World War II

During the Siege of Leningrad (1941–1944) in World War II, at least nine Soviet botanists starved guarding a seed bank of 250,000 food crop samples. They refused to eat a single one—rice researcher Ivanov died amid thousands of bags of rice.

In 1944, the OSS (CIA's predecessor) published a sabotage manual: "do everything through channels," "give long speeches," "hold meetings during critical work," "require three approvals for one person's job." These enemy-sabotage tactics eerily resemble modern bureaucracy.

The Yagi-Uda antenna, invented in Japan in 1926, was vital for radar, but Japan ignored it. Britain used it to gain a decisive edge in World War II. At Singapore, Japanese soldiers found "Yagi" in a British technician's notes—and asked him what it meant.

Before World War II, British RAF scientists couldn't crack bomber interception. Commander Grenfell guided fighters by eye, hitting 90% accuracy with the 'gaze heuristic.' This principle later inspired the American Sidewinder missile.

During World War II, the Japanese Empire devised the "Fugu Plan" to resettle Jewish immigrants in Manchuria, hoping their capital would develop the region. In reality, most who arrived were impoverished refugees, and the plan failed.

During World War II, Britain developed the "Panjandrum"—a weapon with 1.8 tons of explosives between two 3-meter wheels, propelled by rocket mounted around the rims. It went out of control in every test, threatening friendly forces, and was never deployed in combat.

During World War II, the US Navy found the ocean floor seemingly rising every night on sonar. The culprit was millions of lanternfish forming a 'deep scattering layer'—hiding in the deep ocean by day and rising near the surface at night, their swim bladders reflecting the sonar signals.

Yamaguchi Tsutomu survived both Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the first blast, he returned to Nagasaki and went to work. His boss scolded him — "a single bomb can't destroy a city" — and at that exact moment, the second atomic bomb detonated.

The term 'spam mail' comes from Monty Python's comedy sketch 'Spam.' During World War II, the US supplied massive amounts of SPAM cans to Britain, and the Brits' frustration inspired the sketch. The name later stuck to annoying promotional emails.