The British Cruiser That Torpedoed Itself in the Arctic
In March 1942 HMS Trinidad fired a torpedo at a crippled German destroyer in an Arctic snowstorm. It circled back and hit her, killing 32 of her own men.
Yorewire: history's most unbelievable true stories
The Submarine Sunk by the Last Torpedo It Fired
USS Tang sank more ships than any other American submarine of the Second World War. On the night of 24 October 1944, deep inside a Japanese convoy, she fired her 24th and last torpedo of the patrol. It swung round and came straight back. What happened next, in a submarine lying on the seabed in 180 feet of water, is known only from the handful of men who got out.
The Myths of the Stone That Foretells London's Fall
Legend says London will fall if this stone is destroyed. A rebel struck it with his sword to claim the city. The prophecy? A Victorian clergyman made it up.
The Olympic Champion Who Won His Final After He Died
Choked to death in the Olympic final of 564 BC, Arrhachion of Phigalia still forced his opponent to submit, and the judges crowned his corpse.
The Admiral Who Knew Japan Would Lose the War
Isoroku Yamamoto planned Pearl Harbor while warning that Japan could not beat America. He gave it a year. Sixteen months later he was dead in the jungle.
The Ice Cream Ship That Sailed to War With the Pacific Fleet
In 1945 the US Navy towed a million-dollar concrete barge across the Pacific. Its job: to make ten gallons of ice cream every seven minutes for the fleet.
The Stolen Bucket Modena Has Kept for 700 Years
In 1325 Modena routed Bologna at Zappolino and carried off a wooden bucket from a city well as a trophy. Seven centuries on, Modena still has it.