
IBM and Auschwitz: New Evidence
Reading time: 13 minutes
In August 1943, a timber merchant from Bendzin, Poland, arrived at Auschwitz. He was among a group of 400 inmates, mostly Jews. First, a doctor examined him briefly to determine his fitness for work. His physical information was noted on a medical record. Second, his full prisoner registration was completed with all personal details. Third, his name was checked against the indices of the Political Section to see if he would be subjected to special punishment. Finally, he was registered in the Labor Assignment Office and assigned a characteristic five-digit IBM Hollerith number, 44673.

D-Day succeeded thanks to an ingenious design called the Mulberry Harbours
Reading time: 4 minutes
When Allied troops stormed the beaches at Normandy, France on June 6, 1944 – a bold invasion of Nazi-held territory that helped tip the balance of World War II – they were using a remarkable and entirely untested technology: artificial ports.
To stage what was then the largest seaborne assault in history, the American, British and Canadian armies needed to get at least 150,000 soldiers, military personnel and all their equipment ashore on day one of the invasion.

The other assassination of November 1963
Reading time: 5 minutes
On the night of 1 November 1963, President Ngo Dinh Diem of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam), and his brother and chief political adviser, Ngo Dinh Nhu, were assassinated during a coup executed by a military junta, acting with the knowledge and support of the United States.

How Woodrow Wilson’s propaganda machine changed American journalism
Reading time: 8 minutes
When the United States declared war on Germany 100 years ago, the impact on the news business was swift and dramatic.
In its crusade to “make the world safe for democracy,” the Wilson administration took immediate steps at home to curtail one of the pillars of democracy – press freedom – by implementing a plan to control, manipulate and censor all news coverage, on a scale never seen in U.S. history.

Ukraine: why supply of US and German tanks echoes cold war
Reading time: 5 minutes
The export of German and US tanks to Ukraine is not without risk, both real and symbolic. In purely military terms, well-trained, well-led and motivated Ukrainian tank crews operating the Leopard 2 or M1 Abrams will be better protected, have better firepower and be more manoeuvrable than their Russian counterparts. Provided the Ukrainians can cope with the fact that they will need different ammunition, spare parts and possibly fuel they can make a difference, significantly enhancing Ukraine’s capability to defend its territory.

Sino-Vietnamese War
Reading time: 5 minutes
The Sino-Vietnamese war was a short, nasty conflict fought between China and Vietnam in early 1979. Largely forgotten by almost everybody including the belligerents, it was a side plot of the Sino-Soviet split, itself a sideshow to the Cold War. Let’s go over the events before, during and after the war to see what it was all about.

America’s Favourite Fighting Frenchman: Marquis de Lafayette
Reading time: 8 minutes
Hamilton is a smash hit depicting the lives of America’s founding fathers. But, when it comes to Lafayette, it got a few things wrong.

Blimp Vs U-Boat, WW2 – Video
In July 1943 one of the most remarkable duels of the battle of the Atlantic took place between US Navy Airship K-74 and U-134 off the coast of Florida. Thanks to declassified documents and eye witness accounts we are able to relive this truly one of a kind engagement.

HISTORY AT WEST POINT: TEACHING CRITICAL THINKING TO FUTURE ARMY OFFICERS
Reading time: 8 minutes
A visit to the United States Military Academy confirms that history seeps from the granite foundations of West Point itself, perched high above the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City. Statues of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton Jr., and Douglas MacArthur greet students every morning on the way to their first class at 0730 (that’s 7:30 a.m.). Our most successful recruiting slogan—“Much of the history we teach was made by the people we taught”—explicitly refers to history. No surprise: armies have always wrapped themselves in the glory of the past.

A Cuban Catastrophe: The Bay of Pigs Invasion
Reading time: 11 minutes
The 1959 Cuban Revolution resulted in rule by a communist regime under Fidel Castro. This period also saw counter-revolutionaries forming anti-Castro movements, complicating the already tumultuous political landscape. In 1961 the United States would intervene with a force made up of Cuban exiles, the infamous ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion.

The Story of the M1 Garand: The Iconic and Influential World War 2 Weapon
Reading time: 7 minutes
Called the “greatest battle implement ever devised”, the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle served the USA well during WW2 and beyond.

B.C. FRANKLIN AND THE TULSA MASSACRE
Reading time: 5 minutes
On May 31, 1921, Buck Colbert Franklin peered up at the Tulsa, Oklahoma, sky and saw planes dropping turpentine bombs onto the roofs of nearby homes and businesses. On the street around him, he watched Black women, men, and children being felled by the guns of their white neighbors. Under the guise of extracting retribution for a Black teenager’s supposed assault on a white woman a day before, white Tulsans strategically destroyed the physical manifestations of their Black neighbors’ success.