By Raza Mehdi
Sep 26, 2022
The Pig War was the 13-year standoff between the U.S Army and British Royal Navy. It began in 1859 on San Juan Island, claimed by both nations, where an American settler shot a pig belonging to the British. However, no armed conflict or human casualties ever happened.
The Pig War
Losing a soccer match might have led to minor conflicts, but in 1969 a war started between El Salvador and Honduras nationalists over three soccer qualifying matches. But the actual trigger of the war was severe economic and demographic problems between the two.
Soccer War
Unlike other usual wars, this was a war between humans and birds! In 1932, the Great Emu War was Australia's military attempt to reduce the emu population of Western Australia. But the humans lost and the emus won!
The Great Emu War
Image: Wikipedia Commons
Bolivia and Chile went to war from 1873-1883 over bird droppings. It might sound ridiculous now, but the deadliest war in the 19th century was for a legit reason, as the bird excreta was used to make gunpowder.
War over Bird Droppings
The Pastry War was a brief conflict between Mexico and France. The war happened because a French pastry cook living near Mexico City claimed that some Mexican army officers had vandalised his restaurant, thus earning the name.
The Pastry War
Image: Wikipedia Commons
The Kettle War took place on October 8, 1784. It was a military confrontation between the Roman Empire and the Republic of the Seven Netherlands. The war was named so because the only shot fired hit a soup kettle on deck.
The Kettle War
Caligula, the third Roman emperor, led military crusades to the English Channel but lost the battles miserably. Since returning to Rome without a victory was unacceptable, Caligula declared war with the mythical sea-god Neptune and commanded his soldiers to whip the waves.
Fighting The Sea
Image: Wikipedia Commons
In 1925, the War of the Stray Dog was a Greek–Bulgarian crisis that resulted in Greece's brief invasion of Bulgaria near the border town of Petrich after the killing of a Greek captain and a stray dog by Bulgarian soldiers.
The War Of The Stray Dog