Stuff You Missed In History Class

This 2021 episode covers G.J. Griffith, who today is associated with the Los Angeles park and the observatory. But during his time, Griffith was associated with other things: real estate, social climbing, and a horrifying domestic abuse scandal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy talk about sewing machines in their lives. Tracy talks about how she thought hangover research would be easy, but it turned out to be quite challenging. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humans probably started fermenting things on purpose by about 10,000 BCE. But when did they start discussing the aftereffects that come from drinking too much? Research: ·       Beringer, Guy. “Brunch: a plea.” Harper's Weekly, 1895. https://archive.org/details/archive_charlyj_001 ·       Bishop-Stall, Shaughnessy. “Hung Over: The Morning After and One Man’s Quest for the Cure.” Penguin Books. 2018. ·       Bishop-Stall, Shaughnessy. “Weird Hangover Cures Through the Ages.” Lit Hub. 11/20/2018. https://lithub.com/weird-hangover-cures-through-the-ages/ ·       Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham. “The reader's handbook of allusions, references, plots and stories; with two appendices;.” https://archive.org/details/readershandb00brew/page/957/ ·       Danovich, Tove. “The Weird and W

A lot of sewing techniques being taught and used today came from the mind of one innovator: Helen Blanchard. She held 28 patents, most related to sewing, and she shaped the way the garment industry functioned. Research: “1854 – Walter Hunt’s Patent Model of a Sewing Machine.” Smithsonian. National Museum of American History. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1070410 “1873 - Helen A. Blanchard's Sewing machine Patent Model (buttonhole).” Smithsonian. National Museum of American History. https://www.si.edu/object/1873-helen-blanchards-sewing-machine-patent-model-buttonhole%3Anmah_1069711 “A Woman’s Pluck.” The Portland Daily Press. Aug. 24, 1886. https://www.newspapers.com/image/875134248/?match=1&terms=%22Helen%20A.%20blanchard%22 Blanchard, Helen A. “Improvement in Sewing Machines.” USPO. Aug. 19, 1873. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/11/99/2a/c5331644eba132/US141987.pdf Blanchard, Helen A. “IMPROVEME

This 2019 episode covers F.W. Murnau, most well known for directing the first vampire film. But the German-born creator went on to make a number of influential films before his early death.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly discuss the seasonal nature of pumpkin spice, and medicinal uses of nutmeg. They then talk about artificial versus real Christmas trees.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode looks at the early days of Christmas trees, the origin of glass ornaments, and the practice of mounting lit candles on trees before electric bulbs were invented.  Research: ·     “36 Perish as Party Guests Stampede to Flee Flames.” The Minneapolis Star. Dec 25, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/178762039/  ·     “Accident From a Christmas Tree.” The Morning Post. Jan 11, 1850. https://www.newspapers.com/image/402121758/?match=1&terms=%22christmas%20tree%22%20Victoria ·     Barnes, Allison. “The First Christmas Tree. History Today. December 12, 2006. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/first-christmas-tree ·     Brittain, J. E.  "John R. Crouse and the Society for Electrical Development [Scanning the Past]." Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 86, no. 12, pp. 2475-2477, Dec. 1998. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/735455 &mi

Nutmeg is native to the Banda Islands in Indonesia. Once Europeans discovered nutmeg, they had an enormous - often violent - impact on the islands it was growing on. Research: Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "nutmeg". Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Oct. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/nutmeg. Accessed 22 November 2024. Esarey, Logan. “The Literary Spirit Among the Early Ohio Valley Settlers.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 5, no. 2, 1918, pp. 143–57. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1886120. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024. Ghosh, Amitav. “The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis.” University of Chicago Press. 2021. Godinez, Andrea. “3,500-year-old pumpkin spice? Archaeologists find the earliest use of nutmeg as a food.” University of Washington. Via EurekAlert. 10/3/2018. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/578241 Haliburton, Thomas Chandler. “The Clockmaker; or the Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick, of Slickville, to whic

This 2020 episode covers the iconic figure of mysticism, Madame Blavatsky. She was the founder of the theosophical movement, and lived a life of adventure that's hard to believe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly talks about the many, many organizations that Joaquín Torres-García formed. Tracy discusses how there was no plan in place before the SL-1 accident to deal with radioactive bodies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1 was a small boiling-water reactor built at the National Reactor Testing Station, west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. On January 3, 1961, during a restart of the reactor, a catastrophic tragedy unfolded when the reactor went supercritical.  Research: Divison of Technical Information Extension, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. “SL-1 The Accident, Phases I and II.” https://www.osti.gov/sciencecinema/biblio/1129428 Francisco, A.D. and E. T. Tomlinson. “Analysis of the SL-1 Accident Using RELAP5-3D.” Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. 2007 International RELAP5 User’s Seminar. November 7 -9, 2007. https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/39/038/39038759.pdf?r=1 Idaho National Laboratory. “SL-1, Idaho: Just the Facts.” https://factsheets.inl.gov/FactSheets/Just%20the%20Facts_SL-1.pdf O’Connor, Bryan. “Supercritical: SL-1 Nuclear Reactor Explosion.” NASA. September 2007. https://sma.nasa.gov/docs/default-so

Joaquín Torres-García was Uruguayan-born artist who wanted to bring Constructivism and Modernism to Latin America, and worked for much of his life promoting the idea that Latin-American voices should be part of the Modernist art movement.  Research: ·     Bollar, Gorki. “Primitive Paintings: Connections to Realism and Constructivism.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 1, 1984, pp. 17–19. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1574851 ·     Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Joaquín Torres-García". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Aug. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joaquin-Torres-Garcia ·     Duncan, Barbara. “Exploring New Horizons in Latin American Contemporary Art.” Revista: Harvard Review of Latin America. Dec. 30, 2001. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/exploring-new-horizons-in-latin-american-contemporary-art/ ·     Grimson,

This 2020 episode covers the sphere of plutonium-gallium alloy that the U.S. made for use in an atomic bomb during World War II known as the Demon Core was  It was the source of two fatal criticality accidents. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy relays how Sarah Winnemucca's story inspired this week's episodes, though they were recorded about a month apart, and also how Ely S. Parker is one of the most complicated figures she has ever written about.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While working for the Treasury Department, Ely S. Parker met someone who would become a big part of much of the rest of his life – Ulysses S. Grant. It was through this connection that Parker gained a good deal of power, and cemented a controversial legacy. Research: ·       Adams, James Ring. “The Many Careers of Ely Parker.” National Museum of the American Indian. Fall 2011. ·       Babcock, Barry. “The Story of Donehogawa, First Indian Commissioner of Indian Affairs.” ICT. 9/13/2018. https://ictnews.org/archive/the-story-of-donehogawa-first-indian-commissioner-of-indian-affairs ·       Contrera, Jessica. “The interracial love story that stunned Washington — twice! — in 1867.” Washington Post. 2/13/2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/02/13/interracial-love-story-that-stunned-washington-twice/ ·     &

Ely S. Parker was instrumental in both the creation of President President Ulysses S. Grant’s “peace policy." Parker was Seneca, and he was the first Indigenous person to be placed in a cabinet-level position in the U.S. and the first Indigenous person to serve as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Research: ·       Adams, James Ring. “The Many Careers of Ely Parker.” National Museum of the American Indian. Fall 2011. ·       Babcock, Barry. “The Story of Donehogawa, First Indian Commissioner of Indian Affairs.” ICT. 9/13/2018. https://ictnews.org/archive/the-story-of-donehogawa-first-indian-commissioner-of-indian-affairs ·       Contrera, Jessica. “The interracial love story that stunned Washington — twice! — in 1867.” Washington Post. 2/13/2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/02/13/interracial-love-story-that-stunned-washington-twice/ ·       DeJong, David H. “Ely S. Parker Commissioner of Indian Affairs (April 26, 1869–July 24,1871).” From Paternalism to Partnership: The Administration of Indian

This 2020 episode covers scurvy, a deficiency in vitamin C. Its story goes way back in history – all the way to our evolutionary ancestors living more than 60 million years ago. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy talks about getting listener requests, and wonders about the details of one the stories from Monday's show. Tracy and Holly talk about the size of Lynn, Massachusetts, and Holly waxes rhapsodic about shoes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The shoes you’re wearing today likely were made possible by an invention from the late 19th century. But the inventor of that machine, who had little to no formal education, didn’t really get to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Research: ·     “29c Jan E. Matzeliger single.” Smithsonian National Postal Museum. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1993.2015.160 ·     Biography.com Editors. “Jan Matzeliger Biography.” Biography.com. June 24, 2020. https://www.biography.com/inventors/jan-matzeliger ·     Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Jan Ernst Matzeliger". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jan-Ernst-Matzeliger. ·     “Brockton lasters Strike.” The Daily Item. August 8, 1887. https://www.newspapers.com/image/945617821/?match=1&terms=lasters%20strike ·     Curry, Sheree R. “Jan Ernst Matzeliger Made Modern Footwear Accessible.” USA Today. Feb. 17, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2023/02/17/jan-ernst-matzeliger-black-shoe-inventor/111540

This episode includes six stories requested by listeners that wouldn't quite work as standalone episodes. The topics include: Nellie Cashman, Ela of Salisbury, Charles "Teenie" Harris, Jane Gaugain, Edward A. Carter Jr., and Alice Ball. Research: ·       National Parks Service. “Nellie Cashman.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/nellie-cashman.htm Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame. “Nellie Cashman.” https://www.azwhf.org/copy-of-pauline-bates-brown-2 ·       Backhouse, Frances. “Angel of the Cassiar.” British Columbia Magazine. Winter 2014. ·       Hawley, Charles C. and Thomas K. Bundtzen. “Ellen (Nellie) Cashman.” Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation. https://alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/cashman.php ·       Clum, John P. “Nellie Cashman.” Arizona Historical Review. Vol. 3, No. 4. January 1931. ·       Porsild, Charlene. “Cashman, Ellen.” Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. XV (1921-1930). https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cashman_ellen_15E.html ·       Ward, Jennifer C. "Ela, suo jure countess of Salisb