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Best Episodes of Ballsy History
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Sarah Winchester unhappily found herself the sole remaining family member after her daughter and then her husband died. Unsure of what to do, she—like many people of the late 1800s—turned to spiritualists to help.Help came in the form of a war
The Northwest plains have weather that is not for the faint of heart. Even this past year a prolonged arctic outbreak struck the area and the Farmer’s Almanac predicted a snow train coming down from Canada.The Children’s Blizzard is also known
Learn about what different cultures do when their children’s teeth fall out; and the origins of the tooth fairy, a fairly modern character—certainly younger than Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.After our episode on Vikings, we were intrigued b
By the middle ages, brewing and selling ale provided women a way to work and achieve "good profits, social power, and some measure of independence from men"—especially compared to other trades, which did not. Yet after the Black Plague, societa
The 6888th was a self-contained unit. The Army wasn’t yet integrated for men, let alone women—and segregated by both race and gender, the members of the Six Triple Eight not only made history, they quickly achieved what seemed insurmountable,
“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” was nationally broadcast from 1968 to 1976, and again from 1979 to 2001; although the show existed in different iterations prior. During the thirty minute program children were encouraged to be their true selves, u
If you Google “worst jobs” you’re going to see things like crime scene clean up and sewer diver, but compared to medieval bell ringer? At least sewer divers can be hosed down. Bell ringers had to be hosed off – like, every surface.Enjoy this e
Vampires lurk throughout popular culture, appearing on television in “True Blood” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as well as Twilight books, and even the character “The Count” on Sesame Street.But long before Buffy was protecting humankind, a p
Tea came to Ireland in the early 1800s and was immediately classified as a luxury product, having arrived from far away India on a clipper ship. Right from the beginning, upper class, wealthy people began holding tea parties, and once it became
Perhaps no other Montmartre venue has inspired as much interest as the Moulin Rouge, the most luxurious and exuberant nightclub in Paris when it opened, featuring: a dance hall, cabaret, risque sideshows, clowns, fortune-tellers,and cancan danc
Most European cities have channeled their waters into paved canals, wiping out much of the history along the way—but not London, which is one of the only places where you can safely do something like mudlarking. The variety of artifacts found
Josephine Baker’s career was centered in Europe because of the racism she faced in the US. She became the most successful entertainer in her beloved France, transforming over time from an exotic dancer into a film star and opera singer. She was
If you think that a group of warriors living in the late 8th to the late 11th centuries would stink to high heaven because of all the rowing and decapitating, you'd be wrong. Vikings were actually very hygienic—bathing weekly and changing their
If the list of female scientists you can think of starts and ends with Marie Curie, it’s not just you. It’s more likely “The Matilda Effect.” Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, Matilda recognizes that, on a personal level, undermining a person’s
Today on our show we’ll learn about Mabel Stark, one of the first female animal trainers. She was active for over sixty years and survived eighteen maulings during her career. In fact, it is notable that she lived through so many attacks consid
Today on our show we’ll learn about Cesare Lombroso’s biological theories of crime and the ways "the father of criminology" was the first person to make crime and criminals a specific area of study.Now, more than one hundred years after his de
Charlotta was a staunch advocate for civil liberties, women's rights, and immigration. Because of her civil rights work, her life was threatened numerous times. Additionally, the FBI placed her under surveillance, leading to files several binde
The first recorded incident of insects used in a criminal investigation was in 13th-century China when a farmer was found murdered and all the suspects were told to place their sickles on the ground. One had blood on it that was invisible to th
Spiritualism began during the 1840s in Hydesville, NY and adherents believe spirits of the dead can and do want to communicate with the living. By 1897, Spiritualism had more than 8 million followers, including: Queen Victoria, Mary Todd Linco
In 2014, builders converting the Redland House Hotel dismantled a bed during renovations and were ready to leave it out for trash pick up when it was suggested maybe the wooden four poster ought to go up for auction. So they left it in the car
If you’ve ever sat in a darkened movie theater chances are you’ve also balanced a bag of popcorn on your lap while indulging in fistfulls of the salty snack people love so much. Ornate movie palaces with crystal chandeliers, marble-lined hallw
In the early years of the 20th century, radioactivity was discovered, astronomers began to define the true scale and nature of the universe, and another mystery sprung out of scientific circles: the origin of a newly detected form of energy fro
How did these “doctors” hired by the government, roaming from town-to-town into plague-stricken areas, counting the dead, and administering dubious treatments manage not to disappear into the fog of history like link-boys or knocker-ups?Plague
Breakfast cereal, an American invention, began life as an aid to digestion with religious overtones (kind of), became a sugary morning standby and today can be found in rows of boxes ranging from health food and sugar bombs.Historians mostly a
At the beginning of the twentieth century there was a boom as people worldwide tried to figure out how to fly. People’s imaginations had been captured as hydrogen balloons became all the rage in Paris and Britain; and an even larger airship co
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