Browsing: Forgotten Knowledge

America’s WWII Ghost Army: Secret Deception Unit

During World War II, a secret U.S. unit used inflatable tanks and sonic trickery to fool the enemy, playing a crucial but little-known role in Allied victories.

Shortly after the United States entered World War II, Allied commanders realized that winning battles would require not just military strength, but also deception. In response, the U.S. Army formed a top-secret unit with an unusual mission: persuade German forces that Allied troops were where they weren’t—using theatrical tricks, inflatable decoys, and elaborate sonic illusions. This unit became known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, or more commonly, the “Ghost Army.”…

The Harlem Hellfighters: America’s Overlooked Heroes

The story of the Harlem Hellfighters in World War I is one of courage and resilience, yet remains largely unknown to most Americans.

When people think of the soldiers who fought for the United States in World War I, images of doughboys in their classic uniforms often come to mind. What many don’t realize is that among these servicemen was a regiment that shattered both racial barriers and expectations on the battlefields of France: the 369th Infantry Regiment, better known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

Formed in 1916 as part of the New York Army National Guard, the regiment was initially called the 15th New York National Guard Regiment.…

The U.S. Camel Corps: America’s Forgotten Experiment

In the mid-19th century, the U.S. Army imported camels from the Middle East to patrol the deserts of the American Southwest, an experiment that faded into obscurity.

During the 1850s, as the United States pushed its boundaries westward, the vast and arid landscapes of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California posed unique challenges for transportation and military logistics. Horses and mules, the standard beasts of burden, frequently suffered in the sweltering heat and struggled across the sprawling, waterless expanses. It was Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War (and later President of the Confederacy), who championed a curious solution: the importation and deployment of camels.…

The Secret U.S. WWI Plan to Invade Canada

Few Americans realize that in the 1920s, the U.S. military secretly prepared for war against Canada.

In the years following World War I, as Europe struggled with political upheaval and new alliances, the U.S. military quietly drew up plans for scenarios few would imagine today. One of the most unusual was “War Plan Red,” a detailed strategy for a hypothetical conflict with the British Empire. Among its most surprising components was an extensive, secret plan for the invasion of Canada.

War Plan Red was part of a series of “color-coded” war plans developed by the United States Army and Navy between the 1900s and 1930s, each addressing possible conflicts with different countries.…

The Forgotten Lituya Bay Mega-Tsunami of 1958

In 1958, a remote Alaskan bay experienced the tallest tsunami ever recorded, towering over any wave in human history.

On July 9, 1958, in the deep wilderness of southeast Alaska, a seismic event occurred that would leave a mark on geological history—but remains largely unknown outside scientific circles. Lituya Bay, a narrow inlet surrounded by steep mountains and thick forests, was the site of the tallest tsunami ever recorded, a wave that reached an astonishing height of 1,720 feet—taller than the Empire State Building.

The series of events began just before 10:16 p.m., when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Fairweather Fault, which runs just off the bay’s edge.…

The Fascinating Saga of the U.S. Camel Corps

Long before the automobile dominated America’s vast western deserts, the U.S. Army ran a unique and unexpected experiment with camels.

In the mid-19th century, as the United States expanded westward, the government faced daunting challenges associated with traversing and securing arid, inhospitable routes through the Southwest. Horses and mules suffered in the harsh heat and dry conditions, inspiring a search for a creature better suited to the desert. At the urging of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, Congress authorized the importation of camels in 1855 as part of the “Camel Corps” initiative.

Led by Major Henry C.…

Title: The Forgotten Republic of Rough and Ready, California

Excerpt: Few know that a California gold rush town seceded from the United States in 1850 to form its own republic before rejoining the nation just months later.

In the chaotic days of the California Gold Rush, a small settlement in Nevada County, nestled amidst rolling hills and pine forests, briefly seceded from the United States. The town of Rough and Ready, established by miners from Wisconsin in 1849, declared independence in a moment of frontier bravado, creating the short-lived and little-known “Great Republic of Rough and Ready.”

The settlement drew its name from General Zachary Taylor, nicknamed “Old Rough and Ready,” whose leadership in the Mexican-American War inspired the band of miners who ventured west during the gold fever.…

The Alaska Purchase: America’s Forgotten Bargain

In 1867, the United States quietly made one of history’s most remarkable land deals, buying Alaska from Russia—a move many Americans mocked at the time.

Few people today realize just how close North America came to looking very different. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, Russia faced daunting financial difficulties, fearing the remote colony of Alaska was vulnerable and not especially profitable. The Russian Empire, having suffered losses in the Crimean War and wary that Britain—whose powerful navy was stationed nearby in Canada—might seize the territory if war ever broke out, began to secretly court possible buyers for the vast, frosty region.…

The Secret Mission to Save Europe’s Art

During World War II, a U.S.-led group raced to save Europe’s treasures from Nazi theft—a legacy not widely known today.

In the chaos of World War II, as cities fell and armies advanced, a lesser-known battle quietly raged across Europe—the fight to protect and recover priceless works of art. This covert campaign shaped the legacy of the world’s cultural heritage, yet it remains a little-known chapter to many Americans, even those familiar with the broader sweep of the war.

The effort was spearheaded by the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, more commonly known as the Monuments Men.…

The Forgotten Japanese Balloon Bomb Attacks on the U.S.

During World War II, Japan launched thousands of balloon bombs at North America. Few Americans know these attacks actually reached as far as Michigan and brought tragedy to Oregon.

In late 1944, as World War II raged on, the Japanese military initiated a little-known campaign against the United States called “Operation Fu-Go.” With heavy Allied bombing threatening Japanese cities, their military scientists devised an ambitious strategy: to release thousands of weaponized balloons, each carrying incendiary and anti-personnel bombs, into the jet stream that flows from Japan to North America. These hydrogen-filled balloons were ingeniously designed, able to adjust their altitude automatically using sandbag ballast and primitive altimeters, drifting silently more than 6,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.…

The Secret WWI Invasion That Nearly Changed Alaska

In 1918, Japanese troops briefly landed on Alaskan soil—a little-known incident during World War I.

At the tail end of World War I, while the world focused on the Western Front and battles in Europe, a pivotal and almost forgotten event unfolded in America’s backyard. As Russia dissolved into chaotic civil war following the Bolshevik Revolution, foreign powers took an unprecedented step: they sent troops to Siberia, hoping to influence the outcome, protect their citizens, and secure war supplies. Among the international forces was Japan, but in a move that stunned U.S. military authorities, Japanese soldiers briefly set foot in Alaska, creating a rare moment when a foreign army landed on U.S.…

The Great American Camel Experiment

Long before highways and railroads, the U.S. Army bet on camels to tame the Wild West.

In the mid-1800s, as the United States expanded westward, the vast arid deserts of the Southwest posed a serious challenge to transportation and military logistics. Horses and mules struggled in the punishing heat and endless stretches without water. In a surprising twist largely forgotten by history, the U.S. Army decided to solve this problem by importing camels and sent them to traverse the American wilderness.

The idea first took root in 1836, but it wasn’t until Jefferson Davis, later president of the Confederacy, became Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce in 1853 that the “camel experiment” gained real momentum.…

The Forgotten Presidential Election of 1876

The 1876 election nearly sparked a constitutional crisis, deciding the U.S. presidency through secret backroom deals.

In the waning days of the 19th century, the United States faced its most disputed presidential election. The year was 1876, and the country was still reeling from the Civil War and the turbulent period of Reconstruction. Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden found themselves at the center of a political storm that would not only shape the presidency but also determine the fate of Southern states and the trajectory of civil rights for decades to come.…

The Great Hawaiian Language Ban: A Hidden Chapter

For over eighty years, it was illegal to teach Hawaiian language in schools—a policy with deep and lasting effects.

When most Americans think of Hawaii, images of beautiful beaches and a vibrant culture spring to mind, yet beneath the surface lies a little-known and painful chapter in U.S. history. Following the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 and the annexation by the United States in 1898, authorities imposed policies that nearly suppressed the Hawaiian language into extinction. In 1896, just three years after the U.S.-supported overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani, the Territory of Hawaii’s leaders implemented a law that prohibited Hawaiian from being taught or spoken as the medium of instruction in public schools.…

America’s Secret Army of Balloon Bomb Defenders

During World War II, thousands of Americans quietly defended the homeland from a bizarre Japanese attack that most people today have never heard about.

In the winter of 1944 and into 1945, an unusual threat floated over the United States—literally. In a little-known chapter of World War II history, the Japanese military launched over 9,000 hydrogen-filled balloons equipped with explosives, intending for the jet stream to carry them across the Pacific to North America. Their goal was to start forest fires, cause panic, and disrupt American wartime industry.

These weapons, called “Fu-Go” balloon bombs, first arrived in the forests of the western states at the end of 1944.…

The Forgotten Japanese Internment in Latin America

Thousands of Latin Americans of Japanese descent were forcibly relocated to U.S. camps during WWII, a chapter rarely taught in American schools.

When most Americans hear about the internment of people of Japanese descent during World War II, the focus is usually on the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans uprooted from their homes and detained in camps across the United States. However, far less known is another chapter of this dark period—the U.S. led internment and relocation of over 2,200 Japanese Latin Americans, a story largely hidden from mainstream history.

Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States government feared that people of Japanese descent throughout the Americas posed a shared threat, even beyond its own borders.…

The First Japanese Colony in America: The Yamato Colony

Long before World War II, a community of Japanese farmers braved hardship to settle in Florida, establishing a piece of Japan in the American South.

In the early 1900s, the United States saw an influx of immigrants seeking new opportunities. While many Americans are familiar with Japanese communities on the West Coast and in Hawaii, few have heard of the Yamato Colony, one of the earliest Japanese settlements in the continental U.S., founded in Florida in 1905. Its improbable history is both a testament to immigrant ambition and a forgotten chapter in America’s story.…

The “Year Without a Summer” and America’s Westward Push

In 1816, a volcanic eruption in Indonesia led to global chills and strange summers in the U.S., pushing famine, innovation, and migration westward.

In the spring and summer of 1816, Americans witnessed weather that seemed nearly apocalyptic. Frost blackened crops in June, snowflakes fell in New England during July, and ice formed on lakes and rivers as far south as Pennsylvania. Livestock starved as pastures withered, and food prices soared. What most people had no way of truly knowing at the time was that this “Year Without a Summer” was the result of one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history, on the other side of the world.…

The Secret US Town Built by the TVA

A hidden Tennessee town, created in the 1940s, played a crucial role in both the American home front and atomic history.

In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains lies a place few Americans know ever existed: Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In 1942, as World War II raged, the U.S. government sought a remote but accessible site to spearhead a quiet revolution in energy: the harnessing of the atom. They needed to keep their efforts away from enemy eyes—and even from most Americans. That’s when Oak Ridge came into being, not as a typical town but as a “secret city” built almost overnight by the Tennessee Valley Authority and military planners.…

Dancing Plagues: The Forgotten Crisis of 1518

In 1518, hundreds in Strasbourg were gripped by a mysterious plague that compelled them to dance for days, baffling authorities and resulting in dozens of deaths.

During the summer of 1518 in the then-Holy Roman Empire city of Strasbourg, now part of France, a bizarre phenomenon descended upon its citizens. It began when a woman known as Frau Troffea stepped onto a narrow street and began to dance uncontrollably. She showed no signs of joy or celebration but moved frenetically, seemingly unable to stop herself. Witnesses at first thought it was simple exuberance or a strange act of protest.…