it started when people would respond to old news with "Man Walks on Moon". Then folks started putting other historical references in, like "Moses parts Red Sea" and, of course, "Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor." Then somebody threw the Animal House twist into it, which promptly caused several people who had never seen Animal House to call them dumbasses, etc etc ad nauseum. So the Germans thing is referencing old news. And the whole "Germans" thing has moved past Germans. It's like Hessian now.