Interesting Facts and Stories

Can you do it to people as well? :LOL:

When I was in university some friends and I were sitting by a pond on the campus.
One of my friends gets up and says "watch this".
He runs after one of the ducks at the pond and catches him (a feat worth amazement in itself).
Then he flicks his index finger from one side of the duck's head to the other, hypnotizing him.

It may have something to do with the fact that the birds' eyes are on the sides of their heads. And their tiny little pea-brains, which short circuit. AHHHH!!!! o_O
 
Louis said:
The Fiat revenge...

On June 27, 1991, T-55 tanks from the Yugoslav People’s Army rolled through Osijek, Croatia, a city that would later suffer heavy damage from the independence war, in a forceful demonstration of power. But the army’s efforts failed to instill fear in all of the people.

A citizen decided to protest the incoming forces. He parked his red Fiat (also called a Fićo) on the street in front of the approaching tanks, blocking the road as an act of defiance. The man calmly exited the Fiat seconds before the tank leading the horde of military vehicles rammed into the car and dragged it along the street before crushing it.

Twenty years later, a monument was unveiled to commemorate the act. A red Fiat can be seen climbing a T-55 tank, to symbolise the fearless unbreakable spirit of Croatian people in their struggle for freedom in the war for independence. The monument was called The Red Fićo (Fiat).

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Stole this Louis and made a little video. :)

 
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Singer Tony Bennett (really Anthony Dominick Benedetto - born Aug 3, 1926), was drafted into the US Army in Nov 1944. As a replacement infantryman, he served across France and into Germany, and in March 1945, he joined the front line.

During active combat, Bennett narrowly escaped death several times and he participated in the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp, where American prisoners of war from the 63rd Division were also freed.

During his service, he also sang with the Army military band under the stage name Joe Bari, and played with many musicians who went on to have post-war music careers.

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Nursing Sister Agnes W. Wilkie (born 1904) was the only nursing sister of the three Canadian armed services to die as the result of enemy action during the Second World War. She was one of 136 passengers and crew members who were lost on 14 October 1942 when the Newfoundland Ferry SS. Caribou, on which she was returning from leave, was torpedoed and sunk in the Cabot Strait by a German U-Boat.

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I thought the same thing.
The ferries here are just people ferries and are pretty small. I would think a torpedo would go under it.
Although the ferries from the end of Long Island to Connecticut are pretty large. One is actually a converted LST and carries many cars and trucks.

So, of course as with most of Louis’s posts I looked in to it further.

The S.S. Caribou was a pretty large ferry.
Looked more like a small ship to me.

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Sinking of the SS Caribou

At 3:21 a.m. Atlantic Daylight Time (3:51 in Newfoundland), Gräf fired a torpedo at a range of 650 metres; it struck the ferry’s starboard side amidships 43 seconds later. The damage was instantaneous and catastrophic. The ferry’s boilers exploded and destroyed several lifeboats and rafts. Frantic family members tried to find each other in darkened cabins and corridors before they fought their way through rushing seawater to get onto the deck.
 
Gunner said:
I thought the same thing.
The ferries here are just people ferries and are pretty small. I would think a torpedo would go under it.
Although the ferries from the end of Long Island to Connecticut are pretty large. One is actually a converted LST and carries many cars and trucks.

So, of course as with most of Louis’s posts I looked in to it further.

The S.S. Caribou was a pretty large ferry.
Looked more like a small ship to me.

oxyPEDc.jpg


Sinking of the SS Caribou

At 3:21 a.m. Atlantic Daylight Time (3:51 in Newfoundland), Gräf fired a torpedo at a range of 650 metres; it struck the ferry’s starboard side amidships 43 seconds later. The damage was instantaneous and catastrophic. The ferry’s boilers exploded and destroyed several lifeboats and rafts. Frantic family members tried to find each other in darkened cabins and corridors before they fought their way through rushing seawater to get onto the deck.
Click to expand...
I know it's war and it's enemy infrastructutre but it's shocking to target a civilian ferry in my opinion. I understand all sides did many terrible things.
 
Gunner said:
I thought the same thing.
The ferries here are just people ferries and are pretty small. I would think a torpedo would go under it.
Although the ferries from the end of Long Island to Connecticut are pretty large. One is actually a converted LST and carries many cars and trucks.

So, of course as with most of Louis’s posts I looked in to it further.

The S.S. Caribou was a pretty large ferry.
Looked more like a small ship to me.

oxyPEDc.jpg


Sinking of the SS Caribou

At 3:21 a.m. Atlantic Daylight Time (3:51 in Newfoundland), Gräf fired a torpedo at a range of 650 metres; it struck the ferry’s starboard side amidships 43 seconds later. The damage was instantaneous and catastrophic. The ferry’s boilers exploded and destroyed several lifeboats and rafts. Frantic family members tried to find each other in darkened cabins and corridors before they fought their way through rushing seawater to get onto the deck.
Click to expand...

Sunk a few ships like that in Uboat, I assume they were mistaken as cargo ships.
 
Nathangun said:
Sunk a few ships like that in Uboat, I assume they were mistaken as cargo ships.
Click to expand...
Even if not, both sides found it perfectly acceptable to bomb civilian targets (for example cities) as well, so civilian targets in general apparently were not avoided. It's easy to look with today's morals and ethics to history and judge, but let's not forget that this same history caused today's morals and ethics.
 
So many terrifying and agonizing ways for soldiers and civilians to die.
Drowning in the open ocean. Burning while the city is being fire bombed. Wars are horrible. :oops:

But fascinating too. It's the same story throughout all of human history (lots of good stories of cooperation and kindness too though).
Seeking to understand it, I've found it useful to look at it from a psychological angle.
What were their motivations? Was it purely survival? Was it greed - for power or wealth? Was it fear?

I'd like to assume that the motivation of all doctors and nurses in wars were purely altruistic, to ease suffering and heal. But that would be a naive.
There were probably some nationalistic motivations here and there too...and even darker ones (I only recently stumbled across the story of the Japanese Empire's Unit 731).
Most of them were never punished for their crimes, because the US military gave them sanctuary in return for exclusively sharing their data from human experiments. :cautious:

I saw an archeological documentary that involved 2 nearby tribes (in South America from memory).
The lands began to experience drought. One tribe had access to underground springs, one didn't.
That tribe didn't, attacked the other one and beat everyone to death. Now their tribe had water. Yay.
I wonder if they tried negotiation or amalgamation first, or considered traveling to find new lands with more basic resources. :unsure:
 
Francis Browne (3 Jan 1880 – 7 July 1960) was an Irish Jesuit priest who sailed with the RMS Titanic for the first leg of its journey, from Southampton, England, to Cobh, Ireland, then called Queenstown. And he would have stayed for the remainder of the transatlantic journey but when Browne reached Cobh he received a note from his clerical superior ordering him to return to his station immediately rather than sail on.

Browne disembarked and being an amateur photographer (who had received his first camera from the same uncle who later bought him his ticket for the Titanic trip) brought with him the only photos of the Titanic at sea that would survive the shipwreck.

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After his ordination on 1915, he completed his theological studies and 1916, the 36-year-old Browne was sent to Europe to join the Irish Guards as a chaplain. He served for most of the war in the trenches and on the battlefields of Flanders. Ministering to soldiers in the thick of the action, Father Browne was wounded five times and badly gassed.

Field Marshal Douglas Haig, head of the British forces on the 'western front' during WWI, described Father Francis Browne as “the bravest man I ever met."
In recognition of his bravery, Fr Browne was awarded the Military Cross and the French and Belgian Croix de Guerre.
 
Louis said:
The Fiat revenge...

On June 27, 1991, T-55 tanks from the Yugoslav People’s Army rolled through Osijek, Croatia, a city that would later suffer heavy damage from the independence war, in a forceful demonstration of power. But the army’s efforts failed to instill fear in all of the people.

A citizen decided to protest the incoming forces. He parked his red Fiat (also called a Fićo) on the street in front of the approaching tanks, blocking the road as an act of defiance. The man calmly exited the Fiat seconds before the tank leading the horde of military vehicles rammed into the car and dragged it along the street before crushing it.

Twenty years later, a monument was unveiled to commemorate the act. A red Fiat can be seen climbing a T-55 tank, to symbolise the fearless unbreakable spirit of Croatian people in their struggle for freedom in the war for independence. The monument was called The Red Fićo (Fiat).

IEBdwfd.jpg
Click to expand...
Fiat Model TD.
 
I looked further in to Fr Browne’s story.
I was interested in seeing the pictures he took of the Titanic.

I found this site:
https://coastmonkey.ie/titanic-photos-fr-browne/

"During the trip, he made the acquaintance of an American couple who enjoyed his company. They offered to pay Fr. Browne continued passage on the ship to New York and back if he were to spend it with them. Fr Brown contacted his superior requesting the temporary leave and the response he received was curt and unequivocal: “GET OFF THAT SHIP”. He did depart, history unfolded and Fr Brown would keep that telegram in his wallet for the rest of his life telling people “it was the only time holy obedience ever saved a man’s life”."

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His life has quite a story to it.
To hear some of his own words (voiced by an actor) in a 5 minute film:

 
What a magnificent ship and photographs.
And what a catastrophic fck-up. All those people.
Not a nice way to die I imagine, drowning in insanely cold water. I guess they wouldn't have suffered very long though.
 
Harry Hudec (1922/2007) of the 82nd Airborne jumped into Normandy at about 01:30 hrs on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

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On June 15th, during fighting on Hill 30, Hudec was wounded in the leg and sought refuge at a farm. His owners hid him in their stable and cared for him for four days until the farmer warned him that "the Bosch are coming". Hudec hobbled down the road and was fortunate to meet up with other Americans who then had him evacuated.

He jumped again in Holland on Sept 17 and survived the fierce fighting in the Ardennes.

After the war Harry remained friends with the farmer and family over the years and visited the farm on June 6, 2004 during the D-Day Plus 60 observation.

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Harry (center) with the old farmers and family. An arrow marks the doorway where Harry was hidden out after being wounded in Picauville, France.
 
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