Operations Plunder and Varsity

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Towards the end of World War II, Operation Market Garden was an attempted allied invasion into the industrial heartland of Germany’s Ruhr Valley. Anti-aircraft defenses, bad weather, communication difficulties and more would cause the operation to fail, possibly extending the war’s duration by six months.

The dancing plague of 1518 was a three-month-long dance marathon where citizens of Strasbourg danced to the point of exhaustion and even death. Some theories pose the dancing plague was caused by hallucinogenic ergot, psychological stress, or a religious cult.

The fall of Rome, a far-reaching and dominant Roman empire, was caused by internal division, corruption, tax evasion, labor shortages, religion, and invasions from more powerful armies.

George Washington Carver was born into slavery but became the first Black man to earn a Bachelor of Science degree going on to pursue a Masters degree. Carver invented crop rotation and more than 300 products based on peanuts.

Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong called upon China’s youth to purge the “Four Olds” in a cultural revolution. The result would be widespread harassment, imprisonment, violence and anarchy.

Krampus, the Christmas devil, is the scary counterpart to Santa Claus, a half-man and half-mutant goat meant to scare naughty Austrian children into changing their ways.

Nat Turner was an educated and religious African American slave who claimed to hear commandments from God. Nat Turner’s Rebellion was a violent insurrection against white slave owners, killing between 55 and 65 white people, but ultimately resulting in the death of three times as many slaves.