ZAP’S FACTS!
WARS

A storm helped defeat the most powerful navy in the world in 1588.

Spain sent 130 huge warships to invade England - and ferocious Atlantic storms wrecked them on the way home.

2 min read
A storm helped defeat the most powerful navy in the world in 1588.
THE FULL STORY

In 1588, King Philip II of Spain sent the largest fleet the world had ever seen to invade England - about 130 warships called the Spanish Armada. Spain was the most powerful country in Europe at the time, and England’s Queen Elizabeth I had only a small navy to defend her island.

The English ships were smaller but faster and easier to steer. They fired long-range cannons that battered the Armada in the English Channel. Then English captains sent flaming “fire ships” drifting into the Spanish fleet at night, scattering their formation in panic.

But the real disaster came on the way home. The damaged Armada tried to sail north around Scotland and back down to Spain, and ferocious Atlantic storms smashed many ships against the rocky coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Around a third of the great fleet never made it home. England celebrated the storm as a kind of miracle.

5,000 English archers defeated a French army four times their size in 1415.
DID YOU KNOW? 5,000 English archers defeated a French army four times their size in 1415. At the Battle of Agincourt, English longbowmen fired thousands of arrows a minute and changed the rules of war. 2 min read
Armies used horse cavalry in battle for over 3,000 years before tanks took over.
DID YOU KNOW? Armies used horse cavalry in battle for over 3,000 years before tanks took over. Horse-riding soldiers were a major weapon from ancient times until WWII - when machine guns and engines finally ended their reign. 2 min read
On Christmas Eve 1914, enemy soldiers in WWI stopped fighting and sang carols together.
DID YOU KNOW? On Christmas Eve 1914, enemy soldiers in WWI stopped fighting and sang carols together. Across parts of the Western Front, soldiers crossed no man's land to swap food, take photos and play football. 2 min read