MSN | War History

Black Tom Explosion: German Sabotage on US Soil During WWI

Jesse Beckett
Jersey City pier broken into pieces following the Black Tom explosion

On the morning of July 30, 1916, Manhattan was lit up by a huge flash, before being slammed by an enormous blast wave. Three men and…

Project 100,000: The Controversial Recruiting Program of the Vietnam War

Robert McNamara pointing at a map of Vietnam

As the war in Vietnam raged on, the United States military began to run low on men willing to enlist and serve abroad. To increase…

Family Received Letter from US Serviceman 76 Years After It Was Sent

Pfc. Stan Smith, Pfc. Charles Becks, Pfc. Jack Mongold and Sgt. Dominic Renzaglia holding letters

The widow of American soldier John Gonsalves, who served during World War II, is thanking the United States Postal Service (USPS) after the organization delivered…

How the Soviet Polikarpov Po-2 Biplane Went From Crop Plane to Lethal Weapon

The Soviet Polikarpov Po-2 plane was initially designed to be a crop duster but ended up being surprisingly essential for the Soviets during the Second…

US Marines Took Hawaii in an Illegal Coup

Hawaiian beach and Marines poster

When talking about the US Marine Corps capturing islands, many would think of the island-hopping campaign that took the Corps across the Pacific in WWII.…

Video Footage Shows Extent of Damage Caused by Fighting in WW1

Jacques Trolley de Prévaux featured photo

We have all seen photos of the devastating damage left in the wake of the First World War. Cities that were reduced to rubble, large…

USS Abraham Lincoln Captain Becomes First Woman to Command a Deployed Aircraft Carrier

Clare Fitzgerald
Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt speaking at a podium

Captain Amy Bauernschmidt has made history by becoming the first woman to command a deployed aircraft carrier, after the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) set out…

MD-160: The Aircraft-Ship Hybrid Known as the ‘Caspian Sea Monster’

MD-160 sitting on the beach

There have been some really unusual military vehicles built over the course of history, but none have amazed us more than the Lun-class MD-160. A…

The USS Olympia Is a Cruiser with a Battleship’s Guns And A Very Long History

USS Olympia

The USS Olympia is the physical representation of the saying “big things come in small packages”. Launched in 1895, the comparatively small cruiser was armed…

These US Military Jets Accidentally Shot Themselves Down

F-14

As a rule, most aircraft armed with offensive weapons either attack ground targets or other aircraft. Over the past century, we have gotten pretty good…

Monument Dedicated to Medal of Honor Recipients to Be Built in Arlington

Clare Fitzgerald
President Joe Biden sitting at his desk + Medal of Honor

US President Joe Biden has signed a bill authorizing the construction of a monument in Washington, D.C. dedicated to the recipients of the Medal of…

Elvis Presley’s Service in the US Army Helped His Popularity Skyrocket

Jesse Beckett
Elvis Presley sitting in his US Army uniform

A number of Hollywood’s biggest stars were drafted into the US Army during the middle part of the 20th century. This includes the King of…