MSN Slideshow | War History

Before Becoming Hollywood’s Leading Man, Kirk Douglas was Chasing Japanese Submarines In the Pacific

Kirk Douglas as Col. Dax in 'Paths of Glory'

Kirk Douglas is arguably one of the most famous names to emerge during Hollywood’s heyday in the 1950s and ’60s. Known for taking on particularly…

The M18 Recoilless Rifle Obliterated Enemy Machine Gun Nests In Korea

Group of men standing near an M18 recoilless rifle in the snow

The M18 is a 57 mm shoulder-fired, anti-tank recoilless rifle the US Army equipped troops with during the Second World War and in Korea. The…

USS Recruit (1917): The Wooden Dreadnought In Manhattan’s Union Square

USS Recruit (1917) in Manhattan's Union Square

Amid the bustling streets of Manhattan’s Union Square in World War I, an extraordinary sight met passersby. The USS Recruit (1917), a wooden landship constructed…

Denholm Elliott Scored His First Acting Gigs While a Prisoner of War

Portrait of Denholm Elliott

Denholm Elliott was known for his versatile performances in numerous films and television shows. However, before he became a famous actor, he was a member…

Chuck Yeager: From WWII ‘Ace in a Day’ to Breaking the Sound Barrier

Chuck Yeager standing in front of an aircraft

Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager is widely regarded as one of the greatest aviators of the 20th century. Best known for being the first pilot to…

The Controversial Phoenix Program Was Created to Obliterate the Viet Cong

US Army Special Forces members and South Vietnamese soldiers crouching in the jungle

The Vietnam War was arguably the most controversial conflict of the 20th century. One of the most contentious aspects of the war was the Phoenix…

Philip Toosey Served As the Inspiration for Lt. Col. Nicholson In ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’

Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa as Lt. Col. Nicholson and Col. Saito in 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' + Military portrait of Philip Toosey

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) was a sensational film so well-received that it earned several Academy Awards. What most people don’t realize is…

Bell X-1: America’s Experimental Rocket-Powered Aircraft That First Broke the Sound Barrier

Bell X-1 in flight

The Bell X-1 was a rocket-powered aircraft designed by Bell for a supersonic joint research project between the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and…

Henschel Hs 129 :The Luftwaffe’s Soaring Tank Buster Armed With a 75 mm Cannon

Sky at sunrise + Drawing of a Henschel Hs 129

As tank warfare evolved and became a key strategy during the interwar period, the German Wehrmacht envisioned a new kind of blitzkrieg – one that…

Harry Belafonte Narrowly Missed One of WWII’s Deadliest Disasters On US Soil

Portrait of Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte passed away in April 2023, ending a decades-spanning career that forever changed the faces of music, cinema and activism. Prior to becoming a…

National Emergency Command Post Afloat: The ‘Floating White Houses’ for Times of Nuclear War

USS Wright (CC-2) at sea + Mushroom cloud rising into the sky

During the 1960s, America’s Continuity of Operations plans included the National Emergency Command Post Afloat (NECPA). It was one of three parts – airborne, ground…

Yousuf Sediq: The Afghan Interpreter and Special Forces Operator Who Fought Against the Taliban

US Army soldiers shielding their eyes from sand and debris

Over the course of the War in Afghanistan, between 50,000 and 76,000 Afghan interpreters worked alongside the American and coalition forces. They all risked their…