Michael Rank: Historian, Writer, and Podcaster
History in Five Minutes PodcastEpisodes
Best Episodes of History in Five Minutes Podcast
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Our guest today is Giles Milton, the host of the Unknown History Podcast.We all have an embarrassing relative. Maybe that embarrassing relative is us.But Winston Churchill’s cousin took it to a new level. She had love affairs, one of which t
Our guest today is Giles Milton, the host of the Unknown History Podcast.Giles is going to talk all about Churchill’s affinity for chemical weapons, something I didn’t even know was a thing.He answers all sorts of questions in this intervie
Did you know that over 400,000 German POWs were settled in the United States during World War II? Did you know that they may have built some of the stone buildings that make up your town square? Or that they were responsible for bringing in
Teddy Roosevelt was not afraid to tempt death. He hiked the Matterhorn during his honeymoon. He arrested outlaws on the Dakota Frontier. He hunted rhinos in Africa.But his most dangerous journey came after his failure in 1912 to retake the
Perhaps no president has as many unbelievable stories about his life than Teddy Roosevelt. He was an amateur boxer. He was the first American politician to learn judo. He summited the Matterhorn during his honeymoon. He joined an expedition to
References to acts of cannibalism are sprinkled throughout many religious and historical documents, such as the reports that cooked human flesh was being sold in 11th-century English markets. But the world’s first cannibal incident reported
It is the most gruesome activity that a human can do. It is the most ancient of taboos. Stories of the Donner Party, Jamestown, and the Franklin Expedition make for ghost stories today.But the real question is not why cannibalism occurs in
If you’ve seen the 1960 Spencer Tracy movie Inherit the Wind, you know about the Scopes Monkey Trial. In this real-life 1925 case, John Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evoluti
According to legends of the Middle Ages, knights used the chastity belt on their wives as an anti-temptation device before embarking on the Crusades. When the knight left for the Holy Lands on the Crusades, his Lady would wear a chastity bel
Depending on which account you hear, Columbus was either the bravest explorer of the early Renaissance or a mass murdered who subjected the indigenous population of the new world to death or slavery.Learn in this episode how Columbus was bo
Rome didn’t fall in 476 when Romulus, the last of the Roman emperors in the west, was overthrown by the Germanic leader Odoacer, who became the first Barbarian to rule in Rome.Nor did it fall in 1453 when the Ottoman Empire conquered Consta
Few episodes in history are so misunderstood as the condemnation of Galileo. His trial has become a stock argument to show the fundamental clash between science and dogmatism.Turns out the whole affair was actually a giant clash of egos, wi
Why do Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks? Are we trying to take the National Anthem as literally as possible, creating “Bombs Bursting in Air”? Or is there another reason?Much of the trappings of the Fourth of July date
Gutenberg’s moveable type printing press was the prime mover of the Renaissance. From his machine came millions of books, leading to the democratization of knowledge, the fall of the papacy, and the rise of reason.But what if this wasn’t Gute
In the early 1800s there was no English explorer greater than James Holman. He travelled almost 20 times farther than Marco Polo. He travelled among 200 different cultures, charted undiscovered parts of Australia, and by October 1846 had visit
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — the victor at the Battle of Gallipoli, Turkey’s first president, and a reformer so zealous that he replaced six centuries of Ottoman Islamic legal and cultural custom with Western practices in the space of 15 years —
Recognized by most historians and much of the public as one of our country’s greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln is known for his impressive accomplishments, including preserving the union during the Civil War and signing The Emancipation P
Perhaps nobody transformed American politics in the first half of the 1800s more than Andrew Jackson. He spoke on behalf of common people, settlers, and farmers instead of earlier presidents who represented the East Coast establishment. Jack
No institution went untouched by Peter the Great. In the early 1700s he took the Russian Empire — considered by Europeans to be a backward Asiatic monster stuck in the Middle Ages — and forced it into the modern era. He accomplished despite
“Do not scorn a weak cub; he may become a brutal tiger.” — Mongolian proverb.Genghis Khan is the greatest conqueror in history. His descendants triggered 40 million deaths. His conquest covered 22 percent of the earth.But his origins are
William of Normandy, also known as William the Conqueror, had to overcome challenges not faced by most royalty. We know this because his other moniker was William the Bastard. He was born in 1028 to Robert I, the sixth Duke of Normandy. His
We are launching a new series, looking at leaders in history who overcame significant adversity. History has demonstrated time and again that effective leaders emerge in times of great stress, change and uncertainty. The first person in this s
In a remote forest clearing in Burgundy, France, a 13th-century castle is slowly being constructed using only the tools, techniques, and materials that would have been available to the builders of the day. It’s archaeology in reverse.What s
Marco Polo is the most famous European explorer to the Far East, but he definitely wasn’t the first. His father and uncle came there years before. And they found a small colony of Europeans who lived permanently in China.Perhaps the most fa
Damascus swords, which were generally made in the Middle East anywhere from 540 A.D. to 1800 A.D., were sharper, more flexible and harder/stronger than other contemporary blades. According to legend, the blades can cut a piece of silk in half
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