Four Bizarre Events That Started Wars

North Korea is calling Seth Rogen and James Franco’s new movie an act of war. Here are four other bizarre war origin stories.
Epoch Video
7/2/2014
Updated:
7/2/2014

North Korea is calling Seth Rogen and James Franco’s new movie about a talk show and producer attempting to assassinate Kim Jong-Un an act of war. But a comedy film might not be the weirdest reason a war has started.

A bucket. Two Italian City States — Bologna and Modena, went to war in 1325 over a stolen bucket. There was only one major battle which was won by Modena, who still has the bucket.

A stray dog. In 1925, a 10-day war broke about between Greece and Bulgaria when a Greece soldier was shot and killed chasing a stray dog across the Bulgarian border. 50 men died in the fighting that followed before the League of Nations stepped in to negotiate peace.

Futbol. A short war — dubbed the 100-Hour War, was fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 when tensions reached their peak after a World Cup qualifying match between the two countries ended in violence. Each side ended with casualty numbers in the thousands.

A pastry chef. In 1821, a French pastry chef in Mexico accused the Mexican army of destroying his bakery. France demanded that Mexico pay for the damages and when they didn’t, France invaded, and war was officially declared. Bon appetit.