Stuff You Missed in History Class
Episodes
Emin Pasha, I Presume? (Part 2)
20 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When we left off in part one, Emin Pasha had become governor of Equatoria in what's now South Sudan. But things took a dramatic turn in the 1880s, lea...
Emin Pasha, né Eduard Schnitzer (Part 1)
18 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Emin Pasha's story connects to so many other historical things, particularly in the context of both the Ottoman Empire and African history. First, we'...
SYMHC Classics: Voynich Manuscript Update
16 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
New theories have emerged that make it the right time to once again go back to an old favorite, the Voynich Manuscript. Since our Voynich Manuscript e...
Marchesa Luisa Casati
13 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
While many have admired heiress Casati over the years for her life led entirely based on her aesthetics, when you examine her biography, you find a wo...
Five First Flights
11 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When people say the Wright Brothers were first to fly, they're talking about a very particular set of circumstances. There are other contenders to the...
SYMHC Classics: Albert J. Tirrell, the First Sleepwalking Killer
09 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We're revisiting the murder of Mary Ann Bickford on Oct. 27, 1845. Her paramour Albert J. Tirrell was eventually charged with murder. Tirrell hired Ru...
Léonard Autié: Hair, Grandeur and Revolution, Pt. 2
06 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As Louis XVI's time as king was less and less stable in the face of the French Revolution, Léonard stepped away from the royal family and into his ow...
Léonard Autié: Hair, Grandeur and Revolution, Pt. 1
04 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Marie Antoinette's hairdresser set the styles of France during King Louis XVI's reign. But when he first arrived in Paris, he had almost nothing. Just...
SYMHC Classics: Emu War of 1932
02 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We're revisiting the story of large numbers of emus making their way through Australia, severely damaging wheat farms. The military tried to help, but...
The Sinking of the H.L. Hunley
30 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The story of the H.L. Hunley really begins with the Union blockade of the Confederacy during the Civil War, which was ordered less than a week after t...
The Motherhood of Mamie Till-Mobley
28 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The reason Emmett Till's murder played such a consequential role in the Civil Rights movement is because of choices of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. ...
SYMHC Classics: Wreck of the Ten Sail
26 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This episode revisits the biggest shipping disaster in Cayman Islands history, in which 10 ships went down together one night in 1794. Why would so ma...
John von Neumann
23 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
One man and his incredible intellect affected so many different disciplines. From game theory to computers to the Manhattan Project, von Neumann and h...
A Handful of Eclipses in History
21 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have been recording instances of solar eclipses for thousands of years. Today, we're walking through some of the famous eclipses in history, al...
SYMHC Classics: The Contentious Invention of the Sewing Machine
19 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We're revisiting our 2013 episode on the invention of the sewing machine and the epic patent battle associated with it. The mechanization of stitching...
Frederic Tudor, the Ice King
16 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Tudor hatched a clever plan: In cold weather, he would harvest ice for cheap, and then sell it all around the world when it was hot, singlehandedly tu...
Charles VI of France: The Mad King
14 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
France’s mad king Charles VI reigned in the middle of the Hundred Years War between England and France. While his early reign hinted at greatness, t...
SYMHC Classics: The Origin of Cheeses
12 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We're revisiting a classic episode, about cheese! It's been around for more than 9,000 years. But how did humans learn to make it? And how did all the...
The Kallikaks and the Eugenicists
09 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Spurred by the same fears, prejudices and societal issues that were driving the progressive movement in general, the eugenics movement in the U.S. foc...
The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857
07 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Sepoy Rebellion was the result of many, many influences and stressors on the cultures of India living under British rule. In Britain, it's called ...
SYMHC Classics: The Count of St. Germain
05 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We're revisiting a classic episode, all about the Count of Saint Germain. His story features teleportation, alchemy and even rumors of immortality. Wa...
Ibn Battuta, the Traveler of Islam
02 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ibn Battuta's 14th-century travels were extensive. He was away from home for roughly 24 years and during that time traveled through virtually every Mu...
Frederick Douglass
31 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Frederick Douglass was an orator, writer, statesman and social reformer. His early life shaped the truly remarkable advocate he became, and the two pr...
SYMHC Classics: Jane Austen
29 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We're revisiting a classic episode, all about Jane Austen. She was not a shy spinster who wrote some little books mostly to amuse her own family, and ...
Carry A. Nation, Part 2
26 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After her initial "smashings," Carry A. Nation became a full-time activist, traveling from town to town to destroy saloons and preach temperance. She ...
Carry A. Nation, Part 1
24 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Several events in Carry Nation's early life catalyzed her temperance activism. Her marriages and her faith were particularly important in shaping the ...
The Evacuation of Dunkirk
19 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
With a huge number of British Expeditionary Force troops stranded in one location, a massive evacuation operation was undertaken. While it was conside...
The Battle of France and the Flight to Dunkirk
17 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Retellings of the Dunkirk rescue often leave out how the Allied forces got into such a predicament, with a huge part of the British Expeditionary Forc...
NASA History: Chief Historian Bill Barry on Hugh Dryden
12 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The NASA space program likely wouldn't be what it is today without the work Hugh Dryden did before NASA even existed, and his guidance in its early ye...
Catalina de Erauso, the Lieutenant Nun
10 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Despite growing up in a convent and coming very close to taking religious vows as a nun, Catalina de Erauso wound up living a life of danger and adven...
William Hogarth
05 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 18th century, an engraver-turned-artist made his mark on the art world by producing satirical prints in series that commented on morality...
Unearthed! in July 2017!
03 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for another mid-year edition of Unearthed! The show covers new research and information about the Lions of Tsavo, human taxidermy, a photo o...
The Eastland Disaster
28 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Eastland disaster was one of the deadliest maritime disasters in American history. And in this particular case, safety regulations actually made t...
Roses Through Time
26 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have painted roses, written about them, and assigned them symbolic meaning for centuries. But this much-beloved flower predates mankind, and it...
A Brief History of Veterinary Medicine
21 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Animals and humans have been living together for centuries, but standardized veterinary care developed over a long period of time in many different pl...
The Cuyahoga River's Last Fires
19 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio caught fire, not for the first time, but for the last time. This event is often credited with helping p...
The Extinction of the Stephens Island Wren
14 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The extinction of one New Zealand bird species is often attributed to a single cat. While feline predation played a significant role in the end of the...
William Moulton Marston & the Creation of Wonder Woman
12 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Most people know Wonder Woman as an embodiment of truth and justice, but don't know much about the comic's earlier years or its creator. Marston lived...
Louis Riel
07 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Riel was labeled both a traitor and a hero in his time. His work as a political leader for the Métis Nation in the Red River Rebellion led to the est...
Annette Kellerman
05 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Australian Kellerman gets a lot of the credit for developing the women's one-piece bathing suit. But she was also a competitive swimmer, as well as a ...
Maria Sibylla Merian
31 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As a naturalist illustrator, Maria Sibylla Merian helped dispel many entomological myths and improved the scientific study of insects and plants, and ...
The Ladies of Llangollen
29 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the late 18th century, Sarah Ponsonby and Lady Eleanor Butler, also known as the Ladies of Llangollen, abandoned their life in the upper tiers of I...
The Scopes Trial
24 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Scopes Trial, aka the Monkey Trial, played out in Dayton, Tennessee, in the summer of 1925. It all stemmed from a state law prohibiting the teachi...
Hitler’s Early Rise and the Night of the Long Knives
22 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Over the course of several days in 1934, Adolf Hitler, who was at the time the Nazi Party Leader and Reich Chancellor, directed an action which elimin...
Copernicus
17 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
While he's known primarily as the astronomer who promoted the idea of a heliocentric solar system, Copernicus was also a master mathematician and a do...
Six Impossible Episodes: Soldiers, Snipers and Spies
15 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This installment of our impossible episodes series features a set of stories that are all about front-line heroism. Most of them are listener requests...
Horace de Vere Cole and the Dreadnought Hoax
10 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cole was a lifelong prankster, but none of his stunts could compare with his scheme to gain access to the HMS Dreadnought by getting his friends -- in...
The Philadelphia MOVE Bombing
08 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The MOVE organization is often labeled as a black liberation group or a black power group, but it’s more complex than that. After a protracted, cont...
The Kentucky Derby's First 50 Years
03 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Although horse racing in general has been around much longer than the Kentucky Derby, including in the United States, the Derby itself has become the ...
The Cato Street Conspiracy
01 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Urbanization and mechanization, and all the downsides they brought with them, had continued in Great Britain in the years since the Luddite Rebellion....
Abbott and Costello, Part 2
26 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Abbott and Costello made it big in Hollywood during WWII, but the later part of their career together was beset by tragedy, money issues and personal ...
Abbott and Costello, Part 1
24 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The comedy team of Abbott and Costello created some of the most memorable sketches in history. Their perfectly balanced energy catapulted them from bu...
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
19 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is one of the modern world's most infamous incidents of unethical medical research. The study's researchers told its parti...
Walt Whitman, Poet of Democracy
17 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Whitman is often touted as the best and most important poet in U.S. history, but he also worked as a teacher and a journalist. And his poetry career d...
A Brief History of Foreign Food in the U.S.
12 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most diverse things about the U.S. is its food industry. Foodies obsessively seek out the “authentic” flavors of any given culture. But...
Three Nuclear Close Calls
10 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There have been many moments in history when the world came perilously close to a full-scale nuclear war, due to false alarms or miscommunication. One...
Prospect Park, Part 2
05 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In our second episode about Brooklyn's 150-year-old public park, we interview three guests, each with a unique knowledge of the park's history and its...
Prospect Park, Part 1
03 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Brooklyn's massive public green space tells the historical story of its community. From an undeveloped tract of land, the space was developed to becom...
Live From Salt Lake Comic Con FanX: H.P. Lovecraft
29 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Writer H.P. Lovecraft created worlds and stories that continue to be influential more than 80 years after his death. His life story is at turns odd, s...
Aphra Behn, Writer and Spy
27 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There's really not a lot concretely known about the life of Aphra Behn, who, in addition to being a spy, was a dramatist, poet, novelist, translator, ...
Mongolian Princess Khutulun
22 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Khutulun's story is a little bit cloudy, in part because it’s many hundreds of years old, and in part because accounts of her life involve a combina...
Jules Cotard and the Syndrome Named After Him
20 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jules Cotard was the first psychiatrist to write about the cluster of symptoms that would come to be called “Walking Corpse Syndrome.” But his wor...
The New London School Explosion
15 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This was one of the worst disasters in Texas history, the worst school disaster in U.S. history, and it was a horrific tragedy that stemmed from a hug...
The King's Evil and the Royal Touch
13 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The practice of the monarch laying on hands to cure sick people lasted from the medieval period all the way to the 18th century in Britain and France....
Speaking With Auschwitz Survivor Michael Bornstein
08 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Holly interviews Michael Bornstein and his daughter Debbie Bornstein Holinstat about their book "Survivors Club." The book chronicles the story of Mic...
Lady Jane Grey, the Nine-day Queen
06 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For a very short time between Edward VI and Mary I, Lady Jane was, at least nominally, Queen of England and Ireland, but whether she had any right to ...
John Kidwell and the Founding of Hawaii’s Pineapple Industry
27 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
From his start as an apprentice to a nurseryman in London, John Kidwell would go on to catalyze the establishment of Hawaii’s pineapple industry. Hi...
Interview: Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
27 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Gates joins Holly to talk about history's impact on our future, Black History Month, and his upcoming PBS series "Africa's Great Civilizations." ...
Jamaica's Maroon Wars
22 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Maroons are Africans and people of African ancestry who escaped enslavement and established communities in the Caribbean and parts of the Americas. In...
Bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple
20 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Rabbi Jacob Rothschild was a vocal activist who spoke out for civil rights despite the danger in doing so. White supremacists bombed The Temple in Atl...
Executive Order 9066 & Japanese Internments, Part 2
15 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, people were incarcerated in inadequate and dehumanizing camps. Even once...
Executive Order 9066 & Japanese Internments, Part 1
13 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Roughly 122,000 Japanese immigrants and American citizens of Japanese ancestry were removed from their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated for mu...
The Women's March on Versailles
08 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 1789, a group of protesters -- mostly women -- marched from Paris to Versailles to pressure King Louis XVI to address France's food shortage. Lear...
Ira Frederick Aldridge, Famous Unknown Shakespearean
06 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
He was one of the first Americans to achieve fame as a Shakespearean actor — and the first black man to do so, becoming a famous figure on the Victo...
Lucille Ball
01 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Lucille Ball was the grande dame of American comedy. The famed star worked in modeling, radio and film, but she really made her mark in television, an...
Ed Roberts and the Independent Living Movement
30 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ed Roberts was a disability rights activist, known as the father of the Independent Living movement. That movement combines advocacy, resources and ed...
Inês de Castro and Pedro I of Portugal
25 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Prince Pedro of Portugal was married off in the 1300s, he only had eyes for his new wife's lady in waiting. The story of Inês and Pedro's love h...
African Art History With Carol Thompson
23 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Holly is joined in the studio by Carol Thompson, Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art at the High Museum of Art. Carol shares her incredible k...
Great Zimbabwe
18 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Great Zimbabwe was a massive stone city in southeastern Africa that was a thriving trade center from the 11th to 15th centuries. But when Europeans fi...
Maria Montessori
16 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
While she's mostly associated with education, Maria Montessori worked in several fields. Her theories on early education still shape the way kids lear...
Edmonia Lewis
11 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The American sculptor was a celebrated artist in her day, but she receded from the spotlight; her final years remained a mystery for quite some time. ...
Henry Dunant, Founder of the Red Cross
09 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
After witnessing the brutality of a battle first-hand, Swiss-born Dunant dedicated his life to easing the suffering brought by war. But he did so at g...
Beer History with Erik Lars Myers
04 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Erik Lars Myers, founder, CEO and head brewer at Mystery Brewing Company, talks about the history of beer, including how it connects to charity, nutri...
Unearthed! in 2016, Part 2
02 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Part two of our annual roundup of unearthed news is a bit of a hodgepodge. It features identifications, very large finds, edible finds, art and letter...
Unearthed! in 2016, Part 1
28 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to talk about all the things that were unearthed in 2016! This first of two episodes covers stuff it seems like happens every year, things t...
Unearthed! Piltdown Man
26 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Piltdown Man is one of the world’s most infamous instances of scientific fraud, and it derailed the study of evolution for decades. How exactly ...
Maccabean Revolt
21 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The uprising of the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire during the Hellenistic period is an integral part of the Hanukkah story. After the restorati...
The Krampus and Friends Holiday Special, Part 3
19 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Since last year's episodes on non-Santa holiday figures were so popular, there's another installment for 2016! This time around, Frau Perchta, Olentze...
Belinda Sutton's Post-enslavement Petitions
14 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
After she became a free woman, Belinda Sutton successfully petitioned for compensation for her years of enslaved labor. This was one of many legal eff...
An Interview With Sears Historian Jerry Hancock
12 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jerry, a Sears scholar and history teacher, joins Holly in the studio to talk about the historical significance of the building where HowStuffWorks is...
The Palmer Raids, Part 2
07 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
After a bombing attack on his home, Attorney General Palmer launched a series of raids on perceived threats to national security. Thousands of people ...
The Palmer Raids, Part 1
05 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
After WWI, there was a great deal of social unrest in the United States. Additionally, there was a fear that Communist revolutionaries would try to ta...
Alabama Governor George Wallace
30 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Wallace was one of the most prominent voices against the Civil Rights Movement and its objectives. He spent multiple campaigns for both governor and p...
Rejected Princesses with Jason Porath
28 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Author and illustrator Jason Porath joins Tracy and Holly in the studio to talk about women from history featured in his new book, including the Manci...
The Dakota War of 1862 and the Whitestone Hill Massacre
23 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 1862, murder led to war between the Dakota and the United States. What followed was a campaign of retribution against multiple indigenous peoples, ...
James Webb and NASA’s Early Days
21 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
People are often surprised to learn that the namesake for the James Webb Space Telescope wasn't a scientist or engineer, but a lawyer and a bureaucrat...
The Attica Prison Uprising (Part 2)
16 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The riot at Attica Correctional Facility in September 1971, demanding better living conditions and basic human rights, remains a significant moment in...
Life at Attica, 1971 (Part 1)
14 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Attica Correctional Facility originally opened in rural, upstate New York in 1931. In 1971, conditions at the prison were at a point where they were h...
The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable
09 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Establishing a submarine telegraph cable to connect North America and Europe took ingenuity, but more than anything else, it required tenacity. There ...
Six Impossible Episodes: Déjà Vu Edition
07 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We often get requests for topics that are so similar to existing episodes that they would sound like repeats. Here are six that will probably sound ve...