The newsmen ignored the Japanese bombs shaking seventy-five feet of rock above their heads. It was June 1940, and a team of Chinese and Western broadcasters continued their reports from a tunnel beneath Chongqing, China’s wartime capital, the "world’s most bombed city."
Cities change: skyscrapers go up, row houses are torn down, neighborhoods gentrify, earthquakes destroy. Vintage photographs of cities can be fascinating in and of themselves, but the familiar unfamiliarity of these time-warped photographs are especially intriguing.
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Wow. This incredible video of aerial combat in World War II has it all. And all of it is terrifying. From dog fights and kamikaze attacks to flak fire and carpet bombing to explosions and aerial combat, it captures the frantic frenzy of aerial warfare during WWII. It’s better than any movie because it actually happened.
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Did you ever stage toy soldier battles with your friends on the living room floor when you were a kid? Well, French-Canadian artist Jean-Pierre Séguin would have beat you every time. His latest work is akin to a toy soldier war—for art’s sake.
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One of the more interesting aspects of urban life during the bombing raids of World War II was the clever and strategic re-designing of the London streetscape so that residents could live in a state of blackout.
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Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Deployment Unit—an emergency shelter developed during WWII—isn’t his most well-known work. In fact, for years, it’s been unclear if any DDUs still existed. But this week, The New York Times tells the story of a handful of shelters that have resurfaced, after being abandoned on an army base just 30 miles outside of NYC.
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Underwater missiles that could have hit New York, jet-powered bombers that were nearly impossible to intercept, sub-orbital bombers, vertical launch rocket fighters, or infrared visors are just a few of many in this definitive collection of incredible Nazi weapons. Be happy that those bastards never got to mass produce them.
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Today I found out about Project Pigeon andProject X-Ray, WWII plans to use pigeons to guide missiles and (literal) bat bombers.
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Who needs a plain old ceiling fan when you can have this WWII fighter plane nose on your ceiling, complete with propeller? I hope the pilot isn’t an Ace, otherwise you are toast.
It isn’t a real warplane nose and propeller, but is instead a fun recreation that is perfect for your mancave or for any kid’s bedroom. It is painted just like the P-40 fighter jets were when used during WWII. The triple “warplane” blades operate on a reversible three-speed 153-by-12mm motor for optimal air movement, but this thing will never leave the ceiling and start chasing you.
The unit also includes an integrated light kit, with a single 60-watt candelabra bulb that casts a warm, ambient glow. Fans of aviation will love it. It sells for about $261(USD) over on Amazon.
[via Geeks Are Sexy]
Did an exotic actress from Vienna, considered one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood in the 1940s, really invent wireless? Not exactly, but the non-sensationalized facts of the matter are no less fascinating, involving Hollywood, the World War II Axis Powers, and remote control technology.
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