Operation Praying Mantis

 On 1988, after a U.S ship had sustained minor damages with no casualties due to an Iranian mine, the United States responded so heavily that they wiped out half of the Iranian navy.
Iran was so upset that they ended up suing the United States but the International Court of Justice dismissed all charges.

It was also reportedly said that a Russian ship was present during the conflict- but they watched the whole scene unfolding.

The problem with mercenaries in history

 

What would you do if you needed to defeat an enemy and weren't able to defeat them?
Perhaps, call for backup? That's exactly what some old warriors of history have done usually as an act of desperation.
Unfortunately, this "backup" would cause problems for your rule in the future.

Let me explain- 
After you defeat your enemy using the mercenary forces and claim victory over the land, it may cause the mercenaries to also want a piece of the cake.
This would cause them to probably overthrow you and take over your land using a planned coup or plot.
Thus, making you regret hiring foreign troops to bump off a couple of local enemies. 
If such an event sounds familiar to you then, yes. These events are usually how the seeds of colonisation are sown in countries. 

Feel free to debate in the comment section below :)

What happened to captured tanks in war?

 

During the Second World War, some tanks were often captured by either side for probably two reasons:
Modifications and improvements of the tank or for the advantage of using a powerful machine on the battlefield.

The tank that we see in this image is a Russian KV-1 tank which was reportedly captured by the Germans and later fitted with upgrades to its armour and gun.
These upgrades fixed the flaws of this old tank and made it a much more formidable opponent than how it was before being captured. 

Monroe Doctrine

 

Ever wonder what prevented the Europeans from affecting any territory or place in the United States of America?

That's because of the Monroe Doctrine which was signed and brought forward during the early 1800s by President Monroe of the United States.

In other words, this prevented the European powers from interfering in American affairs and events, especially for colonial purposes.
Because, if you remember, the U.S. was a former colony of the British Empire before the American Revolutionary War during the late 1700s.  

How did the custom of Roman gladiators begin?

 

It is said that ancient Roman gladiators began their custom of fighting to their end- as a source of entertainment during.. funerals for important Roman people.
The event started out from slaves fighting each other for entertainment- to trained fighters in arenas fighting for entertainment and fame.

Gladiators were also treated as celebrities or boxers, if you were to look at it from a modern perspective.

The White Death

 

Simo Hayha served as a sniper for Finland when they were defending against the Soviet Union during WW2. 

While other snipers were reportedly shot and detected easily for peeking out when using their rifle, Hayha upgraded his rifle with an iron sight for better efficiency.
He was also known for putting snow in his mouth to prevent the frosty breath from giving his position away. 
Although he was shot in the face and critically wounded on one day, he was saved by his comrades and was comatose till a day after the war ended or so.

Foxbat

 

In the 1970s, an upset Soviet fighter pilot was going through a bad time in life- so he decided to steal a MIG-25 Foxbat, which was still being developed in secret.
Once he had taken off from the runway, he made it to a neutral civilian airport with just very little fuel and asked for political asylum in exchange for the jet.