Black Sox: How the 1919 World Series Was Rigged

In 1919, a gang of crooked players and underworld gamblers managed to fix the World Series, setting off a national scandal.

The Nuclear Disaster at Chernobyl

In 1986, history’s worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl power plant in the Soviet Union. The whole incident symbolized both the arrogance and the incompetence of the Soviet government. In Russia today, Chernobyl is seen as one of the most important factors leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Aeroluge Snow Car

The Tatra V855 Aeroluge was one of the oddest cars ever designed. Intended to carry Nazi troops over the ice-covered Russian plains, only one was ever built.

The Vermont Republic

Although Ethan Allen and his “Green Mountain Boys” won one of the American colonists’ first victories against the British in the Revolutionary War when the US declared its independence in 1776, Vermont actually declared independence of their own—from both England and the United States—in 1777.

Tanganyika: The Naval Battle in the Jungle

The oddest naval battle of the First World War took place deep in the jungles of tropical Africa, 700 miles from the nearest ocean, led by an eccentric British officer.

“Lord Loincloth”