Stuff You Missed in History Class
Episodes
Unearthed! in Autumn 2025, Part 2
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Part 2 of this installment of Unearthed! features animals, swords, art, shoes, shipwrecks, and the miscellany category of potpourri. Research: Abrams...
Unearthed! in Autumn 2025, Part 1
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Part one of this quarter's installment of Unearthed! features things related to books and letters, and edibles and potables, and as we usually do, we ...
SYMHC Classics: Paul Robeson
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Robeson’s stances on political and civil rights issues and his communist affiliations catalyzed protests that were fueled with an undercurr...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Complicated Werewolf
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly discusses the complicated nature of the Loudun possessions. Tracy talks about the ways that entertainment media can cause fear.See omnystudio.co...
Peter Stumpp, Werewolf of Bedburg
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Stubbe or Peter Stumpp, also known as the Werewolf of Bedburg, was part of a case in Germany where the concepts of witchcraft and lycanthropy we...
Loudun Possessions
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 17th century France a group of nuns described some unsettling visitations at their convent, which developed into a story of possession, political i...
SYMHC Classics: Bell Witch
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2016 episode covers a haunting story from the early 1800s. Many narratives have blossomed from the Bell Witch story, but when you really try to l...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Ticks and Spiders
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy shares a story about getting poor directions from GPS. Holly talks about her theory regarding William Outlaw's confession, and both hosts discus...
Alice Kyteler and the Kilkenny Witch Trials
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alice Kyteler's witchcraft trial shocked 14th century Ireland. Today, the charges against her are seen largely as nonsense, and more about personal ve...
Three More Eponymous Diseases: Arthropod Bites
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
These diseases - West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - are named for the places where outbreaks happened. But they're also...
SYMHC Classics: S.S. Arctic
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2014 episode covers the collision of the S.S. Arctic with another ship in a fog in 1854. The resulting panic led to the deaths of most of the pas...
Behind the Scenes Minis: The Grisly Shipwreck
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly talks about the many survivor accounts of the Medusa shipwreck, which were questioned regarding bias and intent. There's also a follow-up on wha...
Géricault and the Raft of the Medusa (Part 2)
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the aftermath of the shipwreck, France was scandalized by what had happened as the details emerged. And artist Théodore Géricault bec...
Medusa Shipwreck (Part 1)
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The first episode of this two-parter covers the French mission to Senegal that the frigate Medusa led in 1816. Soon, the mission fell disastrously apa...
SYMHC Classics: Chesapeake Bay Oyster Wars
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2013 episode covers the years after the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War when the oyster supply became so scarce that people turned to oys...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Math and Falsehoods
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly shares a story about Augustin Fresnel's early career. Tracy discusses an article criticizing the Smithsonian and points out its incorrect conten...
Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton is known as one of the earliest Mexican-American authors published in English, and her life story is tied closely to the M...
Augustin Jean Fresnel
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Augustin Fresnel didn’t live a long life, but he contributed significantly to the understanding of light and to the safety of coastlines. Neithe...
SYMHC Classics: Max von Pettenkofer
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2020 episode talks about how Pettenkofer's ideas about cholera's spread weren’t exactly right, but they still had really beneficial impacts...
Behind the Scenes Minis: All Things Clean
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy talks about her background writing copy for sanitation and cleaning products. She and Holly also discuss how the implementation of the Wells' re...
William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Husband-and-wife team William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells conducted research that had the potential to make a big difference in the safety of ...
A History of Soap
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
All over the world, for all of human history – and probably going back to our earliest hominid ancestors – people have found ways to try t...
SYMHC Classics: John Dalton
06 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2021 episode covers John Dalton, famous for his work in atomic theory. But he wrote one of the first thorough descriptions of what he called &ldq...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Jane and the Clicker
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly talks about nebulous passages in the writing of Jane Croly and her brother. Tracy and Holly talk about watching TV as children. See omnystu...
TV Remotes
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The initial time period where a TV remote control was developed was pretty short. And it shows how two different people perceive their work, and how t...
Jane Cunningham Croly, aka Jennie June
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Cunningham Croly, who wrote under the pen name Jennie June, was a journalist who advocated for equality for women. She is most well known for fou...
SYMHC Classics: Rabies
30 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2022 episode discusses how modern rabies prophylaxis is almost 100% effective at preventing human death from the bite of a rabid animal. How did ...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Graffiti Animals
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly talks about the arguments she found online about whether graffiti is art. Tracy talks about how the Dickin Medal impacted veterinary medicine.&n...
Six Impossible Episodes: The Dickin Medal
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Maria Dickin wanted to raise the status of animals in society and bring more awareness to the work they were doing during World War II. The Dickin Med...
The Slow Invention of Spray Paint
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The possible contenders for the title of inventor of spray paint were actually working across decades. And really, all those people contributed pieces...
SYMHC Classics: Eunice Newton Foote
23 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2021 episode covers Eunice Newton Foote, who became the first person to make a connection between the Earth’s temperature and the concentra...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Estevan and Fury
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy discusses the concept of race as it has and hasn't existed in European history. Both Tracy and Holly share their frustration and fury about the ...
Buck v. Bell
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Buck v. Bell is the 1927 SCOTUS decision that upheld the constitutionality of laws allowing involuntary sterilization of people deemed to be “un...
Estevanico, aka Mustapha al-Azemmour
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Estevanico was a translator and guide, and was probably the first person of any race from outside the Americas to enter what’s now Arizona and N...
SYMHC Classics: Prison Breaks
16 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2022 episode covers six highly ingenious and low-violence prison breaks from history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Behind the Scenes Minis: Learned Women and Sharkey
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy shares a funny confusion about Unitarians and the University of Utrecht she kept having during research. Holly talks about how often escape stor...
William J. Sharkey’s Not-so-great Escape
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
William J. Sharkey was a pickpocket, a con man, a politician, and a murderer, though whether or not that murder was an accident became the question at...
Anna Maria van Schurman, Star of Utrecht
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Polymath Anna Maria van Schurman was a very well-educated woman in the 17th century, making her exceptional. She’s described as the most learned...
SYMHC Classics: Sappho
09 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2019 episode covers Sappho, often described as the greatest female poet of ancient Greece. Her reputation as a poet has persisted for more than 2...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Fitz Hugh and Sleepytime
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly talks about gaining compassion for Fitz Hugh Ludlow through reading his work. Tracy discusses her training in massage school. See omnystudi...
Paracelsus and the Doctrine of Signatures
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
16th-century Swiss physician Paracelsus was frustrated with established medical practice and academia and he was sometimes on the lam because of his b...
Fitz Hugh Ludlow
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fitz Hugh Ludlow’s fame as a writer was directly tied to his drug use initially. In his final years, his advocacy for treatment of the illness o...
SYMHC Classics: James Baldwin
02 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2020 episode covers James Baldwin, who was a brilliant essayist, one of the chroniclers of the Civil Rights Movement, and a powerful voice agains...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Opera and Joyous Research
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly talks about an opera based on the life of Eadweard Muybridge. Tracy and Holly talk about how they learned about periods as kids.See omnystudio.c...
Beatrice Kenner and Midred Smith: Sister Inventors
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Beatrice Kenner’s inventions were focused largely on making life easier and less annoying for herself and the people around her, including perio...
Eadweard Muybridge
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The invention Eadweard Muybridge is known for is his zoopraxiscope, an early movie technology. But he also innovated in photography, had some other in...
SYMHC Classics: Mary Winston Jackson
26 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2019 episode covers Mary Winston Jackson, best known as the first black woman to become an engineer at NASA. But she also worked to clear the way...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Good News, Bad News
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy talks about current events and how they relate to the show and education. She and Holly also talk about the people who work in national parks an...
Unearthed! in July 2025, Part 2
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This edition of Unearthed! continues, this time covering the mixed items we call potpourri, shipwrecks, edibles and potables, books and letters, and e...
Unearthed! in July 2025, Part 1
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This installment of Unearthed! starts with lots of updates! And then some art-related unearthings, and a few things at the end that fall under th...
SYMHC Classics: Lady Jane Grey
19 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2017 episode covers a very short time between Edward VI and Mary I when Lady Jane was, at least nominally, Queen of England and Ireland. Whether ...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Sewing Basket
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy discuss the challenge of enlarging sewing patterns from small diagrams. They also talk about one of Butterick's most popular patterns ...
Paper Sewing Patterns, Part 2
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ellen Curtis Demorest and Ebeneezer Butterick are the two names most often invoked as the start of multi-sized patterns printed for home sewists. Once...
Paper Sewing Patterns, Part 1
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Commercially available sewing patterns have been a cornerstone of home stitching for a century. But well before they existed, there were people trying...
SYMHC Class: Poison Control
12 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2020 episode examines how the U.S. got to the point of having one resource, specifically for poisoning, that’s so reliable and available th...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Pens and Dog Radios
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly talk about their favorite pens, and Tracy describes a unique radio she had as a child.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...
Edwin Howard Armstrong
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Edwin Howard Armstrong isn’t exactly a well-known inventor, but his work in radio literally changed communications around the globe. But his mos...
The Humble Ballpoint Pen
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Before the ballpoint pen, people used their hands, reeds, bamboo, brushes, quills, and eventually nibs to write or draw. But how did things evolve fro...
SYMHC Classics: Lettuce, Slavery, and the Bibb Legacy
05 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2022 episode starts with the story of John Bibb, credited with cultivating Bibb lettuce. But his family’s legacy, good and bad, is al...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Murder and War
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly discusses the inscription on the Beachamps' headstone and the court of public opinion. Tracy shares information about Wilfred Owen's brother Har...
Wilfred Owen, War Poet
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wilfred Owen is considered one of the most important English-language poets of World War I. His work also part of a shift in how many British po...
Beauchamp-Sharpe Tragedy of 1825
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Beauchamp-Sharpe tragedy of 1825, sometimes called the Kentucky tragedy, involves a politician, a young lawyer, and the lawyer’s wife. It un...
SYMHC Classics: Sylvia Rivera
28 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2014 episode covers transgender activist Sylvia Rivera. She became famous, in part, for participating in the Stonewall riots, and she spent her l...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Messy Bulwer-Lyttons
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rosina Bulwer-Lytton week generates discussion of her relationship with Edward, including many people who sided with him over the years despite allega...
Rosina Bulwer-Lytton’s Blighted Life (Part 2)
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Once Rosina Bulwer-Lytton and her husband Edward separated, his life seemed to become more and more successful while she struggled with finances. The ...
Rosina Bulwer-Lytton’s Blighted Life (Part 1)
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After a difficult childhood, Rosina Bulwer-Lytton landed in a marriage that quickly turned chaotic and stressful, and then became abusive. Part one co...
SYMHC Classics: Theodosia Burr Alston
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2017 episode covers Theodosia Burr Alston, Aaron Burr's incredibly smart and well educated daughter. She vanished without a trace as an adult, an...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Hearts and Arts
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly share experiences of having their hearts monitored using EKG technology. They also talk about whether or not Albert Bierstadt had any ...
Albert Bierstadt
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Albert Bierstadt’s story runs counter to the romanticized idea of a passionate starving artist. He was strategic in his career, selecting imager...
Electrocardiograms
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The first electrocardiograph was invented in 1895. That device looked a lot different from today’s machines, and there are some other contenders...
SYMHC Classics: Wat Tyler’s Rebellion
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2020 episode covers one of the transitional events between the Black Death and the Renaissance. Wat Tyler’s Rebellion was also known as the...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Pope Riot
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about Tracy growing up in a mostly Protestant community with little exposure to Catholicism. They also talk about the Gorsuch fam...
Christiana Incident of 1851
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Christiana Incident offers a snapshot of the U.S. when the country was sorting into states where slavery was upheld and states that had abolished ...
Pope Leo XIII
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pope Leo XIII sought to find a way forward for the Catholic church at a time when the world was rapidly changing and the church was often at odds with...
SYMHC Classics: Griswold v. Connecticut
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2022 episode covers Griswold v. Connecticut, the U.S. supreme court decision that overturned laws banning contraception – at least, for mar...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Parks and Roads
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy talks about her experiences with the Blue Ridge Parkway growing up, including her mixed feelings about it. Holly talks about the theft of the Mo...
Blue Ridge Parkway
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Blue Ridge Parkway is the longest roadway in the U.S. that was planned as a single unit. Its origin is connected to government efforts to provide ...
Skyline Drive & Shenandoah National Park
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park is a scenic road tied to the “See America First” movement of the early 20th century. The acquisi...
SYMHC Classics: Palmer Raids Pt. 2
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2016 continuation of our coverage of the Palmer Raids covers a series of raids on perceived threats to national security by Attorney General A. M...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Bad Science and Library Love
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy outlines all the way RFK Jr.'s claims regarding disease history make no sense. Holly talks about the section of her career that was spent workin...
Library of Congress
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Library of Congress has a lot of responsibilities. It’s massive in both physical scale and in scale of services. So how did it start, and ho...
Three Autoimmune Diseases In Brief
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease are autoimmune diseases that share a lot of commonalities. This episode covers when and how the...
SYMHC Classics: Palmer Raids Pt. 1
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Part one of this 2016 classic covers the social unrest in the U.S. after WWI. There was a fear that Communist revolutionaries would try to take over t...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Jokes in Translation and the Wayback
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly shares her experience visiting the Meiji Jingu shrine. Tracy mentions that she never found out why the Triple Nickles used the spelling they did...
The Triple Nickles
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also called the Triple Nickles, were the first Black paratroopers in the U.S. military, and their story is con...
Emperor Meiji and the Meiji Jingu Shrine
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emperor Meiji of Japan’s reign began in 1867, and it marks a time of significant change in the country’s history. After the emperor and hi...
SYMHC Classics: All American Girls Professional Baseball League
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2020 episode covers the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was founded in 1943. Some of these women athletes believed they we...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Shots and Sidi
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly share tetanus shot stories and discuss getting boosters. They then discuss the egos of European explorers in Africa. See omnystud...
Sidi Mubarak Bombay
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sidi Mubarak Bombay was sort of a combined guide, translator and nurse, and often the supervisor of the African laborers on expeditions through easter...
Tetanus
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tetanus has probably been around for most of human history, or even longer. But it’s preventable today thanks to vaccines. Research: "Emil von ...
SYMHC Classics: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2020 episode covers Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, an accomplished astronomer. She grew up in a society that didn’t really prioritize education ...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Altina and Saving Babies
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly talks about the dynamics of Altina Schinasi's family. Tracy shares a dispute over nursing uniform procedures on the Boston Floating Hospital tha...
Boston Floating Hospital
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Boston Floating Hospital was a children’s hospital that operated on a boat in Boston Harbor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ...
Altina Schinasi
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Altina Schinasi is known as the inventor of cat-eye glasses, but she was also an artist, a documentarian, and an activist. And she was very frank abou...
SYMHC Classics: Franz Nopsca
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2019 episode covers Baron Franz Nopcsa, who lived an adventurous, scholarly life, funded entirely by his family money. He identified dinosaurs, i...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Small Fruit Division and Dorseys
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly waxes rhapsodic about fruit. Tracy talks about planning an episode about William Henry Dorsey but then finding she needed to include his father....
Two Dorseys: Thomas J. and William Henry
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas J. Dorsey liberated himself from enslavement and became one of the most sought-after caterers in Philadelphia. His son William Henry Dorsey was...
Eponymous Foods: Fruits
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This installment of eponymous food stories is entirely about fruits. We’ve got a berry, a pome, and a citrus, all with varying degrees of docume...
SYMHC Classics: Hatshepsut
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This 2019 episode covers Hatshepsut, who sent a huge expedition to Punt in the 15th century B.C.E. The expedition to Punt is also an important and ill...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Wanda’s Motivations
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Holly shares a theory on why Wanda Gág didn’t drink. There is also discussion of Gág’s medical issues and how they were hand...