WW2 Trivia Archive
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What program used Japanese balloon bombs to attack the United States, and how many people were killed?
Answer: The Fu-Go project launched over 9,000 hydrogen balloon bombs across the Pacific, riding the jet stream. Only 6 people died — a woman and five children on a picnic near Bly, Oregon, on May 5, 1945. It was the only enemy attack to cause casualties on the U.S. mainland during WWII.
Each balloon was 33 feet in diameter, made of mulberry paper, and carried antipersonnel and incendiary bombs at 30,000 feet. Japan launched 9,000 balloons, estimating 10% would reach North America. About 300 were found or recorded in the U.S. and Canada as far east as Michigan. U.S. authorities suppressed news coverage so Japan wouldn't learn the balloons reached their targets. The program was canceled after it failed to cause significant damage. One nearly hit the Hanford nuclear facility.
How was penicillin mass-produced for D-Day, and what unlikely substance made it possible?
Answer: Dr. Andrew Moyer discovered that adding corn steep liquor — a byproduct of corn starch production — to the penicillin culture medium increased yields tenfold. The penicillin strain itself was found on a moldy cantaloupe at a Peoria, Illinois market.
Before this discovery, producing enough penicillin for one patient required 2,000 liters of culture fluid. With corn steep liquor, 30x more could be produced. The first batch was grown in converted milk bottles and beer vats in Peoria. By D-Day, enough penicillin treated every wounded Allied soldier. The mortality rate from infected wounds dropped from 18% in WWI to under 1%. The original moldy cantaloupe is preserved at the Smithsonian.
How did Norwegian saboteurs stop the Nazi atomic bomb program by sinking the SF Hydro ferry?
Answer: Twelve kilograms of British plastic explosive were placed on the heavy water ferry SF Hydro, which sank on February 20, 1944 in Lake Tinnsjå, carrying 18,682 pounds of heavy water critical to the Nazi nuclear weapons program.
The saboteurs chose to sink the ferry rather than re-attack the Vemork plant. But the ferry also carried 14 innocent Norwegian passengers, who drowned. The heavy water was essential as a neutron moderator. Without it, the Nazis couldn't sustain nuclear reactions for plutonium production. The saboteurs had parachuted into Norway in October 1942 and survived on frozen reindeer meat for months waiting for the moment. It effectively ended Germany's nuclear ambitions.