Erik Sass

Joined: Nov 21, 2012

Erik Sass is the author of The Mental Floss History of the United States and co-author with Steve Wiegand of The Mental Floss History of the World, both of which you should go buy right now. He also covers online and traditional media for MediaPost. His interests include water gardens, games of strategy, geography, and cats.

An illustration of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914), Archduke of Austria, and his wife Sophie, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914.

Murder in Sarajevo: How the Death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Lit the Fuse of World War I

Kaiser Wilhelm II

8 Awesome Mustaches of World War I

World War I brought aircraft carriers into the action.

12 Technological Advancements of World War I

Getty Images

A New Albanian Crisis

Wikimedia Commons

Showdown in Constantinople

Keystone/Getty Images

The Planning of Pearl Harbor

On this date in 1941, Japan launched a daring attack on Pearl Harbor. While devastating, the move stirred the wrath of the American people, bringing the world’s largest industrial power squarely into the war.

Imperial War Museum, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

WWI Centennial: Armistice

"The war to end war" finally ends.

Indro Montanelli and Mario Cervi, Due Secoli di Guerre, Vol. 7, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 2.5

WWI Centennial: Allies Triumph In Italy, German Sailors Mutiny

Central Europe fragments while Germany sees the final throes of battle.

William Rider-Rider, Imperial War Museum, Wikimedia Commons // IWM Non-Commercial License

WWI Centennial: Allies Rebuff German Armistice Offer

The Central Powers are close to giving up.

Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, National Archives and Records Administration // Public Domain

WWI Centennial: Central Powers In Collapse

Germany and its allies face defeat, with Allied victories including American Meuse-Argonne Offensive

Photographer unknown, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

WWI Centennial: Brits Victorious At Megiddo

Lawrence of Arabia returns.

Collier's New Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

WWI Centennial: Americans Attack the St. Mihiel Salient; the Flu Turns Deadly

The Spanish flu epidemic sweeps ever more lethally through war-torn Europe.

Keystone/Getty Images

WWI Centennial: Lenin is Shot; Bolsheviks Unleash Red Terror

The attempted assassination of the Bolshevik leader set off a campaign of extreme violence.

Pvt. J.M. Liles, U.S. Army, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

WWI Centennial: Germany Must End War, Generals Admit

Even German children knew the end of the war was near.

David McLellan, Imperial War Museum, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

WWI Centennial: “The Black Day of the German Army”

The final German offensive finally peters out.

H.D. Girdwood, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

WWI Centennial: The French and Americans Advance On a Broad Front

Erik Sass is covering the events of the war exactly 100 years after they happened.