The shortest recorded war? 38 minutes!

When the Sultan of Zanzibar died in 1896, Khalid bin Bargash saw his chance and seized power in a coup. Well the British weren't too happy about this and they delivered a choice to Bargash: bugger off.

A couple of days later, on the 27 August 1896, the 9am deadline came along.

No problem, though, because Bargash was ready. He had barricaded and guarded the largely wooden palace. What's more, he'd sent an absolete frigate and two steam powered launches out to attack the British., who had five modern war ships, heavy artillery, proper soldiers and marines ...

So anyway, between about 9.02am and 9.40am, the Brits had sunk the naval forces of Zanzibar, pounded the palace with shells, killed a few hundred guards, destroyed the meagre land based artillery and claimed control of the palace and the country. The war was over.

Meanwhile, Bargash ended up following the advice of the British and buggered off, scoring asylum at the German Embassy and gaining refuge in Tanzania. He was a free man until 1916 when the Brits had the opportunity to apprehend him during a World War 1 East Africa campaign.

Refer: Wikipedia

• Identity Redacted
• Promises, Promises
• Who Squawked?
• On the Footpath
• PissWit
• The Ant Hill
• Machinery
• Did You Know?

The John Howard Showbag

At John Howard's August 2008 "farewell" dinner to Western Sydney, the faithful paid $100 for a meal and a speech from the ex-leader. Each ticket holder was present with a showbag containing a tea towel, a John Howard DVD, two energy-saver light bulbs, three Ferrero Rocher chocolates, a mini-bottle of Bundaberg Rum, and a copy of Gourmet Traveller's January 2006 issue.