Stuff You Missed In History Class

Holly and Tracy discuss Ward McAllister as the ultimate historical mean girl. They also talk about how people were reacting to the Blitz when it was happening. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly talks with previous podcast guest Dr. Rachel Lance about her new book "Chamber Divers," which details the WWII research that advanced underwater science. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Bradley Martin Ball is sometimes referred to as the last big moment of the Gilded Age. It was a very ostentatious event that sparked a lot of debate, and in some ways helped usher in the crumbling of New York’s Victorian-era society culture. Research: “Bradley Martin Ball.” New York Times. Feb. 7, 1897. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1897/02/07/117897311.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “Bradley Martin Ball.” New York Times. Feb. 9, 1897. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1897/02/09/102399244.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “Bradley Martin Ball.” New York Times. Feb. 11, 1897. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1897/02/11/100419295.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “Bradley Martin Ball Burlesqued.” St. Francisville Democrat. March 27, 1897. https://www.newspapers.com/image/221401970/?terms=%22Mrs.%20Radley%20Barton%27s%20Ball%22&match=1 “Bradley Martin Dies in London.” New York Times. Feb. 6, 1913. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/02/06/100387781.pdf?

This 2020 episode shares the story of the ridiculously wealthy Croesus, which was likely fictionalized in a number of ways. It has become sort of a cautionary tale about pride and hubris, and what really has value in life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy shares frustration over a historical find being described as a piggy bank. She and Holly then discuss the Van Gogh Pokémon and whether they would chase similar items. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The spring 2024 edition of Unearthed! concludes with books and letters, fashion and cosmetics, medicine, shipwrecks, and the assorted finds that are categorized as potpourri. Research: Abdallah, Hannah. “The first Neolithic boats in the Mediterranean.” EurekAlert. 3/20/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1037843 Adam Rohrlach, Cases of trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 among historic and prehistoric individuals discovered from ancient DNA, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45438-1. www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45438-1 Addley, Esther. “‘Flat-packed furniture for the next life’: Roman funerary bed found in London.” The Guardian. 2/5/2024. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/05/flat-packed-furniture-for-the-next-life-roman-funerary-bed-found-in-london Alberge, Dalya. “‘Incredibly rare’ discovery reveals bedbugs came to Britain with the Romans.” The Guardian. 2/3/2024. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/03/incredibly-rare-discovery-reveals-bedbugs-came-to-brita

Time for all the things literally or figuratively unearthed in the first quarter of 2024. Part one includes updates, burial sites, walls, edibles and potables, and art and architecture.  Research: Abdallah, Hannah. “The first Neolithic boats in the Mediterranean.” EurekAlert. 3/20/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1037843 Adam Rohrlach, Cases of trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 among historic and prehistoric individuals discovered from ancient DNA, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45438-1. www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45438-1 Addley, Esther. “‘Flat-packed furniture for the next life’: Roman funerary bed found in London.” The Guardian. 2/5/2024. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/05/flat-packed-furniture-for-the-next-life-roman-funerary-bed-found-in-london Alberge, Dalya. “‘Incredibly rare’ discovery reveals bedbugs came to Britain with the Romans.” The Guardian. 2/3/2024. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/03/incredibly-rare-discovery-reveals-bedbugs-c

This 2020 episode looks at croquet's murky origins. Because of its relative ease of play and low barrier of entry, it went through a surge in popularity almost as soon as it was documented.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly talk about how much Tracy loves eclipses. They also discuss their favorite TV jingles for the game of Life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milton Bradley shaped not only the way people in the U.S. and around the globe play, but also how many kids in the U.S. were educated in their youngest years. Research: Adams, David Wallace, and Victor Edmonds. “Making Your Move: The Educational Significance of the American Board Game, 1832 to 1904.” History of Education Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 4, 1977, pp. 359–83. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/367865 Bradley, M. “Game Board. U.S. Patent Office. April 3, 1866. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/21/56/40/6993536471b841/US53561.pdf “Bradley’s Mechanical and Mathematical Institute … “ The Berkshire County Eagle. July 23, 1858. https://www.newspapers.com/image/532891626/?terms=%22milton%20bradley%22%20&match=1 “The Cars for Egypt.” Vermont Press. March 13, 1858. https://www.newspapers.com/image/547100306/?terms=%22milton%20bradley%22%20&match=1 “The Checkered Game of Life.” Hasbro. https://www.hasbro.com/common/documents/5b96f7161d3711ddbd0b0800200c9a66/858C69C319B9F3691003C63AB0E8078A.pdf “The

On May 28, in the year 585 BCE, there was a total solar eclipse during a battle between the kingdoms of Media and Lydia. This eclipse had been predicted by Thales of Miletus, and it led to the ends of both the battle and the war. Maybe.  Research: "Thales of Miletus." Math & Mathematicians: The History of Math Discoveries Around the World, edited by Leonard C. Bruno, UXL, 2008. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1669000047/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=941ff118. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024. "Thales." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, vol. 13, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008, pp. 295-298. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2830904273/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=78008eeb. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024. Airy, G. B. “On the Eclipses of Agathocles, Thales, and Xerxes.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 143, 1853, pp. 179–200. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/108561. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024. Batten, A. H. “The

This 2019 episode covers Sylvia of Hollywood, famous in the 1920s and 1930s for shaping up starlets, cementing the idea that Hollywood's beauties were aspirational figures for the average woman. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly reads Vinnie Ream's account of when she met Franz Liszt. Then discussion turns to Ream's friendships, her shopping habits, and why she lived in Rome instead of closer to Carrara. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part two of our episode on Vinnie Ream covers the completion of her first major work, and the rest of her life, which was just as controversial as her early adulthood.  Research: “Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction.” National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/anjo/andrew-johnson-and-reconstruction.htm Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Vinnie Ream". Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Nov. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vinnie-Ream “The Case of Miss Vinnie Ream, The Latest National Disgrace.” The Daily Phoenix. June 12, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/72225424/?terms=%22vinnie%20ream%22%20&match=1 “Clark Mills and the Jackson Equestrian Statue (1853–1856).” The Historic New Orleans Collection. https://www.hnoc.org/virtual/andrew-jackson/clark-mills-and-jackson-equestrian-statue-1853%E2%80%931856 Cooper, Edward S. “Vinnie Ream, a American Sculptor.” Academy Chicago Publishers. 2004. “Curious Developments in the House.” The Abingdon Virginian. June 5, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/ima

Vinnie Ream managed became the first woman to be given an art commission by the U.S. Government when she was still a teenager. Part one covers the controversy that arose as she lobbied for that job. Research: “Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction.” National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/anjo/andrew-johnson-and-reconstruction.htm Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Vinnie Ream". Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Nov. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vinnie-Ream “The Case of Miss Vinnie Ream, The Latest National Disgrace.” The Daily Phoenix. June 12, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/72225424/?terms=%22vinnie%20ream%22%20&match=1 “Clark Mills and the Jackson Equestrian Statue (1853–1856).” The Historic New Orleans Collection. https://www.hnoc.org/virtual/andrew-jackson/clark-mills-and-jackson-equestrian-statue-1853%E2%80%931856 Cooper, Edward S. “Vinnie Ream, a American Sculptor.” Academy Chicago Publishers. 2004. “Curious Developments in the House.” The Abingdon Virginian. June 5, 1868.

This 2014 episode covers the story of how in 1859, the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over an American settler shooting a Canadian pig that was rooting around his garden. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy ponder why the wrong photo has become used so frequently in mentions of Margaret E. Knight. Tracy shares the reasons she almost didn't cover Henry Martyn Robert on the show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Henry Martyn Robert was connected to multiple historical events, but his most lasting legacy is the set of guidelines he created that offered a standardized way to run meetings. Research:  "Henry Martyn Robert." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, vol. 21, Gale, 2001. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631007677/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=a6a24976. Accessed 12 Mar. 2024. Doyle, Don H. “Rules of Order: Henry Martyn Robert and the Popularization of American Parliamentary Law.” American Quarterly , Spring, 1980, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Spring, 1980). https://www.jstor.org/stable/2712493 Fishman, Donald. “The Elusive Henry Martyn Robert: A Historical Problem.” National Parliamentarian. Second Quarter 2012. Hansen, Brett. “Weathering the Storm: the Galveston Seawall and Grade Raising.” Civil Engineering. April 2007. Hendricks, George Brian, "Rules of Order: A Biography of Henry Martyn Robert, Soldier, Engineer, Churchman, Parliamentarian" (1998). Legacy ETDs. 755. https://di

Margaret E. Knight was an ingenious woman. She started tinkering with things when she was still just a tiny child, and the first invention that really improved the lives of those around her came about at the age of 12.  Research: “A Lady in a Machine Shop.” Woman’s Journal, December 21, 1872. Accessed online: https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:48852547$409i Bedi, Joyce. “Margaret Knight.” Lemelson Center, Smithsonian. March 22, 2021. https://invention.si.edu/node/28532/p/609-margaret-knight Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Margaret E. Knight". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Feb. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Margaret-E-Knight “Gained Fame as Inventor.” The Boston Globe. Oct. 13, 1914. https://www.newspapers.com/image/430883835/?terms=%22margaret%20e.%20knight%22%20&match=1 “The Inspiring Story of Margaret E. Knight.” National Inventors Hall of Fame. https://www.invent.org/blog/inventors/margaret-e-knight-paper-pag Knight, M.E. “Clasp.” U.S. Patent Office. Oct. 14, 1884. h

This 2019 episode covers James G. Fair, known as the Silver King. But though Fair often appears on lists of the richest men in U.S. history, his image was also tainted by scandal. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.