‘Round the Square: History you didn’t learn in school, part 1 of 2
HISTORY: We couldn’t help but fall into an instant infatuation with a website called The Fact Site and its “100 history facts they didn’t teach you in school.”
It’s at thefactsite.com/100-history-facts.
The first fact got us thinking. “A singing birthday card has more computer power in it than the entire Allied Army of World War II.”
Imagine everything that has been done in the world without computers. It’s nearly unthinkable for the generations who have always had them available.
Germany uncovers 2,000 tons of unexploded bombs every year. “Over the course of World War II, the Allied armies dropped roughly 2.7 million tons of bombs over Nazi-occupied Europe. Half of that landed in Germany. Before any construction work can begin in Germany, the ground must undergo extensive surveys to look for unexploded ordnances.”
Since 1945, all British tanks built have been equipped with tea-making facilities. Before this, they had to stop, get out of the tank and make the beverage. That didn’t work so well in times of war. “On the road to Caen in 1944, a German Tiger tank ambushed and destroyed a parked column of almost thirty armored British vehicles in 15 minutes whilst the crew was having an impromptu tea break.”
Since 1945, tanks have been fitted with an interior boiler to allow for a hot cup of tea when the mood strikes.
“Four percent of the Normandy beaches are made up of shrapnel from the D-Day Landings.”
More than 5,000 tons of bombs were dropped by the Allies on the Axis powers leading up to D-Day. Microscopic bits of smoothed-down shrapnel are parts of the sand. Scientists estimate it will take about 150 years for it to fully rust away and erode.
More facts to come.