Five hundred German bombers hit Coventry in a single night. The raid lasted elev

1940 Event

Coventry Bombed: German Luftwaffe Destroys a City

Five hundred German bombers hit Coventry in a single night. The raid lasted eleven hours straight. Thousands of incendiary bombs turned the medieval city center to ash, and the 14th-century Cathedral of Saint Michael burned so completely that only its shell remained. But here's the twist — Nazi propaganda chief Goebbels coined a new German verb from the ruins: *coventrieren*, meaning "to devastate utterly." The Allies were horrified. And yet that gutted cathedral spire became Britain's most powerful recruitment image. Destruction had accidentally built something stronger than stone.

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November 14, 1940

86 years ago

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Coventry Bombed: German Luftwaffe Destroys a City

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