The Submarine Sunk by the Last Torpedo It Fired
In October 1944 USS Tang, the deadliest American submarine of the war, fired her last torpedo. It turned in a circle and sank her. Of 87 men, nine lived.
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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.
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.
The Town That Fought the Romans With Bears and Bees
When Roman soldiers tunnelled under the walls of Themiskyra on the Black Sea, the defenders broke in and sent down bears, wild beasts and swarms of bees.
The Knight Who Built a City on His Own Battlefield
In 1565 Jean de Valette, ageing Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, held Malta against the Ottomans for four months, then built a city on the battlefield.
The Crusade That Began With a Massacre at Home
In 1096, before they ever saw Jerusalem, crusaders turned on the Jews of the Rhineland. In Speyer, Worms and Mainz, whole communities were wiped out in weeks.
'Those About to Die Salute You': The Battle on Lake Fucinus
In AD 52 Emperor Claudius made 19,000 condemned men fight a real naval battle on an Italian lake, with soldiers and catapults waiting to kill any who fled.
The Gladiator Arena That Killed 20,000 in a Day
In AD 27 a former slave built a wooden arena near Rome on the cheap. It collapsed during its first gladiator show, killing or injuring tens of thousands.
Dwarf, Duellist, Soldier, Slave: The Life of Jeffrey Hudson
Jeffrey Hudson was 18 inches tall when he burst out of a pie in front of Charles I's queen. He later killed a man in a duel and spent years enslaved by pirates.
The Most Successful Pirate That Ever Infested Any Sea
Rahmah ibn Jabir terrorised the Persian Gulf for forty years. Blind, partially crippled and surrounded in 1826, he took his young son below decks and lit the powder.
The Butcher: The One-Eyed Constable of France
Olivier de Clisson saw France behead his father, fought against it, then became its Constable. His cruelty earned him the name 'the Butcher'.
The Lioness of Brittany: A Widow's Revenge at Sea
When France beheaded her husband and spiked his head over Nantes, Jeanne de Clisson took up arms, massacred a garrison and went to sea to kill French merchants.
The Viking Earl Killed by a Dead Man's Tooth
Sigurd the Mighty, Norse earl of Orkney, tied his beheaded rival's head to his saddle. Its buck tooth grazed his leg, and the infection killed him.
The Queen Who Served Justice in a Nutshell
Under Queen Ranavalona I, guilt and innocence in Madagascar were decided by swallowing a deadly nut. Tens of thousands died, many of them willing participants.
The Experiments of Emperor Frederick II
A Franciscan chronicler said Emperor Frederick II starved babies of speech, sealed a man in a cask to watch him die and had two men disembowelled after dinner.
The Man Who Was Roasted on a Throne then Eaten Alive
In 1514 a Hungarian crusade against the Ottomans collapsed into a peasant revolt. Its leader, György Dózsa, was captured, roasted alive on a red-hot iron throne and eaten by his own starved men.