November 30

Some of the foreigners who came to defend Finland included a group from the United States. The first Americans that died in Europe during World War II were killed by the Soviet Union, an eventual ally.

November 27

Despite the centuries of combat and death, the Crusades did reopen trade between Western Europe and the Middle East. Knowledge learned and traded from Islamic realms helped spark the Renaissance and end the Christian dominated Dark Ages.

November 26

The men who assaulted Hill 875 made the only American parachute jump during the Vietnam War earlier in 1967. By the time of the fighting around Dak To, all airborne forces had switched to using helicopters in combat.

November 25

One of the targets of the Confederate Army of Manhattan was P.T. Barnum's circus.

November 24

The Twentieth Air Force was the unit of "Enola Gay" and "Bock's Car", the B-29s that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively.

November 23

When asked what it would take to successfully invade Tarawa, the Japanese commander of the island famously proclaimed "A million men and a hundred years." It took 35,000 Marines just three days.

November 20

The Royal Navy shipped its landship prototypes to France disguised as water tanks. The term "tank" was used when secretly referring to the new vehicles, and the nickname stuck.

November 19

The secret call-sign of the Dutch merchant ship the Kormoran was imitating was IIKP. When the Sydney signaled "IK", Detmers was supposed to properly identify himself by completing the quartet with the first and last letters, "IP".

November 18

Talk about adding insult to injury. On his way home after surrendering his command at Vertieres, French commander the Viscount of Rochambeau was captured by the British and imprisoned for nine years.

November 17

Krasnoi was not the last place in Russia where Michel Ney distinguished himself. As the Grand Armee neared safety, Ney was charged with holding a vital bridge near Kovno, in present day Lithuania. Still in command of the rear guard, legend has it that Ney was the last Frenchman to cross the bridge and escape to the west.

November 16

The Luftwaffe had a bomber capable of reaching New York City from bases in France, a distance no Allied plane of the war could have covered. High production costs and precious little fuel prevented a raid on the U.S. from ever being launched.

July 3

In 1771 George Washington purchased the mountain meadow on which Fort Necessity once stood. From then until his death, Washington owned the land where he fought the first battle of his career.