Stuff You Missed in History Class

Mildred Fish-Harnack was a woman from Wisconsin who found herself at the center of a resistance group in Germany working to undermine the Nazis. But her secrecy in this work enabled both Germany and the Soviet Union to twist her story into propaganda. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Annie Jump Cannon has been described as doing for stars what Carl Linnaeus did for organisms. She compiled a massive star catalogue, and became known both as the most famous woman astronomer of her lifetime, and as the “census-taker of the sky.” Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2018 episode covers Leeuwenhoek, who wasn't REALLY a scientist -- he had no formal training. But he made dozens of scientific discoveries. He's credited with discovering microscopic life in a variety of forms, using lenses he ground himself. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly discuss how much Tracy loves working on the Unearthed! shows, and how they both feel about library fines. They also talk about the Egyptian mummy parade, and misreads of what a historical curse jar was. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The second part of the July 2021 Unearthed! installment includes exhumations, repatriations, some mysteries that have been solved, and a potpourri of other stuff. There's also another listener mail on the unearthed theme. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part one of the 2021 July edition of unearthed things, there are updates to previous episodes, along with books and letters, edibles and potables, and art. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2011 episode from previous hosts Sarah and Deblina covers the U.S. in the late 1800s, when no one really monitored food additives. After Congress refused to regulate food safety, Harvey Wiley had groups of healthy men ingest poisons for six months. Tune in to learn how these "Poison Squads" shed new light on Wiley's cause. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly talk about family and experiential history with headaches, and the persistent problems in what people do and don't know about them. They then cover their swill-milk episode, and how utterly vile the whole thing is. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1850s, much of the milk supply in New York was anything but appetizing and wholesome – it was often deadly. But efforts to address the problem were blocked by corrupt officials. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Migraine is one of the three most prevalent conditions in the world along with anemia and hearing loss. But in spite of that prevalence, migraine is widely misunderstood, really at every level. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2017 episode covers 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 Victorian stage. But Aldridge has largely been excluded from biographies of Shakespearean actors. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's divisive figures week! Holly and Tracy discuss the difficulty in sorting out the reality of Lorenz's work, because of the polarized view of him within the medical community. Then talk turns to Hugo Gernsback, and the ongoing divide over him. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ray Bradbury said Hugo “made us fall in love with the future.” But he’s also been berated as a hack whose proclamations about what does and does not qualify as science fiction have been problematic and limiting from the start. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lorenz is credited with developing treatments that addressed pediatric orthopedic problems. During his lifetime, he was both celebrated and protested within the medical community. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part two of our Fort Shaw classic covers the four months the Fort Shaw Indian School women's basketball team spent at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The team performed mandolin recitals, literary recitations, demonstrations of gymnastics and calisthenics, and became World Champions. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy talk about the localization of copycat companies in the cleaning industry, and Holly shares how her robotic vacuum met its untimely end. The legacy of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg is also discussed in terms of his status as an outlier across various communities. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has come up in a lot of research for the show. Schomburg the man was an Afro-Puerto Rican activist and collector, who historian and journalist Joel Augustus Rogers nicknamed “the Sherlock Holmes of Negro History.” Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracking the history of how we clean and why our cleaning needs have shifted also tells the story of human progress in a wider sense. How did we get from natural-fiber brooms to gasoline-powered vacuum cleaners and ultimately to the home-use models we know today? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2017 episode covers the Fort Shaw Indian School , part of a boarding school system designed to make Native American students conform to white culture. In a surprising twist, it also boasted a champion women's basketball team. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly discuss the difficulty of covering the Dreyfus Affair, including the contextual history that needs to be covered for it. They also talk about the familiarity of the events of the affair because of similar events happening today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The court-martial and exile of Alfred Dreyfus was such big news that it started to be referred to simply as “The Affair.” And it divided French society and became international news. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part one contextualizes the Dreyfus Affair by covering the Franco-Prussian War and the founding of the French Third Republic. Then we’ll cover Alfred Dreyfus and the accusation of treason that he faced in 1894. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're continuing our classics with Harriet Tubman's story, which came out in 2016. There was a whole lot more to her life and work than the Underground Railroad. During the U.S. Civil War, she worked as a Union spy, eventually earning the nickname "General." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly talk about their own experiences with and thoughts about kudzu. They also discuss Harriet Quimby's journalism career, her stance on feminism, and that fabulous purple satin jumpsuit. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Quimby is most well-known for aviation, but journalism was an even bigger part of her life. Before taking up flying, she had managed to carve out a life for herself by merging her love of adventure with her knack for writing. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kudzu is a semi-woody, perennial climbing vine in the pea family. How did it get its reputation for being an unkillable menace? And was it really introduced to stop erosion, only to get completely out of hand? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're revisiting this 2013 topic in honor of Juneteenth. Most people are familiar with Tubman's involvement with the Underground Railroad, but she was also a spy for the Union during the Civil War, among many other things. Untangling the truth from the myth is the trickiest part of her story. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly talk about Lola Montez's relationship with the truth and references to her in the show "Dickinson." They also discuss how du Maurier's novel "Rebecca" has often been mischaracterized as a romance. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daphne du Maurier became famous thanks to her books and the adaptations they inspired, and her life story is just as intriguing as any of her writing. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aside from her relationship with King Ludwig I, Lola Montez is one of those figures whose life is hard to pin down. That’s not because of a lack of documentation, but because that documentation repeats the completely fictional backstory she made up for herself. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2013 episode covers Marie Taglioni, considered THE ballerina of the Romantic era. She's often credited with revolutionizing, restyling and redefining dance, though her father was a significant part of those achievements. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy compare the Apicius cookbook to cooking today, as well as some confusion over ingredients in the cookbook. They then talk about the life of Struensee, how scholars of medical history interpret the work of the doctor, and Mads Mikkelsen. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

King Christian VII ruled in the 18th century, and during his reign, his physician finagled a surprising amount of power, and basically ruled the country. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“De re Coquinaria,” also referred to as “Apicius,” is a cookbook featuring recipes that may have been collected as early as the first century. Who wrote it is a mystery, but it offers unique insight into the food culture of ancient Greece and Rome.Check out the Pinterest Page that was used to create this episode: https://www.pinterest.com/missedinhistory/on-the-subject-of-cooking-de-re-coquinaria/ Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2018 episode covers defenestrations - which just means "to throw out of a window." And there's been a surprising amount of defenestration in Czech history. And almost all of it has been connected religious wars. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy talk about Child's life, the ways in which she was ahead of her time socially, and the questions surrounding her marriage. The Haymarket riot's place in labor history is also covered, with an eye toward how many of the issues that were prominent then remain in play today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Haymarket Riot, aka the Haymarket Affair or the Haymarket Massacre, is one of the many interconnected events and people and movements that are all integral to defining the basic idea of what a full-time job is in the U.S. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lydia Maria Child was a writer of children’s literature, historical novels, abolitionist tracts, and poetry. She also wrote literature for children and penned a holiday poem that remains popular today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2014 episode covers the devastation of "Black Wall Street," which was a nickname for Greenwood, a vibrant suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was destroyed in a racist attack in 1921. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly discuss Tracy's research on Operation Paperclip and how recently information about it has been uncovered. After talking about taking some time off, Tracy also shares how she selected the Paperclippers to focus on for Wednesday's episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under Operation Paperclip, about 1,600 specialists – most with some involvement with the Nazi party – entered the U.S., and many became citizens. Today, we’re looking at four of these specialists, who were nicknamed Paperclippers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Operation Paperclip, also known as Project Paperclip, which was the U.S. effort to bring German scientists to the U.S. after World War II. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2011 episode is from prior hosts Sarah and Deblina. During the 17th century, the Dutch went nuts for tulips, paying exorbitant amounts for a single bulb. But what exactly triggered this commodity bubble? And what do revisionist historians have to say? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy talk about Paré's work in context on the timeline, and then a very cool modern gardening project using the book we mentioned this week, "The Feate of Gardening." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gardening is a living history that connects us all to people and places through time. This episode covers precolonial North America, Europeans bringing their own gardening ideas to the colonies, and how gardening has developed and shifted since then. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sixteenth-century barber surgeon Paré has been called everything from “the gentle surgeon” to “the father of modern surgery.” He advanced the field of medicine significantly during his 50+ years in practice. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Revisiting our 2016 episode on black Canadian-American Mary Ann Shadd Cary, who became the first woman in North America to publish and edit a newspaper. She advocated against slavery, for better lives for free black people, and for women's rights. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy talk about how they decided to cover the life of Ralph McQuarrie, and discuss the breadth of his awe-inspiring work. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In our second part of McQuarrie's life story, we cover how Star Wars became Ralph’s most well-known area of work, but also how it led to a lot of iconic visual moments in other films. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

McQuarrie is responsible for some of the most recognizable imagery in cinema and culture. In part one, we’ll talk about his early life, his work before Star Wars, and how he started collaborating with George Lucas. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.