The War That Only Happened on Odd-Numbered Days

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]For 20 [music] years, China shelled this island on a schedule.

[00:00:04]It's Kinmen, Taiwanese soil, 2 miles from mainland China.

[00:00:08]In 1958, 600 guns opened fire. 40,000 [music] shells in 2 hours.

[00:00:15]Then Beijing made a rule, only attack on odd-numbered days. Taiwan fired [music] back on the even ones. A war you could set a calendar to, and it ran until 1979.

[00:00:27]Up to a million shells fell [music] on one small island.

[00:00:31]So, the people who survived melted the steel into kitchen knives.

[00:00:36]One shell [music] makes up to 60 blades.

[00:00:38]They're still sold today.

[00:00:40]For 20 years, [music] China shelled this island on a schedule.