Here are some facts about World War 1
- World War 1 began on July 28, 1914 and lasted until November 11, 1918.
- In total, there were 30 countries involved in the conflict.
- Soldiers fought largely in trenches during the war, and thousands suffered from stress, known as shell-shock.
- Around 11 percent of the population of France was killed or wounded during the war.
- By the end of WW1, over 9 million soldiers had been killed, and another 21 million wounded. Over a million soldiers were killed in the infamous Battle of Somme alone, including about 30,000 in just one day
- On Christmas Eve, 1914, both sides declared an unofficial truce and sang Christmas carols to each other. Football matches were played in no-man’s land (the area between the German and British) trenches, and German and British soldiers exchanged food and souvenirs.
- The Spanish flu caused about a third of total military deaths in WWI.
- WWI was the sixth deadliest conflict in world history.
- In 1917, Germany invited Mexico
to join WWI by attacking the U.S. - The WWI ended at 11 o'clock in the morning of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
- The WWI ended at 11 o'clock in the morning of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
- A WW1 homing pigeon saved 194 men.
- During WW1, a Hungarian man was shot in the frontal lobe, making it impossible for him to fall asleep. He continued to live a full, sleepless life.
- After World War I, there were so few men in Germany that only 1 in 3 women could find a husband.