Germany was famous for making bicycle tyres in that era and with the shortages of rubber because of the war, they started making small coiled springs attached to the metal frame of the wheel, so people could still use their bikes.
During WW1 France built a smaller version of Paris with no one living there to confuse the German bombers.
During the War in USA, German was the mostly spoken language which the Government suppressed because of the World War. Most of the schools, governments and newspapers operated in German.
In 1964 Germany decided to reward the East African soldiers who served with them in WW1 but because no records were kept to prove who they were they got the people to write the manual they worked by regarding weapons they used during the war. All applicants passed the test.
A Hungarian called Paul Kern was shot in WW1 in the front temporal lobe and could never fall asleep again. He lived for years unable to sleep. No one knows why this happened.
King Albert !st of Belgium fought with his troups in WW1 and his wife was a nurse during that time.
The famous comedy brothers called ‘Marx brothers’ to get out of the draft, their Mother bought a farm and got them to work on the farm. This was because farm workers and owners were exempt from the draft to fight in the war.
During the war a lone Portugese soldier covinced German soldiers he was an entire unit. He did not eat or sleep for hours
The ocean liner Olypic, sister ship to the Titanic,became the only merchant vessel in WW1 to sink an enemy warship when she sank a U boat number 103
In WW1 US navy warships painted complex geo metric stripes on battleships to confuse the enemy
16 Days before the RMS Lusitania set sail, Germany published a warning in the New York Times they would destroy any ship leaving for Britain. The warning was ignored and 1198 people drowned.
In WW1 Canadians survived the first chemical, attack by urinating on their hankerchiefs and holding it to their faces as a mask.
There was a wounded pidgeon who saved the lives of 198 soldiers in WW1
Hitler fought in WW1 and had a full moustache. He was ordered to cut it down to a toothbrush size to accommodate wearing a gas mask.
During WW2 as Hitler rose to fame he would not allow gas to be used in WW2 because of his experience with it in WW1 as a lowly soldier.He was exposed to it himself and understood the devastating effects.
Britsh armed merchant cruiser named RMS Carmania engaged and sank the merchant ship SMS Trafalger German cruiser.Ironically they had been disguised as each other.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the writer of Sherlock Holmes tried to enlist at the start of WW1. He was 55 years old. He stated he was very robust and strong and had such a loud voice he could be heard over long distances
The Pharmaceutical company ‘Bayer’ discovered Heroin and used to use it as a cough treatment.
Over 90,000 Chinese labourers were used by British Army to dig trenches during WW1 on the Western Front.
Woodrow Wilson was the US president during WW1 and was a white supremacist and he resurected the Klu Klux Clan in 1915.
8 million horses were killed in WW1 the same as human beings
Due to steel shortages in WW1 ships were built using concrete. Only ten survive today and are based in British Columbia
Karl Von Muller was the captain of the German ship SMS Emden. He contacted an enemy merchant ship before he sunk it allowing all the passengers off with their belongings.
Because of the anti contraception laws in USA they band the use of condoms until 1972. This led to a rise in Sexually transmitted diseases among US soldiers in WW1
The deadliest non nuclear occurred in Germany killing 10 thousand people in WW1 in a mining asccident
Hugh Lofting not wishing to frighten his children about the terrible stories from WW1 wrote imaginary letters to them which later became the Dr Dolittle stories
Safety razors were invented in 18th century but Gillette arranged a deal with US Armed Forces in WW1 to provide Razors and blades to be part of the kit new soldiers were given on joining the army on his way to Europe.
WW1 planes had no guns on the planes so soldiers used to use pistols and carbines in air to air combat
Rudyard Kipling wanted his 18 year old son John to join the army. He kept being refused because he had such poor eye sight. Kipling used his connections with the Commander in Chief of the Army and his son was allowed to join and sent to war. An exploding shell ripped his face apart and he was killed.
Because metal became scarce during WW1 corsets stopped being made and bras became more popular
In WW1 hamburgers were renamed Liberty Sandwhiches to promote patriotism
Weevles Updates Disabled Bloggers Team 