Historically High

In 1830 Belgium became its own country after winning independence from the Netherlands. Founded as a Constitutional Monarchy the national congress elected Leopold I (who of course was tied to the British Monarchy) to serve as king. Following Leopold as monarch was, surprise surprise, Leopold II. Being a new country, Belgium was late to the party establishing any colonial holdings. Leopold II heard about the Congo in Africa and crafted one of the biggest cons in human history. Under the guise ...

There are certain people in history that never really got to collect their roses. They come along at a pivotal time in human advancement and just kinda operated behind the scenes, sometimes contributing massively to humanity. Nikola Tesla is one of those people. Were it not for the car brand (not gonna get into that here) Tesla's name would still be relegated to the historical hamper under men like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham-Bell, and Henry Ford. While not inventing electricity, Nikola d...

This week we are looking at an everlasting gobstopper of true crime history. Patricia Hearst is the grand daughter of Newspaper magnate, and notable dickhead enemy of the show, William Randolph Hearst. In 1974, Patty was kidnapped from her townhouse by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was held captive as the SLA negotiated with her father to feed the hungry of California, in exchange for her release. Then a strange thing happened. Patty the hostage became Patty the Guerilla. Instead of bei...

The story of the USS Indianapolis and the men who served aboard her is one that spans the entire pacific theater of WW2. She was in the fight from the jump, she was off the coast of Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. She took part in some of the most well known battles during the island hopping campaign to drive the Japanese back toward their home islands. And in 1945 she undertook the top secret mission to transport critical components for construction of the atomic bomb Little Boy on th...

The first Thanksgiving came a year after Plymouth Rock became Plymouth Rock. The Plymouth Colonists were basically taught to survive by the Wompanoag people. The 2 groups would sit down to celebrate the first Plymouth harvest by giving thanks. That was 1621. In 1675 the peace finally broke. Metcomet was the leader of the Wompanoag people. The colonists gave him the Christian name of King Philip. Since history is written by the victors, the rebellion is known as King Philip's War. That's an ea...

The world created by George R.R. Martin for A Song of Ice and Fire has a pretty rich history. The world familiar to most through Game of Thrones covers only a few years worth of events from Westeros and Esso. House of the Dragon does the same only giving us a snap shot of a years known as the Dance of Dragons. We're here to open up the history books and discuss the history of the world of ice and fire that hasn't gotten the premium cable treatment. From the Children of the Forest, to Aegon th...

The Fountain of Youth, The Philosopher's Stone, The Apples of Hesperides, The Peaches of Immortality, The Elixir of Life, The Holy Grail. The quest for everlasting life has been told in one way or another throughout recorded history. Every religion has its version, every culture has its myths, but the search of immortality is literally a tale as old as time. From religious doctrine, to the science of alchemy, and finally genetic engineering humanity has been trying to find the ultimate loopho...

Dubbed the Heist of the Century, the Antwerp Diamond Heist is straight out of a movie, seriously, I'm pretty sure the plot to the Ocean's 11 remake pulled a lotta inspiration from the events that actually took place. Antwerp is known as the diamond capital of the world. 85% of the rough diamonds in the world make their way to Antwerp. The Diamond District is where the cutting, polishing, wheeling, dealing takes place. When you have that many diamonds circulating around you're gonna need a ver...

Imagine if you will, it's the 1940's and Europe is being overrun by the Nazi war machine. Scientists that would take part in the success of the Manhattan Project have fled their now occupied nations bringing their knowledge of harnessing atomic power to the Allies. That didn't deter the Nazi's from forming a program of their own, starting the "Uranium Club" in 1939. No one knew where the other stood in their goal of building the bomb, for all the allies knew Hitler was on the cusp of developi...

The Battle of the Alamo is taught in a way that makes you believe it is U.S. History. In truth, the Texas Revolution took place on Mexican land with mostly Mexican citizens. The Texas Revolution was won off of the loss at The Alamo. This battle had it all. Famous names, sneak attacks, answering questions via cannon. There wasn't ever really a question who was going to win the clash at the Alamo. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his Mexican troops were headed to squash a rebellion. He had recen...

WW1's end saw the signing of the Treaty of Versailles which went hard at the country of Germany. So much so it allowed Adolf Hitler to ascend to power using the treaties punishment as a tool to turn a large portion of the country to him for the fix. The Allies were determined to make sure that mistake was not repeated after WW2. The proposed solutions included mass killings and show trials, summary executions of leadership, to an international criminal trial. The IMT or International Military...

In May of 1588 150 ships of the Spanish Armada would begin sailing for England on a mission of conquest. What occurred during that attempt would come to be known as....The Spanish Armada. Yes I know it's confusing, it refers to both the armada of the Spanish and the naval campaign against the English Navy. Ok we good now? Basically Spain was pissed because the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth I of England told the recently widowed Philip II of Spain (who was formerly the King of England through ...

If you have ever been bested by the safety features of over the counter medicine, you are dealing with a direct result of the Tylenol Murders. In the fall of 1982, Chicago had 7 confirmed deaths from Tylenol consumption. The initial concern was a manufacturing issue. Once they found out the tainted pills came from different facilities, the theory got darker. A potential mass poisoning caused by a single person or group of people was feeling more likely. Then Johnson & Johnson got a letter...

Imagine if you will that you're a 15 yr old boy, you've never met your father, and your mom died soon enough after your birth you don't remember her. You're raised by an aunt and uncle until one day your dad Niccolo and your Uncle Maffeo roll back into town and he's like "Hey I'm your Dad. Let me tell you about a guy named Kublai and a place called China." Two years later at 17, your dad decides it's time to return to China and the court of the Great Khan and you're coming along. After a dice...

Without a doubt the closest the planet has come to nuclear war occurred between October 16th-28th 1962. The Cold War was at its peak. Brought there by the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion about 18 months earlier by "Cuban Exiles", with pretty obvious support from the United States. With nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey and Italy the U.S. had a huge advantage over the Soviet Union if it ever came to the first strike in an atomic conflict. Cuba and the Soviet Union decided nuclear strike parody ...

We're gonna go ahead and apologize in advance for any stumbles through this one. Sir Isaac Newton possessed a kind of brilliance that is very hard for the majority of people to really wrapped their heads around, and that includes us. Known as the Father of Modern Physics he didn't just help shape our understanding of the science of the natural world (not nature but the laws that govern nature, gravity, optics, movement, etc) but he deciphered a lot of the mysteries within it. He developed cal...

The scariest part of the Dust Bowl is the very small amount we talk about it historically. The need for wheat during WW1 caused the wheat market to double. There was a lot of new agricultural land in the Southern Great Plains. Once the war was over, the government tried to prop up grain prices as best they could. In order to continue making the money they once did, farmers in the Southern Great Plains doubled down purchasing more land, and tearing more of the natural grasses from the earth. T...

The Stanford Prison Experiment produced groundbreaking results. The main result was proving the need to create Institutional Review Boards for human experiments. Dr. Philip Zimbardo wanted to test the effect of power and powerlessness in a prison setting. He used a bunch of college age boys to play the part of guards and prisoners. Usually a Doctor oversees their experiment. Not only did Zimbardo oversee his experiment, he made himself the Superintendent of his prison. The Stanford Prison Exp...

We're heading back to WW2 for the most pivotal battle of the European Theater. Some of you are already scoffing at that statement but let me lay it out like this. After Germany steamrolled mainland Europe, Great Britain was all that was left. Russia and Germany weren't at war yet. The United States was still over two years away from being at war. It was the British holding the line against total Nazi domination of Europe. If Britain fell that means no where to launch an invasion, no D-Day, no...

It's Part 2....so if you haven't already go back and listen to part 1 first. Think you can just raw dog it without having any of Ireland's backstory, think again. We pick back up at a major event in Irish history, The Blight, or as most of us know it The Great Irish Potato Famine. Ireland is hurting and the people in charge, currently the English, aren't doing a whole lot to help. This combined with a whole list of issues with English rule (discussed in part 1) most of the inhabitants of the ...