Browsing: history

Alaska’s Secret WW2 Balloon Bombs

Few know that Japan targeted Alaska with fire balloons in WWII, a little-known front line defended by remote outposts and the vigilance of Native Alaskans.

On a cold November day in 1944, something strange descended from the sky onto the rugged Alaskan tundra: a large, paper balloon, adorned with Japanese characters and trailing lines of rope and sandbags. Most Americans learning about World War II know of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the battles of Normandy, or the fight against Nazi Germany. But very few, even today, know that the remote wilderness of Alaska was a target of a unique and secret Japanese campaign using “Fu-Go” fire balloons.…

The Secret U.S. Town Evacuated for Science

In 1943, thousands were quietly evicted from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to make way for a top-secret atomic project that changed world history.

In the midst of World War II, a rural landscape in East Tennessee was transformed almost overnight. Few today realize that this transformation involved the quiet eviction of entire communities from around a place called Oak Ridge, which would become home to one of the most secretive and impactful scientific endeavors in history: the Manhattan Project.

With the war raging and the race for an atomic bomb underway, U.S. military planners identified the need for a remote site, far from prying eyes and close enough to critical resources like electricity and water.…

The Secret Life of the Packet Boats

Long before the telegraph or e-mail, a clandestine network of packet boats linked early America to the wider world, carrying more than just mail across the Atlantic.

In the decades after the United States became independent, communication with Europe was a slow and uncertain affair. Newspapers, letters, and government intelligence had to cross the ocean by ship, a journey that could take a month or more. Most Americans know that Benjamin Franklin helped organize early postal routes, but fewer are aware of the vital — and secretive — role played by packet boats in keeping the young nation informed and safe.…

The Forgotten U.S. Colony of Tabasco

Few Americans know that, briefly in 1847, the state of Tabasco in Mexico was declared a U.S. protectorate during the Mexican-American War.

During the Mexican-American War, the United States military landed forces along the Gulf Coast in an effort to disrupt Mexican supply lines and win key ports. One of their lesser-known targets was the Mexican state of Tabasco, a tropical region known for its swamps, rivers, and the bustling port town of San Juan Bautista, now called Villahermosa. The campaign in Tabasco, overshadowed by battles at places like Veracruz and Mexico City, stands out as an unusual experiment in American intervention abroad.…

The Secret Town under Greenland’s Ice: Camp Century

Beneath Greenland’s massive ice sheet lies the remains of Camp Century, a secret U.S. Army base built during the Cold War for nuclear research, forgotten by most today.

In the late 1950s, as tensions with the Soviet Union ran high, the United States sought innovative ways to maintain a strategic advantage. One of the boldest experiments of the era took place not in the skies or at sea, but hidden beneath the ice cap of northwest Greenland. Known as Camp Century, it was officially described as a scientific research outpost, but its true objectives and technological ambitions have remained largely unknown to the public even decades later.…

The Lost Towns Beneath American Reservoirs

Millions enjoy lakes created by U.S. dams, but few know entire towns lie underwater, their histories erased by rising waters and changing landscapes.

Throughout the twentieth century, massive dam projects transformed the American landscape. Construction of these giant hydroelectric and water supply reservoirs provided electricity, irrigation, and flood control, but in the process, erased entire communities from the map. While many people know of the recreational lakes created by filling these reservoirs, most are unaware that beneath the surface lies the remnants of dozens of towns, farms, and even graveyards.

One striking example is Kennett, California, a mining boomtown founded in the late 1800s.…

The Forgotten American Colony of Tabasco

In the 1840s, American settlers briefly ruled the Mexican region of Tabasco, a surprising footnote in U.S. history.

Amid the turmoil of the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848, most Americans recall the famous U.S. victories in places like Veracruz or Mexico City, but few are aware that for a short time, U.S. forces established a unique and largely forgotten colony in the tropical region of Tabasco on Mexico’s Gulf coast. This odd episode began as a minor military operation but resulted in a brief period of civil governance by Americans—a fact that remains virtually unknown outside of specialized historical circles.…

The Forgotten Reversal: Daylight Saving in Wartime

Few know that during World War II, the US stayed on Daylight Saving Time for three years straight.

In the midst of World War II, as nations scrambled to conserve resources, the United States took an unusual step regarding time itself. While most Americans think of Daylight Saving Time as an annual ritual involving clocks leaping forward each spring and slipping back each fall, a little-remembered chapter in American history saw the entire country live on “advanced time” for over three years.

The idea of Daylight Saving Time wasn’t new by 1942. It had been introduced during World War I as a way to save fuel by making better use of natural sunlight.…

The Secret U.S. Camel Corps of the 1850s

Few know the U.S. Army once imported camels, hoping they would shape the future of transport across the American Southwest.

In the mid-19th century, the United States faced a unique challenge: as settlers pushed westward, vast arid deserts made transportation difficult. Horses and mules struggled under the relentless sun, so a curious idea was born in Washington. In 1855, at the urging of then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, Congress allocated $30,000 for an experiment—import camels from the Middle East and North Africa to test their capabilities in the American desert.

Major Henry C.…

The Forgotten Japanese Horror of the Aleutians

During World War II, a Japanese invasion brought terror to Alaska’s remote Aleutian Islands—a little-known chapter in US history.

Most Americans are familiar with the main theatres of World War II: Europe, the Pacific, Africa. But far fewer know that Japanese forces actually invaded and held territory on US soil. In June 1942, at the same moment as the infamous Battle of Midway, Japanese troops landed on the Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska, two rocky, windswept outcrops off the coast of Alaska. For over a year, these remote islands were the site of occupation, combat, and civilian suffering—a chapter virtually forgotten outside of Alaska.…

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.…