in World War II, and did not surrender until 1974, having spent almost thirty years holding out in the Philippines.

Onoda...on 26 December 1944 was sent to Lubang Island in the Philippines. He was ordered to do all that he could to hamper enemy attacks on the island, including destroying the airstrip and the pier at the harbor, his orders also stating that under no circumstances was he to surrender or take his own life.

Towards the end of 1945 leaflets were dropped by air with a surrender order printed on them from General Tomoyuki Yama****a of the Fourteenth Area Army. They were in hiding over a year at this point, and this leaflet was the only evidence they had the war was over. Onoda's group looked very closely at the leaflet to determine whether it was genuine or not, and decided it was a hoax.

On 20 February 1974, Onoda met a Japanese college dropout, Norio Suzuki, who was traveling the world and was looking for "Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the Abominable Snowman, in that order".[2] Onoda and Suzuki became friends, but Onoda still refused to surrender, saying that he was waiting for orders from a superior officer.

Suzuki returned to Japan with photographs of himself and Onoda as proof of their encounter, and the Japanese government located Onoda's commanding officer, Major Taniguchi, who had since become a bookseller. He flew to Lubang and on 9 March 1974 informed Onoda of the defeat of Japan and ordered him to lay down his arms.

Lieutenant Onoda emerged from the jungle 29 years after the end of World War II, and accepted the commanding officer's order of surrender in his uniform and sword, with his Arisaka Type 99 rifle still in operating condition, 500 rounds of ammunition and several hand grenades.

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"On August 16, 1960, Kittinger made his most famous free-fall. In this flight, he made it up to an altitude of 102,800 feet, breaking a previous record made by David Simons during Project Man High. He stayed at this altitude for about 12 minutes, which must have been very unpleasant – not only was it as cold as 94 minus Fahrenheit, but he had a severe pain in his right hand from a malfunctioning pressurized glove. Then, he jumped. He fell for almost five minutes before reaching a safe altitude to open his main parachutes and float down to the ground. In this time, he went as fast as 614 MPH – not quite breaking the sound barrier, as some claimed he had, but still achieving the fastest speed by man through the atmosphere."

http://www.damninteresting.com/free-fall-from-near-space

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The Dancing Plague (or Dance Epidemic) of 1518 was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, France (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) in July 1518. Numerous people took to dancing for days without rest, and, over the period of about one month, some of the people died from heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion.

Although it sounds like it's made up, it appears to be legit.

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From Wikipedia:

The Great Stork Derby was a contest during the period from 1926 to 1936, where women in Toronto, Canada, competed to produce the most babies in order to qualify for an unusual bequest in a will.

The race was the product of a scheme by Toronto lawyer, financier and practical joker Charles Vance Millar, who bequeathed the residue of his significant estate to the woman in Toronto who could produce the most children in a ten year period after his death. The winning mothers were Annie Katherine Smith, Kathleen Ellen Nagle, Lucy Alice Timleck and Isabel Mary Maclean. Each of them received $125,000 for their nine children. Two others each received $12,500 out of court: Lillian Kenny (ten children, but two stillborn) and Pauline Mae Clarke (ten children - five set of twins, but several illegitimate). Some of the estate was also paid to the Toronto Welfare Department.

For a really complete look at this, see: http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/babyrace.htm

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The biggest atomic weapon test ever : Царь-бомба

Since 50 Mt is 2.1×1017 joules, the average power produced during the entire fission-fusion process, lasting around 39 nanoseconds[citation needed], was about 5.4×1024 watts or 5.4 yottawatts (5.4 septillion watts). This is equivalent to approximately 1.4% of the power output of the Sun.[8]

The heat from the explosion could have caused third-degree burns 100 km (62 miles) away from ground zero.

I can't even wrap my head around this one.

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Operation Entebbe was a hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on July 4, 1976. Relying on Mossad-provided information, the IDF get a little bit ****** off and utter carnage ensues. A bad day to be a hijacker.

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Anyone else have any interesting events from history?

 

[Biohazard]

That the English couldn't even beat a woman?

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Scotland-History/BlackAgnes.htm

Shortened version.



I also heard about the lone soldier at school. That is dedication for you!

 

[Tonyator]

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The biggest atomic weapon test ever : Царь-бомба

I can't even wrap my head around this one.

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That's ridiculous...

That picture shows it well...

It makes Nagasaki look like nothing.

 

[AndyT]

The Japanese were mental. I read about 'Taiken' - manned suicide torpedos used for attacks on US war ships. Can't think of many things more terrifying than strapping myself into a torpedo.

 

[cm1179]

i'd sooner be strapped into a torpedo than a plane

 

[badcompany]

The Japanese were Desperate

 

[AndyT]

Dunno, at least you'd get a nice view from the plane, before it slammed into the target.