Following a slow push from Utah beach into the restrictive bocage terrain of the Cotentin Peninsula, the Americans focussed their attention on Cherbourg at the northern tip. Securing the city reduced the fighting in the area to one front in the south, although its functionality as a port was badly... More
The ‘Queen City of the Trails’, Independence was the furthest westward point navigable to steamboats on the Missouri River. Thereafter, migrant trails used fur-trading forts as their way-stations. Fort Laramie became known as ‘Camp Sacrifice’, because travellers abandoned so many of their less portable goods there. Fort Kearny was set... More
Before the construction of the Western railroad in 1869, it took an average of six months for pioneers and immigrants to travel from the American mid-west to California and Oregon. Lured by the promise of a better life (one diarist described California as ‘the land of gold and Italian skies’),... More
The securing of the Cotentin Peninsula enabled the Allies to turn most of their attention to the west where the majority of German occupying forces were still active. However, Brittany and most of the south of France were still under German occupation and needed to be secured to protect the... More
The momentum for the Falaise Pocket encirclement began with the failed German counterattack in Operation Lüttich. This manoeuvre used up the last of their strong combat units in the area, at a time when the Allies were gaining reinforcements and consolidating their control of western France. The prolonged engagements at... More
Following the initial beach landings on 6 June, the five Allied beachheads made mixed progress inland. In the west, assisted by paratroop drops, the British had secured the vital bridges across the Caen Canal, although Caen itself was still firmly in German hands. Juno and Gold made strong progress inland... More
On 13 June the British were continuing their efforts to move towards Caen from the west, when an ambush by a unit of German tanks resulted in an embarrassing defeat at Villers-Bocage. This subsequently marked the shift to more attritional engagements in the area. Between 12–30 June the main activity... More
During the late 19th century Japan emerged as an increasingly militarist power backed by an expanding population and industrial base. Japan became an ally of Britain, remaining so when Britain entered World War I. As a result of the Allied victory in 1918 Japan was awarded the German colonial possessions... More
Following their aerial attack on the US navy in Pearl Harbour (1941), the Japanese rapidly took possession of a vast swathe of the eastern Pacific. This rapid advance left them overextended and vulnerable to counterattack. Meanwhile, the United States rapidly replenished their navy, while their codebreakers managed to intercept Japan’s... More
After the United States’ botched attempt in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion to overthrow Fidel Castro, Cuba’s Marxist-Leninist leader, Castro made a secret missile agreement with Nikita Khrushchev, the Russian premier. Khrushchev agreed to place Soviet medium range (MRBM) and intermediate range (IRBM) nuclear missile bases in Cuba. America... More
Beringia, a land and ice bridge linking Asia to North America was in existence from about 45,000-14,000 BCE. It is generally agreed that ancient humans reached the Americas by this route during this window. Until recently, it was believed that the arrival was late in the window, and that the... More
At the time of the birth of Jesus Judaea and Galilee were separate political entities. In 37 BCE the Roman client king, Herod the Great (74/73–4 BCE), was proclaimed by the Romans to be the ‘King of the Jews’ with authority over Judaea, Galilee and Samaria. During this period Herod... More