Hitler Signs for V-2: The Rocket Age Begins
Adolf Hitler signed the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon, launching the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile program. This decision forced Allied engineers to scramble for countermeasures and ultimately birthed the space age when captured German scientists applied the technology to launch satellites decades later.
December 22, 1942
84 years ago
What Else Happened on December 22
Roman soldiers dragged Emperor Vitellius through the streets of Rome before executing him at the Gemonian stairs, ending his chaotic eight-month reign. His viol…
Vespasian's proclamation as emperor ended the chaotic Year of the Four Emperors, while the brutal execution of Vitellius on the Gemonian stairs signaled a decis…
Innocent I walked into the papal chair his father had just left. Anastasius I died in 401. His son took over the same year. No election drama. No debate. The Ro…
The ground beneath the Persian city of Damghan violently fractured, leveling the regional capital and claiming an estimated 200,000 lives. This catastrophe rema…
Huang Chao's rebel army walked into Luoyang without a fight. The eastern capital — home to half a million people, palaces that had stood for centuries — simply …
Stephen grabbed the crown while his cousin Matilda was in Normandy. Three weeks after Henry I died, he rode to London, swore he'd been the old king's favorite, …
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