The FBI Built a Tunnel Under the Soviet Embassy in Washington

In 1977, the Soviet Union began building a new embassy in Washington, D.C. Fears immediately arose within the United States Intelligence Community that the new embassy could serve as a hub for Soviet spying activities, including eavesdropping on communications from the White House and the U.S. Capitol. In response, the U.S. began digging a tunnel underneath the embassy from a nearby building — in what was known as Operation Monopoly — from which they could monitor Soviet communications. Construction began in 1977, but the secret tunnel didn’t become fully operational until the early ’90s. The whole project was a huge and costly failure, partially due to the clandestine activities of Robert Hanssen, a double agent in the FBI. In 2001, Hanssen was arrested on charges of spying for Russia, at which point Operation Monopoly became public knowledge. It's not entirely clear when the double agent informed Russia of the tunnel’s existence.  

Mathias Rust Flew to Moscow With a Message of Peace

In May 1987, a 19-year-old amateur pilot named Mathias Rust decided to illegally navigate through Soviet airspace — and what was then the largest air defense system in the world. He took off from Helsinki in a single-engine Cessna and flew 550 miles to the center of Moscow, where he promptly landed next to Red Square, a stone’s throw from the Kremlin. It was a stunning achievement, not only because of the real risk of being shot down, but also because Rust had only 50 hours of flying experience. 

The West German teenager was driven by a noble cause. He explained how he wanted “to build an imaginary bridge between West and East,” and how he thought “every human on this planet is responsible for some progress and I was looking for an opportunity to take my share in it.” He carried with him a 20-page world peace manifesto that he planned to deliver to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Rust was arrested immediately after landing, and later sentenced to four years in prison (he served 14 months before being released). How far Rust managed to advance peace is impossible to say, but his daring flight did result in a swathe of high-profile firings and demotions, including the Soviet defense minister and the commander of the country's air defenses.  

The Black Sea Bumping Incident

The idea of two Russian frigates deliberately ramming into two American ships sounds like something that could spark a wider conflict. But the Black Sea bumping incident of 1988, in which that very thing occurred, was resolved fairly amicably — and fortunately, considering the Cold War tensions of the time. The incident occurred when the cruiser USS Yorktown and the destroyer USS Caron sailed close to the Crimean coast, partly to challenge the Soviet claim of a 12-mile territorial water limit. (The U.S. argued there was only a 3-mile international limit on the respective territorial waters.) The two vessels were shadowed by two Soviet frigates, one of which, the Bezzavetnyi, had previously warned the Yorktown it would “strike their ship with own” if the Americans entered Soviet territory. It was not an empty threat. The Bezzavetnyi closed to within 50 feet of the Yorktown before slamming up against it. The second Soviet frigate did the same to the Caron. Thankfully for all involved, there was no direct intention to sink either ship, no weapons were fired, and no wider escalation ensued. 

Stanislav Petrov May Have Saved the World

If it weren’t for Stanislav Petrov, the Cold War — and potentially the trajectory of human life on Earth — could have come to a devastating end. Petrov, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces, was on duty on September 26, 1983, when his early-warning satellite system detected what appeared to be five approaching U.S. nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles. Had he followed Soviet military protocol and reported an incoming American strike, he likely would have set in motion a full nuclear retaliation. Instead, Petrov kept calm and reported a false alarm, reasoning that if the United States really wanted to start a nuclear war, it would launch far more than five missiles. Petrov was correct, and the false alarm was later discovered to have been the result of the Soviet satellite warning system confusing the sun’s reflection off clouds for incoming missiles. By keeping his cool, Petrov potentially prevented a full-scale nuclear war.  

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A Masterless Samurai Could Become a Wandering Rōnin

Both the status and salary of a samurai warrior came from the lord, or daimyo, they served. If their lord died, or if the samurai disgraced themselves and lost their patronage, they could find themselves masterless, at which point they became a rōnin. These rōnin often ended up traveling Japan, offering their services to anyone in need of a sword for hire. It was seen as a tragic position, and a far fall from grace for any former samurai. Rōnin were viewed as a problem. Highly trained, armed, and yet leaderless, they had a reputation for troublemaking, banditry, and mercenary activities — and there were a lot of them. At the time of the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, it’s estimated that there were some 400,000 rōnin in Japan.

Women Warriors Fought Alongside the Samurai

Within the traditional samurai class, women were typically charged with maintaining the household — as well as defending it. They were therefore trained to use the naginata and a dagger called the kaiken. Some of these women went a step further, receiving the same training in martial arts and strategy as male samurai. Known as onna-musha, female warriors engaged directly in offensive battles as the equals of their male counterparts. Arguably the most famous onna-musha in Japanese history was Tomoe Gozen, who came to prominence during the Genpei War in the late 12th century. Renowned for her bravery, horsemanship, and exceptional skill with a bow and arrow, she famously led 300 samurai against a force of 6,000 enemy fighters — and, according to legend, emerged victorious as one of only five survivors.

There Were Samurai From Africa, China, and Europe

The samurai were almost exclusively Japanese, but a handful of foreigners were accepted into their ranks. The first was Yasuke, a tall man of African origin (perhaps from Mozambique, according to historians) who arrived in Kyoto in 1579. He caused a sensation, initially due to his race and height — he was a foot taller than the average Japanese man. Under the rule of Oda Nobunaga, a powerful feudal lord, Yasuke was trained in martial arts and eventually became a fully fledged samurai warrior. After Yasuke came four samurai from Joseon (now South Korea), one from China, and four from Europe. This latter group included William Adams from England and Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn of the Netherlands, two navigators who were stranded in Japan together in 1600. When neither man was allowed to leave the country, they ended up serving the shogunate and rising to the rank of samurai. 

There Was a Samurai Colony in California

The only settlement established by samurai outside of Japan — and the first Japanese colony in North America — was the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony in Gold Hill, California. Established on June 8, 1869, the settlement was comprised of 22 people from samurai families (they even brought their swords with them), including farmers and carpenters, who had fled the Boshin War, a civil war that was a precursor to the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 that effectively ended the samurai class. The colony got off to a bright start, with the planting of tea plants, mulberry trees, and bamboo, all in anticipation of the arrival of further colonists from Japan. But the influx of fresh settlers never came, and the farm soon began to fail. It’s unclear what happened to most of the settlers, but we do know that the historic site is home to the grave of Okei Ito, the first Japanese woman buried on American soil. The colony was also the birthplace of Mary Schnell (the daughter of the colony's founder, John Schnell), the first naturalized Japanese American citizen. 

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Why Was the War Fought?

The Seven Years’ War was very much about land — specifically, reclaiming territory or expanding empires, depending on the country. Longtime enemies France and Great Britain were fighting for commercial and colonial supremacy in North America and India. Austria wanted to reclaim its former province Silesia from Prussia, and exact revenge in the process: In the words of Austrian ruler Maria Theresa, “Prussia must be given a trouncing.” Russia saw Prussia as a threat to its territory and aligned with Austria accordingly. Sweden joined the anti-Prussia coalition to protect its military presence in the Baltics, and in hopes of currying favor with Austria and France. (As Swedish historian Patrik Winton put it, “Swedish politicians hoped that the coalition would lead to a quick victory without having to get too involved in the fighting, but that Sweden still would be rewarded for its support. Swedish military action was thus primarily designed to show the allies that Sweden participated in the war.”) Prussia sought to continue the territorial expansion it accomplished in the War of the Austrian Succession, specifically eyeing Saxony and Polish West Prussia.

When and Where Did the Fighting Take Place?

Part of what makes the Seven Years’ War convoluted is its wide geographic range, somewhat fuzzy timeline, and a sense of separation between the participants: The war was at its core a fusion of one war between France and Great Britain, and another war between Austria and Prussia. While the official time frame of the Seven Years’ War is 1756 to 1763, related battles took place before 1756, particularly in North America. The North American theater of the war has been commonly referred to as the French and Indian War, as Indigenous peoples in North America largely allied with the French against the British (though the Iroquois Confederacy aligned with Great Britain). The conflict began in 1754 as a series of military skirmishes between the French and British over undefined territory in the Ohio Valley. The moniker “French and Indian War” not only sounds outdated today, but is also confusing, as the French and British also fought separate battles during the Seven Years’ War in India. 

The military action in continental Europe began with the French seizing the British territory of Menorca in June 1756. Two months later, Prussia invaded Saxony, which triggered the aforementioned alliances. The alliance-activating nature of Prussia’s invasion of Saxony is the reason why it’s considered the start of the Seven Years’ War, even though the French invasion of Menorca and two years of colonial North American battles between France and Great Britain predate it. War between France and Great Britain was not officially declared until 1756. The other major theaters of the war include the Caribbean, Central America, the Philippines, and West Africa, as well as warship battles at sea. 

What Was the Impact of the Seven Years’ War?

Two peace treaties ended the Seven Years’ War. The Treaty of Paris was signed on February 10, 1763, between Great Britain, France, Hanover, Portugal, and Spain; five days later, the Treaty of Hubertusburg was signed between Austria, Prussia, and Saxony. The Treaty of Paris represented a major loss of territory for France, as it resulted in France relinquishing all of its North American territories east of the Mississippi River (except New Orleans), all land gains in India and the East Indies since 1749, and some of its West Indies territories, ceding them to Great Britain in most cases. The Treaty of Hubertusburg was a status quo antebellum agreement, restoring the conditions that existed prior to the Seven Years’ War: Silesia remained a Prussian territory, and Saxony regained its sovereignty. 

These treaties resulted in the enhancement of Great Britain as a global power. The war also led to the rise of George Washington, who was a 22-year-old major during the first North American military battles between Great Britain and France, and eventually became commander of the Virginia colony’s military regiment. Ultimately, the exorbitant expense of the Seven Years’ War resulted in Great Britain levying increased taxes upon the American colonies,  fostering conditions that led to the American Revolutionary War. 

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The Germans Weren’t Expecting the Invasion to Be at Normandy 

The Germans knew that an Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France could turn the tide of war, and had planned to counter such an invasion. But they didn’t consider Normandy as a particularly likely landing point. Instead, they believed the Allies would invade further north, at the French port city of Calais, which sat just a little more than 20 miles across the English Channel from Dover. The German army installed three massive gun batteries along the Calais coast in order to counter this threat. That’s not to say that Normandy was an easy target. It was defended by the Atlantic Wall, a 2,000-mile-long chain of fortresses, mines, gun emplacements, tank traps, and obstacles. It was an impressive piece of defensive engineering, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Allied invasion. 

Spies and Misinformation Played a Major Part in the Success of D-Day

The Allies did all they could to convince the Nazis that an invasion would not take place at Normandy. Leading up to D-Day, nearly every German spy in England had been captured or turned into a double agent, and the double agents were told to inform their Nazi handlers that the invasion was indeed planned for Calais. At the same time, the Allies sent out fake radio traffic to further convince the Germans that Calais was the plan. This deception was all part of Operation Fortitude, which aimed to dupe the Nazis with misinformation, including creating an entirely fake army. This fictitious force, known as the First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG), was made up of thousands of fake tanks and airplanes, as well as decoy buildings, all placed on England’s southeast coast and supposedly commanded by General George S. Patton. The Allies let German reconnaissance planes photograph the site of the dummy army, further convincing the enemy that a military buildup was being made for an invasion of Calais. What’s more, the Allies by this time had cracked the Nazis’ Enigma code, so they could monitor the success of their misinformation campaign by tapping into German communications. 

D-Day Was the Largest Amphibious Invasion in History

The Allied invasion of Normandy was the largest single-day amphibious invasion in history. The scale of the assault is hard to even imagine, as the numbers are mind-boggling. In the months and days leading up to the invasion, 7 million tons of supplies, including 450,000 tons of ammunition, were brought into Britain from the United States, and war planners created around 17 million maps to support the operation. In the hours prior to the beach landings, 11,590 Allied aircraft flew 14,674 sorties to support the invasion, and 15,500 American and 7,900 British airborne troops parachuted into France behind enemy lines. Then came the beach assault by 132,715 Allied troops, consisting of 75,215 British and Canadian forces and 57,500 Americans. Between them, they stormed the beaches of Normandy, the Americans fighting their way ashore at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, the British at Gold and Sword beaches, and the Canadians at Juno Beach. 

Eisenhower Wrote a Secret “In Case of Failure” Message

The success of D-Day was in no way assured. In the days before the invasion, General Eisenhower secretly wrote a statement now known as the “In Case of Failure” message, to be released if the invasion failed. In the letter, Eisenhower took full blame for any such failure. “My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available,” he wrote. “The troops, the air, and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do.” 

But D-Day was a military success that paved  the way for a German surrender less than a year later. The invasion, however, came at a terrible cost. Historians are still investigating the actual number of deaths that resulted from the chaos of D-Day, but we know that at least 4,414 Allied soldiers, sailors, airmen, and coast guardsmen lost their lives, with at least 10,000 total casualties. On the German side, meanwhile, estimates suggest between 4,000 and 9,000 killed, wounded, or missing, with around 200,000 Germans captured as prisoners of war. Today, just a few thousand D-Day veterans may still be alive, the youngest now in their late 90s. On June 6, 2023, around 40 World War II veterans gathered at Normandy to mark the 79th anniversary of D-Day and pay tribute to the lives lost that day. 

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The Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Years' War

In 1651, the Netherlands decided to get involved in the English Civil War between the Royalists and Parliamentarians. During the whole messy affair, the Dutch sent a fleet of 12 warships to the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, to demand reparations from the Royalists, who had been raiding Dutch shipping lanes. Their demands were ignored, at which point the Dutch declared war on the Isles of Scilly. The Dutch hung around for three months and then abandoned the fruitless conflict and sailed home. But they forgot one thing: to declare peace with the Isles of Scilly. The bloodless war technically lasted for 335 years until anyone saw fit to formally sign a peace treaty, which finally happened in 1986. It remains, arguably at least, one of the longest wars in history (the shortest, in contrast, lasted just 38 minutes). 

War of Jenkins' Ear

In 1738, British merchants were increasingly protesting over Spanish control how the Spanish Guarda Costa (coast guard) was treating their trading ships in the Americas. The mood in Britain was that the Spanish needed to be taught a lesson. Enter Captain Robert Jenkins, a Welsh mariner who, in 1731, had his ear cut off by overzealous Spanish coast guards when they searched his ship for contraband. Seven years after that incident, Jenkins was called to appear in the House of Commons in London, where, according to some accounts, he presented his preserved ear, much to the outrage of the gathered assembly. The British public soon became aware of this episode, further stoking anti-Spanish fervor and helping to pave the way for a full-scale war that began in 1739 and ended in 1748.

The Kettle War

The Kettle War was a bizarre conflict that, in truth, was more of an international incident than a war. In 1784, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic were squabbling over access to the ports of Antwerp and Ghent in Belgium. In a show of force, the Holy Roman emperor dispatched three vessels, led by his magnificent warship Le Louis, to seize control of the Dutch port at Amsterdam. The Dutch were waiting with their own smaller ships. When the enemy approached, their lead ship, the Dolfijn, fired a single shot that ricocheted off a kettle on the deck of the Le Louis. This terrified the ship’s incompetent captain, who immediately surrendered, handing victory — and the emperor’s flagship — to the Dutch. 

The Pastry War

In the early 1830s, a French pastry cook living in Tacubaya, near Mexico City, claimed that some Mexican army officers had damaged and looted his restaurant. He appealed to the king of France, demanding compensation, and in doing so, unwittingly helped launch a war. The pastry cook’s complaint prompted France to press Mexico for the grand sum of 600,000 pesos in compensation. In November 1838, with the Mexican president yet to make any payments, France sent a fleet to Veracruz, the principal port on the Gulf of Mexico. The French bombarded the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa, and Mexico declared war on France. But before the crisis could escalate any further, Britain stepped in and negotiated a peace treaty. The French forces withdrew in March 1839. The pastry cook, meanwhile, never saw a single peso from Mexico, which never paid the compensation — a fact that was later used by France to justify the second French intervention in Mexico, in 1861. 

The Pig War 

The Oregon Treaty of 1846 settled long-standing border disputes between the U.S. and British North America (present-day Canada). Even on the strategically important island of San Juan in Washington state, which remained contested, the British and American settlers seemed to be getting along. But then, on June 15, 1859, an American farmer named Lyman Cutlar shot a British pig that had wandered onto his land and was eating his potatoes. Things escalated quickly, and the local Americans requested U.S. military protection. A 66-person company of the U.S. 9th Infantry was sent to San Juan. In response, the British sent three warships. Then came a voice of reason in the guise of Admiral Robert L. Baynes, commander in chief of the British navy in the Pacific. He refused to engage any further, stating that he would not “involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig.” So ended the Pig War, with only one casualty: the unfortunate pig. 

The Town of Líjar Versus France

In 1883, the tiny town of Líjar in Andalusia, Spain, declared war against the entire military might of France. Líjar’s mayor was apparently infuriated by some news he had heard, and immediately called a town meeting to discuss the matter. He explained the situation as follows: “Our King Alfonso [of Spain], when passing through Paris on the 29th day of September was stoned and offended in the most cowardly fashion by miserable hordes of the French nation.” The town council approved the mayor’s war motion, and Líjar duly announced its decision to the Spanish government and the president of the French Republic. Then, nothing happened — until, 100 years later, the town decided to formally end its war with France, with very little fanfare outside of Líjar, because everyone else had forgotten the war ever started. 

War of the Stray Dog 

Following decades of territorial disputes, tensions were already running high between Greece and Bulgaria in 1925 — and then a dog sparked a war. It all began when the dog ran across the border between Greece and Bulgaria. His owner, a Greek soldier, ran after the dog, and was promptly shot by the Bulgarians. The ensuing diplomatic chaos resulted in a brief invasion of Bulgaria by Greece, known as the War of the Stray Dog or the Incident at Petrich, which lasted 10 days and resulted in at least 50 casualties. The fate of the dog remains unknown. 

The Great Emu War

In 1932, a marauding horde of emus arrived in Western Australia, where they began destroying crops and causing general havoc. Farmers petitioned the government for help to combat the mob, which totaled at least 20,000 flightless birds. In response, Major G.P.W. Meredith of the Australian army was sent to the region in command of a small group of soldiers armed with Lewis light machine guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Things didn’t go well. The emus were tougher, faster, and more intelligent than expected, and it took 2,500 rounds of ammunition to fell just 200 of the birds. The “war” was eventually abandoned, with the emus victorious.  

The Whisky War

For half a century, Denmark and Canada were engaged in what must be one of the friendliest wars of all time. It all started in the 1970s, when the two nations were deliberating over their Arctic boundaries, including a small, desolate chunk of rock called Hans Island. No one could really agree on how to divide Hans, so it remained in rather unimportant limbo. Then, in 1984, some Canadian soldiers landed on the rock and promptly planted a maple leaf flag and left a bottle of whisky before returning home. In response, Denmark flew a representative out to the island, who replaced the flag with the Danish flag, leaving a bottle of schnapps and a note that read “Welcome to Danish Island.” The Whisky War had begun in earnest. This amicable conflict continued for 50 years, with the regular exchange of flags, notes, and bottles of booze. Finally, in 2022, Denmark and Canada struck a deal over the tiny, uninhabited Arctic island, ending the Whisky War for good. 

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