Hey Factonauts, when you hear "war," you think years of slog, right? Not always. I've got six stories that prove conflict can be short, stupid, or just plain forgotten.
1. You Blinked, You Missed It: The 38-Minute War
Seriously, you could order a shot, take a sip, and the whole
Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 would be done. The Sultan of Zanzibar died, and his nephew, Prince Khalid, just decided to take over without asking the British. Bad call. The Brits had warships sitting right there, gave him a 9 a.m. deadline to leave, and when he didn't, they just opened fire. Forty minutes of shelling, the palace was on fire, and Khalid was running for the German consulate. Over 500 casualties on his side. Their side? One injured guy. Total domination.
2. The War Everyone Forgot: 335 Years of Nothing
Get this: The
Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly (those islands off the coast of England) were technically at war from
1651 to 1986. That's over three centuries! Why? It was part of the English Civil War, and the Dutch declared war on the Royalists in Scilly. When the Royalists were defeated, the Dutch just sailed off, and
nobody ever signed a peace treaty. It was a war without a single shot fired. They finally signed the peace papers in '86, mainly because someone was tired of the paperwork.
3. Fights Over Soccer, Escalation Over Land: The 100-Hour War
This is a classic case of deep political tension exploding over something ridiculous. The four-day
Football War of 1969 between
El Salvador and Honduras was sparked by a heated
World Cup qualifying match. Once El Salvador won the final game, riots broke out against Salvadoran immigrants in Honduras, and things quickly turned military. It proves that sometimes the biggest rivalries just need a soccer game to push them over the edge.
4. A Dog Started a War: The Stray Dog Crisis
I'm not kidding. In 1925, a Greek soldier allegedly ran across the border into Bulgaria to catch his
runaway dog. The Bulgarian guard shot him. The Greeks called it a hostile act, and the whole thing escalated into a full-on invasion. The "War of the Stray Dog" lasted 11 days before international pressure forced the Greeks to retreat. All that drama... for a dog.
5. The Long Goodbye: Still Fighting Since 1953
The
Korean War never actually ended. We all talk about it like it's over, but the fighting stopped with an
armistice - a handshake and a promise to quit shooting - not a formal peace treaty. So, technically,
North and South Korea have been legally at war for over 70 years. That's a long-running grudge.
6. The Military Loses to Birds: The Emu War
This is my favorite because it's so absurd. In 1932 Australia, farmers had a major problem: a massive population of
emus was destroying their crops. The government literally deployed soldiers with machine guns to cull the birds. The emus proved to be incredibly fast, scattered easily, and were tough to kill. After a week, the military gave up. Official result:
Emus 1, Australian Army 0.
Factoid of the Day
Germany used more horses than tanks in their 1940 invasion of France.
I'm telling you, you can't make this stuff up. History is wild.
Got an idea for a future article? Shoot me an
email here and if it passes my 'random-worthy' test, it just might show up in a future article!
Until next time,
Randy at Random Facts
Always Random. Never Boring