What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
An army consisting of 7,000 men from ancient Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas I of Sparta, successfully defended against an invasion by nearly 300,000 Persian soldiers loyal to the Achaemenid Empire. The Greeks' objective was to block the narrow coastal pass at Thermopylae. Greek soldiers fought bravely for three days before they were defeated in the famous battle.
During Rome's conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, Roman general Scipio Aemilianus led an army of 20,000 legionnaires, alongside 40,000 allies and mercenaries, in a siege of the settlement of Numantia. With a population composed of Celts and Celticized peoples, the Numantines were besieged for eight months. Despite being surrounded, they refused to surrender and, ultimately, many succumbed to starvation, Roman arrows, or took their own lives. The siege concluded with the city being set ablaze and completely destroyed. The image shows a glazed tile display in Seville, Andalusia, depicting the final battle.
A lengthy siege by Roman troops of the hilltop fortress of Masada led to the decision by the surrounded Jewish Sicarii rebels to take their own lives rather than surrender to the enemy. The corpses of nearly 1,000 victims of the siege were found scattered throughout the citadel.
Pope Clement VII, fearing the looting of Rome by Habsburg Imperial and Spanish troops, instructed 189 Swiss Guards under Captain Kaspar Röist to protect the city. Though their brave defense enabled the pontiff to find safety in Castel Sant'Angelo, it resulted in the tragic loss of the besieged honor guard. Ultimately, Rome succumbed to the enemy forces in what would later be called the Sack of Rome.
During the Great Siege of Malta, the Ottomans focused their attention on Fort Saint Elmo in Valletta. The defenders of the Hospitaller stronghold bravely fought off multiple attacks, resulting in significant losses for both sides. Sadly, after 28 days, the fort finally succumbed. Tragically, none of the knights who defended it survived. However, their valiant efforts bought enough time for reinforcements from Spain to arrive and replenish two other crucial fortresses.
The Battle of Nieuwpoort - which took place in the Eighty Years' War - concluded with the Dutch slaughter of a Spanish regiment that refused to surrender. The Spanish soldiers, who were previously accused of instigating a massacre of war prisoners, received no mercy from their revenge-seeking adversary. Image: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
One of the most famous sieges in military history ended with the deaths of all those who defended the Alamo mission against a vastly superior Mexican army under the command of President General Antonio López de Santa Anna. James Bowie and Davy Crockett, esteemed American folk heroes, were among the fallen individuals during the siege.
During the 1842 retreat from Kabul, British forces faced a last stand against Afghan tribesmen. Trapped on a snowy hill, 65 officers and soldiers from the 44th East Essex Regiment were picked off by snipers and then overrun. A small number of survivors were captured and held captive.
The Battle of Chapultepec has gone down in Mexican history for the deaths of six cadets, the Niños Héroes, who leapt to their deaths rather than be captured by advancing American forces. The six had refused to fall back after their regiment looked likely to be overwhelmed, and fought to the bitter end.
A detachment of US Army soldiers led by Captain William J. Fetterman were lured into an ambush by a confederation of the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. In the ensuing battle, Fetterman and all 81 combatants under his command were killed by the Native American warriors in less than half an hour.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as "Custer's Last Stand," is an infamous clash that occurred between the US Army and Native American tribes. During this event, General George Armstrong Custer and his 700 soldiers from the US 7th Cavalry were strategically outmaneuvered by the opposing forces, leaving them trapped on an exposed hilltop. Taking place in 1876, this battle marked a crucial episode in the Great Sioux War, resulting in the destruction of five out of the 12 companies from the 7th Cavalry and the death of Custer himself.
Despite their considerable bravery and amazing skill with a blade, the 500 samurai surrounded by 30,000 Japanese soldiers at the Battle of Shiroyama were doomed. They managed to hold their positions in close-quarter combat until their leader, Saigō Takamori—one of the most influential samurai in the country's history—fell. In a final gesture of defiance, the remaining samurai charged downhill and into a hail of gunfire.
During the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the Battle of Maiwand occurred. It involved 2,500 troops from Britain and India who aimed to defend positions outside the village of Maiwand. They were confronted by a formidable Afghan force of 12,000 to 25,000 soldiers. Staring defeat in the eye, the British-Indian brigades withdrew, except for 11 soldiers from the 66th Regiment who stood as a rearguard action. After running out of ammunition, they were overrun and killed.
The slaughter of hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, by US soldiers followed a botched attempt to disarm the Lakota camp. More than 500 troops later attacked the encampment. Lakota warriors returned fire with what little weaponry they had left, but were quickly subdued. Twenty soldiers were subsequently awarded the medal of honor for their role in what at the time was described as a victory against an intractable enemy, but what today is remembered as an outright massacre.
In the First Matabele War, a group of 34 soldiers from the British South Africa Company was ambushed by over 3,000 Matabele warriors. Instead of surrendering, the significantly outnumbered troops fought back in a courageous final defense. Despite killing 500 of their adversaries, the unit was eventually overwhelmed and wiped out by a spear charge. This event became known as the Shangani Patrol, occurring north of the Shangani River.
The "Attack of the Dead Men" was a horrifying battle during World War I at Osowiec Fortress in northeastern Poland. Russian soldiers defending the fortress from German attack were targeted with poison gas, resulting in a gruesome and zombie-like appearance. Despite a counterattack that scared their enemies with bloodshot eyes and foaming mouths, the Russians knew they couldn't endure another gas assault. They demolished the position and retreated to safety.
During the Second World War, a significant military event took place known as the Defense of the Polish Post Office in Danzig. Occurring on September 1, 1939, Polish personnel valiantly protected the post office building against German SS units for 15 hours. Sadly, after the building was captured, the majority of the employees, with the exception of four, were sentenced to death. This 1939 photograph captures the intensity of the assault.
After diverting to Montevideo for urgent overhaul after damage sustained by the British Navy during the Battle of the River Plate, the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, was given just 72 hours to effect repairs and leave the capital city of neutral Uruguay. Believing that the British had gathered a superior force to await his departure, Langsdorff ordered the ship to be scuttled. He died by his own hand three days later in Buenos Aires.
The defense of Calais by units of the British Army and their allies is widely regarded as one of the most remarkable battles of the Second World War. Their objective was to delay the advancing German forces and allow for the safe evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) through Dunkirk. Despite their best efforts, the Allies were eventually overwhelmed by the enemy. The casualty numbers were devastating: 300 British soldiers killed, 200 wounded (who were later evacuated), and a staggering 3,500 soldiers from France, Belgium, and the Netherlands were captured, with over 16,000 becoming prisoners of war. A poignant and tragic event, this battle remains etched in history. Image: History Dept. of United States Military Academy.
The German battleship Bismark had its final battle in the Atlantic Ocean against the British Royal Navy. Due to its damaged steering gear, Bismark was unable to maneuver effectively, making it an easy target for HMS King George V, Rodney, Dorsetshire, and Norfolk. These vessels fired approximately 2,800 shells and hit Bismark about 400 times. Out of the crew of over 2,200 men, only 114 survived. The photo shows survivors from the Bismark being rescued by HMS Dorsetshire on May 27, 1941.
The Battle of Singapore was the final attempt by the Allies to resist the Japanese on the island of Singapore. Extensive air attacks resulted in a significant number of civilian casualties. The Allied forces underestimated the relentless and brutal nature of their enemy, leading to their eventual surrender. Approximately 80,000 British, Indian, Australian, and local soldiers were taken captive, marking one of the most significant military losses in the British Empire's history.
Czech resistance fighters Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš were responsible for planning and carrying out Operation Anthropoid—the assassination of high-ranking SS official Reinhard Heydrich. Following a tip-off, Gabčík and Kubiš and other members of their team were tracked down to Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Prague, where they were hiding. After a fierce gun battle, two of the Czechoslovaks were killed and the rest took their own lives to avoid capture. Pictured is Heydrich's damaged staff car shortly after the attack.
During intense battles in August 1942, near the village of Sutoki-Byakovo in Novgorod Oblast, Red Army sniper Natalya Kovshova (pictured on the left) and her spotter, Mariya Polivanova, found themselves trapped by German forces. Their unit had suffered heavy casualties, leaving them alone and vulnerable. With their ammunition exhausted and completely encircled, the pair decided to sacrifice themselves by detonating four grenades, taking down a significant number of enemy soldiers in the process. Both women were posthumously honored as Heroes of the Soviet Union.
During the 1973 coup d'état, the armed Group of Personal Friends staunchly defended Chilean president Salvador Allende to prevent him from being captured by General Augusto Pinochet. Unfortunately, Allende ultimately chose to end his own life, while many guards lost their lives in the intense battles. The survivors faced immediate execution without trial.
After two decades of fighting, the Vietnam War finally came to an end when Saigon fell. On April 30, 1975, a force of 120,000 North Vietnamese soldiers entered the city. Shortly before the People's Army of Vietnam raised their flag over the South Vietnamese presidential palace, almost all American civilians and military personnel in Saigon, along with thousands of South Vietnamese civilians, were evacuated. The city was promptly renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
During the First Battle of Mogadishu, two American Black Hawk helicopters were infamously shot down. To safeguard the crash site of "Super 6–4" and the injured pilot Michael Durant, Delta snipers Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart were deployed. Both lost their lives during a fierce and prolonged gunfight with a Somali mob. In parallel, members of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's militia captured Durant, who later regained his freedom. This incident, widely recognized as the "Black Hawk Down" episode, took place in Mogadishu on October 3, 1993. The photograph depicts Michael Durant's helicopter departing over Mogadishu.
The six-day military engagement at Qala-i-Jangi Fortress in Afghanistan following an uprising of Taliban prisoners of war involved Northern Alliance Forces, CIA operatives, and British and American special forces. After their attempt to escape was thwarted, the Taliban detainees endured numerous assaults on a basement they had retreated into, including air strikes. The last holdouts only surrendered after the order was given to flood the basement with water. One of the recaptured prisoners was revealed to be an America citizen, John Walker Lindh, who had joined the Taliban in its fight against the Northern Alliance. Pictured is the memorial to CIA agent Johnny Micheal Spann, the only US fatality during the battle.
The largely unreported Battle of Sirte took place in the Libyan city of Sirte and pitted Islamic State (Daesh) forces against those loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) backed by the United States. During fighting, part of Sirte's garrison broke out and escaped. But the 2,500 Islamic State fighters left behind refused to surrender and mostly fought to the death.
Sources: (BBC) (HistoryNet) (National Geographic) (The Washington Post)
The Third Reich was effectively crushed by the Battle of Berlin, which marked the final major offensive in the European theater of World War II. The Red Army surrounded the city, closing in on Hitler's bunker. Unable to be captured, the Nazi leader committed suicide on April 30, 1945. Following suit, a number of his officials also took their own lives. Berlin had fallen completely.
Around 13,000 Jews lost their lives during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a defiant act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland. The rebellion started after the ghetto refused to surrender to Waffen-SS units that were intending to transfer the remaining population to the death camps in Majdanek and Treblinka. In response, the Nazis set fire to the ghetto, systematically destroying it. Survivors were forcibly relocated to the camps.
Throughout history, there have been numerous instances where small defensive units face seemingly insurmountable odds as they attempt to fight off a numerically superior and better-armed foe. These military engagements can number combatants in the many thousands, or just a few dozen. The concept of a last stand is clear - it is a last-ditch strategy taken when retreat or surrender is not an option, or fighting is essential to the success of the cause.
Intrigued? Click through and revisit some famous last stands in history's greatest battles.
History's most epic battles: the famous last stands you should know about
October 21 is Trafalgar Day
LIFESTYLE Military
Throughout history, there have been numerous instances where small defensive units face seemingly insurmountable odds as they attempt to fight off a numerically superior and better-armed foe. These military engagements can number combatants in the many thousands, or just a few dozen. The concept of a last stand is clear - it is a last-ditch strategy taken when retreat or surrender is not an option, or fighting is essential to the success of the cause.
Intrigued? Click through and revisit some famous last stands in history's greatest battles.