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Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things
Posts
OH GOD
MY GUT
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
we don't speak of Ralral.
finger + roof of mouth
your = belonging to you
their = belonging to them
there = not here
they're = they are
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH
WHAT IS THIS HORRIBLE FEELING
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I try so hard Chico buru
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The Japanese must have seemed an easy mark. They fought with antique weaponry - bows and arrows, swords, bamboo spears, and wooden shields. What's more, a century of constant warfare between rival warlords had left Japan's armies exhausted and weak.
Knowing this, Kublai Khan assembled a substantial attack force - a fleet of 900 ships and 40,000 soldiers - and had them set sail for Japan. The armada was met by 10,000 samurai on the beach at Hakata Bay on the island of Kyushu. But the samurai, who excelled in individual combat, were no match for the organized tactics of the Mongols. Defeat seemed certain.
Then a miracle occurred: a violent storm overwhelmed the Mongol fleet, sinking 200 ships and drowning 13,000 men. Japan was saved.
When the defeated survivors returned to China, a furious Kublai Khan vowed revenge. And so, five years later, the Mongols invaded again, this time stronger than ever. The Khan's northern fleet had 900 ships and 40,000 soldiers. The southern fleet was even larger, with 3,500 ships and 100,000 soldiers. In the summer of 1279, the armada sailed once again for Hakata Bay.
The Japanese warlords knew that the only way to stop the Mongol force was on the beach, before their dreaded artillery could be hauled ashore and put into action. They built a defensive wall 13 miles long bordering the bay - a first for the Japanese, who had never used fortifications before.
The northern fleet reached Japan first. When the initial wave of Mongol soldiers came ashore, they were startled to find the entrenched samurai waiting for them behind their wall. The fighting was fierce, lasting for days, but the Japanese defenders held fast. When the Mongols couldn't secure the beach, they retreated to their ships. But despite their victory, the samurai had little opportunity to celebrate: the huge southern fleet had arrived, and now the combined armada was sailing off to the south to renew the attack. And this time they were going around the wall.
The Japanese samurai were desperate. Although they had fought magnificently, they were badly outnumbered and, without the protection of the wall, they were exposed to the full onslaught of the Mongol invaders. As they waited on the beach to fight what they were sure was their last battle, all the samurai could do was pray for deliverance.
Amazingly, it came.
Out of the south a typhoon swept up and ripped through the invading armada. The devastation was astonishing. Almost 4,000 ships sunk and 100,000 soldiers were lost. The Japanese were jubilant. A "divine wind" had saved them from invasion, not once, but twice. Over time the legend grew: the divine wind would protect them from foreign invaders forever.
Six hundred and fifty years later the Japanese empire was once again in dire straits, facing invasion as Allied forces closed in during the final days of World War II. In a desperate attempt to turn the tide of war, the Japanese military sacrificed 5,000 young and untrained pilots in suicide missions against Allied warships.
Their last-ditch effort to save Japan failed, but the suicide bombers became known by the Japanese word for "divine wind" - kamikaze.
edit: Also-
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/technology/10iht-MOGUL.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
I think he would have found a way
true, more like "he would have had a harder time gaining control of France"
Hitler is generally thought of as the second.
And if 24% of Republicans are to be trusted, Obama is the third.
This makes me want to kick things.
Steam: Car1gt // Tumblr // Facebook // Twitter
The guy Dracula is based off had a pretty righteous 'stache.
Dracula actually still has one, and it's big, lush and wonderful.
He works at a blood bank in Portland, now.
He's the guy in charge of the cookies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xXSw07zrio&feature=related
hahahaahahahahaha holy shit