Stuff You Missed in History Class
Didn’t pay attention in history class? HowStuffWorks has you covered.
When we’re talking about historical battles, too often one important part of these battles is left unmentioned. Who is this unsung hero? We’ll let Richard III speak for us (via Shakespeare): “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!” On Monday’s podcast, we highlighted some of history’s greatest battle horses.
Wednesday’s podcast answered the question, “Who was Black Moses?” No, not Harriet Tubman — Marcus Garvey.
To kick off Black History Month, I asked some of my fellow writers and editors for suggestions about black men and women in history who’ve never gotten enough recognition. Candace’s suggestion was Mary Seacole.
I’m sure you know who Florence Nightingale is, but there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Mary Seacole. Seacole, Nightingale’s just-as-famous contemporary, was forgotten.
Black History Month on HowStuffWorks
by Katie Lambert | February 2, 2010
When Sarah and I realized Black History Month had arrived, we got excited about the potential biographies to be celebrated and historical events to honor. But we’re also aware that there are a lot of people who aren’t fond of Black History Month.
One point of view is valid — that black history should be a seamless part of the whole. I hope that one day it is. But I know that I, for one, didn’t learn much black history in history class, so we’re going to be celebrating it in the podcasts and blog over the next month.
You know, the history podcast hasn’t afforded us nearly enough opportunities to talk about camels. Or long-haired rats. Thankfully for us, if not for Burke and Wills, the Victorian Exploring Expedition let us rectify the situation on Monday’s podcast.
On Wednesday’s podcast, we tackled Toussaint L’ouverture’s role in the Haitian Revolution, a years-long battle that had its roots in the French Revolution and erupted in St. Domingue in blood and fire.
Justice and the Killing Fields
by Katie Lambert | January 26, 2010
Looking over this year’s selection at Sundance, I came across “Enemies of the People” in the world documentary category. The co-director of the film, Thet Sambath, is a journalist and survivor of the Khmer Rouge. And what makes this documentary so worthy of note is that he forged a relationship with the infamous Nuon Chea, also known as Brother Number Two, second only to Pol Pot in the regime’s hierarchy.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were defined by the story of their love, of a king abdicating his throne for a commoner. But there’s a lesser-known aspect of their relationship: their ties to the Third Reich. Edward VIII could have been the Nazi king.
Wednesday’s podcast brought us a different sort of kingly tale: the matchup between King Porus and Alexander the Great at the Battle of the Hydaspes.
Yesterday, the man who shot Pope John Paul II was freed from prison.
In 1981, Mehmet Ali Agca opened fire on the pope in St. Peter’s Square. The pope almost died from blood loss. Agca was captured at the scene.
The rest of the story is fogged by conspiracy-style details and fuzzy truths. At different points, Agca implicated the KGB and Bulgarian secret service. To add another layer, Agca was tied to the Grey Wolves, an ultranationalist Turkish organization. And on top of that, we have the story of Our Lady of Fatima.
Wish you could hear more from Katie and Sarah than our twice-weekly podcast allows? Now you can — we’ve joined Twitter! Follow us and get a peek at what we’re reading and researching. For example, the Duchess of Windsor’s pork cake recipe and the perfect musical accompaniment to the Battle of the Hydaspes.
Take one rich heiress and mix with one vaguely Marxist, militant organization and you get one heck of a story: the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, which we discussed this week in the podcast
Hearst was a socialite kidnap victim, but before long, she was renouncing her family as pigs and joining the SLA in armed robbery before spending some time in prison.
We also talked about King Edward VIII abdicating his throne for an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. Is the tale of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor a love story, or something more tragic?
We at Stuff You Missed in History Class try to be objective, but I find that very difficult when it comes to Pat Robertson. Recently, Robertson implied that the earthquake in Haiti was the people’s own fault for making a pact with Satan.
According to UCLA history and anthropology professor Andrew Apter, who spoke to Salon, this idea of a satanic pact comes from a misunderstanding of the voodoo ritual that’s the legendary start of the Haitian Revolution: a sacrifice of a pig to voodoo spirits.
Even without the voodoo and the devil, trust me, The Haitian Revolution is fascinating. It’s the only slave revolt that was ever truly successful.
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Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Last Week in History Podcasts: Battle Horses and Black Moses
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- Black History Month on HowStuffWorks
