Interesting Facts About

World War II That You

Might Not Know

1. Russia and Japan have never signed an

official peace treaty with each other to end
World War II.
Both countries are still disputing over the
rightful ownership of the Kuril Islands.

3. Monopoly board games helped thousands

of Allied POWs escape German camps.
Germany allowed the Red Cross to send care
packages to POWs and among the items that
could to be sent were board games.
Special Monopoly boxes were created that
contained items to help the prisoners
escape:
German, French, and Italian money
currency was hidden within
the Monopolymoney.
A metal file, hidden within the board.
A small compass hidden in a play piece
Silk maps of the prison and its location
hidden inside the hotel pieces.

2. Niju hibakusha is the Japanese term for

survivors of both atomic bombings. The
word translates to explosion-affected
people.

4. The original abbreviation of the National

Socialist Party was Nasos. The word Nazi
derives from a Bavarian word that means
simple minded and was first used as a
term of derision by journalist Konrad
Heiden

7. During WWII, hamburgers in the U.S. were

dubbed Liberty Steaks to avoid the
German-sounding name

5. In 1935, British engineer Robert WatsonWatt was working on a death ray that
would destroy enemy aircraft using radio
waves. His death ray instead evolved into
radaror radio detection and ranging.

6. More than 650,000 Jeeps were built during

WWII. American factories also produced
300,000 military aircraft; 89,000 tanks; 3
million machine guns; and 7 million rifles

8. William Hitler, a nephew of Adolf Hitler,

was in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He
changed his name after the war

9. The greatest tank battle in history occurred

between the Germans and Russians at the
Kursk salient in Russia from July 4-22,
1943. More than 3,600 tanks were involved.
10. The largest Japanese spy ring during WWII
was not in the U.S. but in Mexico, where it
spied on the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

11. Before Nazi Germany decided to eliminate

the Jews by gassing them, it had considered
sending them to the island of Madagascar.

12. If it became necessary to drop a third atom

bomb on Japan, the city that would have
been the target was Tokyo

14. Most historians agree that WWII began

when Germany invaded Poland on
September 1, 1939.

15. Others say that the WWII started when

Japan invaded Manchuria on September 18,
1931.

13. Calvin Graham was only 12 years old when

he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He won a
Bronze Star and a Purple Heart before the
Navy found out how old he was.
16. And some scholars suggest WWII is actually
a continuation of WWI, with a break in
between.

17. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s real first

and middle name werent Martin
Luther.
His first name, like his fathers, was Michael. The
Michael Kings changed their chosen names after a
trip to Nazi Germany, although both of them lived
and died under the legal name of Michael King. Jr.
almost wasnt even a doctor. Years after his death,
Boston University concluded that King plagiarized
much of his doctoral dissertation but felt that no

thought should be given to the revocation of Dr.

Kings doctoral degree because of his passing.
There was just no point anymore to taking the
doctor title way. Besides, he did some pretty
awesome stuff to balance it out.

18. The Korean War (also called the Forgotten War) never
actually ended. The U.S. and North Korea agreed to a cease-fire
on July 27, 1953 until the two sides could reach a final peaceful
settlement. This settlement never happened and an actual peace
treaty never signed. As you can surmise, were fighting many of
the same battles today.