Wacky history

When a kettle went to war and 9 other bizarre conflicts in history

Image: Museums Victoria

Not all conflicts are fought for power or territory—some "wars" erupted over pies, buckets, and even unsuspecting animals. Human history, it seems, can be incredibly unpredictable. From bizarre misunderstandings to centuries-long stalemates over trivial disputes, here are 10 of the strangest "wars" ever fought.

Image: The Now Time

In 1838, French pastry chef Remontel demanded compensation after his shop in Mexico was looted by soldiers. France sent warships to collect, escalating into an all-out war.

When Mexico refused to pay, France blockaded Veracruz and bombarded the city. The war only ended when Britain mediated, leading to Mexico paying 600,000 pesos to avoid further conflict.

Image: Alex Boyd

A land dispute over a strip of land called the Toledo Strip caused Ohio and Michigan to nearly go to war in the 1830s. The states armed militias but only exchanged minor skirmishes.

The conflict only ended when the federal government intervened, awarding Ohio the disputed land and giving Michigan the Upper Peninsula as compensation.

Image: Alexandra Mirgheș

In 1925, a Greek soldier chased his stray dog across the Bulgarian border and was shot, sparking hostilities. In response, Greece invaded, capturing several villages before the League of Nations intervened.

Greece was ordered to withdraw and pay reparations to Bulgaria. Despite its absurd start, the conflict helped prove the effectiveness of international diplomacy in averting larger wars.

Image: Ricardo Resende

A 20th-century conflict, the Cod Wars were disputes between Iceland and the UK over fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Iceland extended its fishing boundaries several times, angering British trawlers.

Despite no deaths, the confrontations involved ramming ships and cutting nets. Iceland eventually prevailed, asserting control over its waters and reshaping international fishing agreements.

Image: Sharon Co Images

In 1932, Australia deployed soldiers to manage an emu overpopulation wreaking havoc on crops. Using machine guns, they expected an easy victory but were surprisingly outwitted by the agile birds, accomplishing nothing.

The campaign failed spectacularly, and emus remains a humorous symbol of nature’s resistance to human efforts, even to its military might! The government later turned to fencing to manage the problem without making fools of themselves.

Image: Pavlo Semeniuk

In 1325, rival Italian city-states Bologna and Modena clashed when Modenese soldiers stole a bucket from Bologna's city well. A large battle ensued, resulting in well over 2,000 deaths.

Eventually, Modena triumphed, and the bucket is still displayed as a trophy in the city. While the origins of the conflict might seem bizarre, it highlights the intense (and sometimes absurd) rivalries between independent cities in medieval Italy.

Image: Christopher Carson

In 1859, on the still undefined U.S.-Canada border, a stray pig innocently crossed the border to eat vegetables from a neighboring farm, prompting an angry farmer to shoot it. This led to a feud with his neighbor that escalated into a military standoff between American and British forces, which lasted months.

The "war" only ended when the border issue was peacefully resolved through international arbitration. Fortunately, there were no casualties, except for the poor pig.

Image: Clark Young

This conflict between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly began during the English Civil War. According to local historians, the small archipelago declared war on the Netherlands but never bothered to sign a peace treaty afterward.

Despite no fighting, it technically lasted over 300 years due to the forgotten declaration of war. In 1986, a peace treaty was finally signed, bringing an end to one of history’s most prolonged and bloodless "wars."

Image: martin bennie

Since the 1970s, Denmark and Canada have engaged in a playful "war" over Hans Island, with each side leaving flags and bottles of whisky or schnapps during their visits.

The dispute was finally resolved in 2022, with the island being split between the two nations. This resolution also resulted in Canada and Denmark sharing a land border, meaning neither country borders just one other—the United States in the case of Canada, and Germany in the case of Denmark.

Image: Maria Angelova

In 1784, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic clashed over trade rights, with the Dutch winning the conflict by firing only one shot. The only casualty? A kettle of soup.

Apparently, when the bullet ricocheted off the metal container, the captain became so nervous that he immediately surrendered. While this incident wasn’t the last conflict between the two states, it remains a humorous example of history’s quirks.

Letters with meaning

Think you know what "PIN" stands for? Let’s test that!

Image: Markus Winkler

You probably rattle off "PIN," "USB," or "Mrs." without hesitating, but do you actually know what those letters stand for? Some abbreviations come from Latin, some from long-lost measurements, and a few make absolutely no sense at first glance. So let’s dive into the interesting roots of 12 common abbreviations you’ve been using for years.

Image: Nick Hillier

Why "No." for "number" when there’s no "O" in the word? You can blame Latin on that one.

The abbreviation comes from numero, meaning "number," which was originally abbreviated as an "N" with a small "o" above it (Nº). That old symbol eventually morphed into the familiar No. we still use today.

Image: Graphic Node

The abbreviation "lb" actually comes from libra pondo, Latin for "a pound by weight." The pondo gave us the English word "pound," while the libra stuck around as "lb."

It’s also why the British pound symbol (£) looks like a fancy "L." How interesting is that?

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"Ounce" and "oz" don’t match up phonetically, but historically, they’re connected. The word comes from the Latin uncia, meaning one-twelfth of a Roman pound.

It passed through Italian as onza, which is how we ended up with the abbreviation oz. Now it makes a little more sense, don’t you think?

Image: Jon Tyson

Most of us know whether it’s morning or night without translating Latin, right? But there’s some history behind these time markers. A.M. stands for ante meridiem (before noon) and P.M. for post meridiem (after noon).

You’ve probably seen "post" in other words like "post-op" or "postwar"—now you know why it shows up in time too!

Image: Julian

"PIN" stands for "personal identification number"— so saying "PIN number" is technically redundant.

Scottish engineer James Goodfellow created the PIN system in 1966 when he patented an early cash machine. Now it’s second nature, and we don’t even think twice about typing it in.

Bonus fact: "ATM" stands for "automated teller machine," so saying "ATM machine" is also a redundancy.

Image: Brett Jordan

"CC" stands for "carbon copy," from the days when people used carbon paper to make duplicates of typed letters. You’d slip a sheet between two papers, type your note, and you had two copies.

The email version took off in the 1980s, and we’ve been CC-ing ever since.

"BCC"? That’s "blind carbon copy," meaning the recipient is hidden from others. How about that, huh?

Image: Lucian Alexe

"Universal Serial Bus" might sound like a fancy Greyhound line, but it’s actually the system that helps gadgets talk to each other.

In computer terms, a "bus" is a communication channel, like a digital highway. The USB was created in the mid-1990s to simplify connecting devices.

Image: Gülfer ERGİN

You’ve probably seen "et al." on academic papers or research articles. It’s short for et alia, Latin for "and others."

Only the "al" is abbreviated, which is why it gets the period. The word alia is also the root of "alias," a name used by someone else. But you already knew that one, didn’t you?

Image: João Ferrão

CV stands for curriculum vitae, Latin for "course of life." It’s a fancier version of a résumé and is often used in academia or overseas job applications.

The phrase popped up in the early 1900s and adds a bit of sobriety to your work history. Who said job hunting couldn’t be sophisticated?

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"MO" stands for modus operandi, Latin for "method of operating." Originally, it described the signature behavior of criminals, but these days it’s more broadly used to mean someone’s usual way of doing things.

If your uncle always steals the last slice of pie, that’s just his MO. Sneaky, but predictable, you know.

Image: Andrey Matveev

The SIM in your phone stands for "Subscriber Identity Module." It’s what tells the network who you are and lets you make calls, send texts, and use data.

First rolled out in 1991, SIM cards act like your phone’s ID badge—without one, your phone’s just a fancy calculator.

Image: Thomas AE

"Mrs." looks like it should rhyme with "mars," but we say it "missus." That’s because it originally stood for "mistress." Don’t worry— not the scandalous kind, just the lady of the house.

Over time, mistress took on new meanings, but the "R" stayed behind in the abbreviation. Go figure.