Throughout World War II, Nazis scientists sought secret weapons to launch offensive attacks on American soil. What was the mysterious Rocket U-Boat? And how close did it come to destroying New York City? Nazi Secret Weapons: The Rocket U-Boat? Throughout World War II, the Nazis sought to build long-range, secret weapons (such as the Amerika-Bomber and…
Nazi Germany created many unusual, horrific weapons during World War II. One incredible weapon, however, failed to materialize. What was the Nazi Sun Gun? The Birth of the Nazi Sun Gun? In 1929, a German physicist named Hermann Oberth wrote Wege zur Raumschiffahrt (Translation: Ways to Spaceflight). The book described Oberth’s vision of a manned…
In 1935, Benny Goodman launched the Big Band era with a famous performance in Los Angeles. By 1946, the Big Band era was dead. Despite high popularity, it was replaced by the far less dance-friendly (and far less popular) BeBop era. What happened to the Big Band era? The U.S. government holds a substantial part…
Nazi monks operating in the Amazon? Secret plans for an air attack on the Panama Canal? Sounds like great Nazi fiction…but it’s a true story (well, at least in part). In a declassified note to the Assistant Secretary of State, J. Edgar Hoover said, “As of possible interest to you, information has been received from…
In February 1941, a Nazi U-boat torpedoed the SS Gairsoppa, sending it to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. Its holds contained a treasure…one of the largest treasures in maritime history. And now, that treasure has been recovered. What is the lost treasure of the Silver Shipwreck? What is the Silver Shipwreck? The SS…
On October 29, 1933, the London Sunday Referee published a report that a man named Otto Fischer had flown a 24-foot long rocket six miles above Earth. Did Space Nazis really exist? Did Space Nazis Exist? This story comes to you straight from io9. And it’s a wild one. No, the Nazis didn’t really send…
In August 1945, a dozen Spitfires were shipped from England to Burma. Another eight were mailed in December. However, they were considered excessive and soldiers were ordered to bury the boxes before they’d even been unpacked. What happened to the Lost Spitfire Squadron? The Lost Spitfire Squadron? After fifteen years and over $200,000, British farmer…
In 1987, the infamous ex-Nazi Rudolf Hess appeared to be on the verge of being freed from Spandau Prison after more than four decades of incarceration. However, he died beforehand, supposedly by self-asphyxiation with an electrical cord. Afterward, researchers began to speculate that Hess’s death wasn’t suicide…it was murder. The Mysterious Death of Rudolf Hess?…