SS Chelyuskin

Sometimes Wikipedia leads to stories of insane heroism. Getting your ship destroyed by ice and then making and remaking a landing strip with rudimentary tools thirteen times, counts as that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheliuskin_(ship)

Planets in science fiction

This is a long article on various planets found in science fiction. Oddly enough, no Star Wars planets are included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planets_in_science_fiction

Operation Downfall

Relevant pull quote:

Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured in anticipation of the casualties resulting from the invasion of Japan. To the present date, all the American military casualties of the sixty years following the end of World War II—including the Korean and Vietnam Wars—have not exceeded that number. In 2003, there were still 120,000 of these Purple Heart medals in stock.^[46] There are so many in surplus that combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan are able to keep Purple Hearts on-hand for immediate award to wounded soldiers on the field.^[46]

Pretty intense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Downfall

Manhattanization

A nifty term to describe the building of many, many skyscrapers in an area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattanization