Brits Used Astrologer Against Hitler

Some British strategists saw the outcome of World War II written in the stars, according to newly declassified documents that reveal the role of an astrologer in predicting Adolf Hilter's moves. An intelligence agency employed a colorful character who claimed to be able to use astrological readings to, as one supporter put it, tell "when his aspects are bad," the Guardian reports.

Detractors considered the German-born "seer," who claimed to be a Hungarian noble and was apparently a cross-dresser, a "dangerous charlatan and confidence-trick merchant." His only prediction that materialized was that Italy would enter the war—which was "quite patent to anybody with the slightest knowledge of international affairs," said an agent. (More World War II stories.)