Relieving oneself aboard a submerged submarine doesn't differ from the usual dry land procedure, but getting rid of the resulting waste is much, much more complicated, requiring advanced technology and the training of personnel to operate the equipment. Unfortunately for the crew of German U-1206, a systems failure was the beginning of unlucky events that would lead to four deaths. The original toilet or "head" developed for U-boats was a two-valve system that only worked during shallow dives. The newest vIIC U-boats like U-1206 were outfitted with new toilets with a high pressure valve rigged for deep water dives. On April 14, 1945, while patrolling at 200 feet, 10 miles off Scotland's coast under the command of Karl-Adolph Schlitt, an improperly flushed toilet aboard U-1206 malfunctioned and began flooding the compartment with sewage and salt water. The water leaked into the batteries, creating deadly chlorine gas. The captain was forced to surface the submarine. While repairs were being made, U- 1206 was spotted by British patrols and fired upon. The captain burned his orders and scuttled the boat. One crewman died in the attack, and three others drowned. Forty-six other crewmen were captured. While it's not known exactly whose "movement" caused the initial problem, some have speculated the captain himself was responsible. The lost submarine was rediscovered in 2012.
Adolph Hitler's Free Love Program - 1933-1945
Germany's Nazi regime was focused primarily on conquest through its policy of Lebensraum-"living space." But in order to populate the newly invaded lands with loyal Aryan citizens, Hitler knew his country's birthrate needed to dramatically increase. To that end, he ordered propaganda and programs to encourage German women to become mothers. Not just married German woman, either. Before Hitler's rise to power, unwed mothers were socially stigmatized. Under the Third Reich, women (and girls as young as fifteen and sixteen years old) were told it was their duty to give birth to as many children as possible, whether a guy put a ring on it or not. All contraception was verboten. Free love was the order of the day. Mother's Cross medals and incentives were handed out. Laws were passed levying penalties on childless couples. Joseph Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister, produced magazines, posters, and nudie flicks promoting "healthy eroticism." The policy worked to a degree, but in the end, began to backfire. As the fighting dragged on and more resources went into war production, fewer doctors and medical supplies and less food were available, leading to increased infant and mother mortality. More Germen women, worn out from factory work and too many children at home, sought illegal abortions. In his haste to increase the German population, Hitler virtually destroyed the German family.
Mr. Guess Who, Traitor of the Airwaves - April-July 1942
With our modern emphasis on television and the Internet, it can be difficult for us to envision a world where one of the most important factors in obtaining news and entertainment inside the home was the radio, which became a new tool utilized by the Allied and Axis powers to demoralize citizens and soldiers alike. As the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels used the airwaves and a specially selected group of foreign broadcasters to sow doubt and confusion among Allied forces and in enemy countries. For example, Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) encouraged British soldiers to desert. Tokyo Rose tried to One of the American recruits for German State Radio was Mr. Guess Who, the on-air alias of journalist Robert Henry Best, who called himself the "self appointed correspondent for the New World Order." He didn't keep his alias long. His program, Best's Berlin Broadcasts sent Nazi socialist propaganda from Berlin to the United States and to American soldiers in the field twice a day. Though he didn't consider himself a Nazi, he was viciously anti-Semitic, anti-Communist, anti-government, and hated President Roosevelt. He attempted to incite class hatred. Best's broadcasts were so abusive and vitriolic (he coined the phrase, the "Jewnited States") that even his Nazi supervisors couldn't stomach him, and he was taken off the air. In the United States, Best was convicted of treason in absentia. After the war in 1948, he was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. He served only four years before suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in 1951 and dying in 1952.
That's Why the Lady Is a Sniper - 1944
Some of the deadliest snipers of WWII included Russian women like Lyudmila Pavlichenko. This item on the list doesn't include them as they're quite well known. In Normandy, France, Allied troops found themselves under fire on several fronts-the most notable being hidden snipers. However, not all the snipers were men. Surprisingly for the time and place, some of the shooters were German and pro-Axis French women. It's reported that British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery saw fit to issue warnings to his troops regarding these troublesome and dangerous female snipers. In one case, a French widow known as a collaborator to the locals sat in her bedroom window, sniping at Allied forces who occupied her village. Ignorant of the sniper's sex, a Canadian assault team attacked the barricaded house. The woman continued firing with her German made gun, inflicting several casualties. Finally, she was shot and wounded. In another case in northern France, a young woman identified only as "Myra" used a different technique. She lured Allied soldiers close with a friendly smile, then shot them. After being captured by American troops, she claimed she'd been coerced by the Germans. Reports suggested that rather than be executed as a spy-she wore civilian clothes-she was sent to an enemy internment camp on the Isle of Man.
Little-Known Facts About the Ancient Romans
We love history, especially anything that has to do with the ancient Romans. We've already had a few lists about this unique civilization, but there's just so much fascinating information about them that here are ten more incredible things you probably never knew about ancient Rome.
They Wore Phalluses As Good Luck Charms
Romans were many things-influential, civilized, powerful-but they were also downright superstitious about certain things. One of the good luck charms of ancient Rome was the phallus-a very Latin way to say erect penis. There's evidence that the phallic symbolism was a very integral part of Roman life. They wore phallus charms as necklaces, hung them in their doorways, and even made wind chimes to ward off evil spirits. Sometimes the phallus was embellished as well-those wind chimes have been found with the feet of a lion, the wings of a bird, and the head of, well, a penis. If someone hung that up in their house today, they'd probably be arrested as a sex offender.
They Invented The Shopping Center
Trajan's market was a massive open building in ancient Rome that is probably one of the world's first examples of something we usually associate with the 20th century-a shopping center. And <