Stuff You Missed In History Class

The Swing Riots took place in eastern and southern England in the years between the Luddite uprising and the Rebecca Riots. One of the hallmarks of the riots was the destruction of threshing machines – but that’s just part of the story. Research: Caprettini, Bruno and Hans-Joachim Voth. “Rage Against the Machines: Labor-saving Technology and Unrest in England, 1830-32.” American Economic Review: Insights. Vol. 2, no. 3, September 2020. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aeri.20190385 Carl J. Griffin, “Luddism, Machine-Breaking and the Swing Riots”, Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique [Online], XXX-1 | 2025, Online since 13 January 2025, connection on 14 April 2026. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/12984 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/133dc Chiltern Open Air Museum. “What were the Swing Riots?” https://www.coam.org.uk/blogs/swing-riots Cobbett, William. “Selections from Cobbett's political works : being a complete abridgmen

This 2018 episode covers the Battle of Amiens, near the end of World War I. It was the start of what came to be known as the 100 Days Offensive, which was the Allies’ final push to win the war. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly talk about experiences in intensely hot weather. Holly shares how moved she was by Samuel Plimsoll’s obituaries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Samuel Plimsoll was an advocate for better working conditions for sailors, and for a lot of other things. A lot of contemporary accounts refer to him as an agitator. Research: Bibby, Miriam. “Samuel Plimsoll and the Plimsoll Line.” Historic UK. June 14, 2024. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Samuel-Plimsoll-Line/ Britannica Editors. "Samuel Plimsoll". Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 May. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Plimsoll “Death of Mr. Samuel Plimsoll.” The Lichfield Mercury. June 4, 1898. https://www.newspapers.com/image/797510210/?match=1&terms=%22samuel%20plimsoll%22 “Friends of Humanity.” Democrat and Chronicle. Apr 27, 1913. https://www.newspapers.com/image/135735684/?match=1&terms=%22samuel%20plimsoll%22 Glover, William. “Samuel Plimsoll and the 1880 Carriage of Grain Legislation.” The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord, XXX, No. 4 (Winter 2020), 419-448. https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vo

Heat waves don’t get as much attention as blizzards, floods, and hurricanes, but extreme heat is one of the deadliest weather events on average. Research: National Weather Service. “Weather Related Fatality and Injury Statistics.” https://www.weather.gov/hazstat Last, John. “This Summer’s Drought Is Europe’s Worst in 500 Years. What Happened Last Time?” Smithsonian Magazine. 9/8/2022. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-summers-drought-is-europes-worst-in-500-years-what-happened-last-time-180980711/ Wetter, Oliver; Seneviratne, Sonia I. et al. “The year-long unprecedented European heat and drought of 1540 - a worst case.” Climatic Change 125(3-4), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1184-2 Orth, Rene et al. “Did European temperatures in 1540 exceed present-day records?” Environmental Research Letters. 11 (2016) 114021 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/11/114021. United Nations Environment Programme. “Impacts of summer 2003 heat wave in Eur

This 2018 episode covers Libertalia, which, in truth, may be completely fictional. It's called a pirate settlement, though the man who spearheaded it claimed he wasn't actually a pirate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy shares the topics she considered for the recording in the Bahamas but decided against. Holly talks about her admiration for Thomas Huxley.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Huxley is an example of having a good attitude about publicly acknowledging errors and learning from them. He earned the nickname “Darwin’s bulldog” for his very vocal support of Darwin’s work, and he wanted to promote science and education, particularly to people that didn’t normally have access to those things.  Research: Bernoulli, D., Jenkyns, H.C. “Thomas Henry Huxley, a stone tablet, coccoliths, and deep-sea sediments in the high Alps.” Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 112, 1661–1669 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-023-02330-5 Bowen, Keith. “Thomas Henry Huxley.” Ebsco. 2024. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/thomas-henry-huxley Burkhardt, Richard W.. "Jean-Baptiste Lamarck". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Dec. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Baptiste-Lamarck Darwin, Charles. “On the Origin of Species.” JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. London. 1859. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1

For part of its history, Nassau was a notorious hotbed of pirate activity. And it was home to a maritime criminal network known as the Flying Gang. Research: "Bahamas, the." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™, The Columbia UP, 2025. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A69385873/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=7f7affa4. Accessed 8 July 2026. Ahrens, Wolfgang P. “Naming the Bahamas Islands: History and Folk Etymology.” Names and Their Environment. Proceedings of the 25th International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Glasgow, 25-29. August 2014. Vol. 1. Keynote Lectures. Toponomastics I. Carole Hough and Daria Izdebska (eds).  First published 2016 by University of Glasgow under Creative Commons license. https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_576595_smxx.pdf Butler, Lindley S. “North Carolina 1718: The Year of the Pirates.” The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 95, No. 2 (APRIL 2018). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45184933 Car

This 2023 episode covers scarlet fever, which is treatable with antibiotics. But in the middle of the 19th century, it was the leading cause of death in children in parts of the world, and today, there are several ongoing mysteries about the disease.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy shares her irritation with word use in a recent government report. There is also discussion of strangers visiting manor houses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The wrap up of things unearthed in the second quarter of 2026 includes the potpourri category, lots of books and letters, shipwrecks, and neanderthals.  Research: Addley, Esther. “Solstice-aligned 5,000-year-old monument ‘once in a lifetime find’, say archaeologists.” The Guardian. 6/17/2026. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/18/solstice-aligned-monument-archaeology-wiltshire-stonehenge-prototype Anderson, Sonja. “These 600-Year-Old Chinese Surgical Instruments Are Coated in an Early Local Anesthetic—Carefully Extracted From a Poisonous Plant.” Smithsonian. 5/29/2026. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-600-year-old-chinese-surgical-instruments-are-coated-in-an-early-local-anestheticcarefully-extracted-from-a-poisonous-plant-180988865/ Archaeology Magazine. “Copper Part From Illicit 19th Century Still Discovered in Scotland.” 5/12/2026. https://archaeology.org/news/2026/05/12/copper-part-from-illicit-19th-century-still-discover

Part one of the mid-year coverage of things literally and figuratively unearthed in the last quarter includes updates, more updates, animals, edibles and potables, and accidental finds. Research: Addley, Esther. “Solstice-aligned 5,000-year-old monument ‘once in a lifetime find’, say archaeologists.” The Guardian. 6/17/2026. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/18/solstice-aligned-monument-archaeology-wiltshire-stonehenge-prototype Anderson, Sonja. “These 600-Year-Old Chinese Surgical Instruments Are Coated in an Early Local Anesthetic—Carefully Extracted From a Poisonous Plant.” Smithsonian. 5/29/2026. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-600-year-old-chinese-surgical-instruments-are-coated-in-an-early-local-anestheticcarefully-extracted-from-a-poisonous-plant-180988865/ Archaeology Magazine. “Copper Part From Illicit 19th Century Still Discovered in Scotland.” 5/12/2026. https://archaeology.org/news/2026/05/12/copper-part-from-illicit

This 2023 episode covers how humans have worked on ways to make garments water resistant almost since they started to wear them. But figuring out how to manufacture a raincoat using rubber was a big breakthrough that took centuries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy discuss how frustrating Charles Goodyear could be. Then Holly talks a lot about shoes and how much she loves them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The evolution from leather-soled shoes of the 19th century to the sneakers people wear today started slowly, then built momentum. Many of the big names in sneakers today got their start surprisingly early in the process. Research:   “A Column for the Girls.” Brooklyn Eagle. July 28, 1895. https://www.newspapers.com/image/50411759/?match=1&terms=%22sand%20shoes%22 Barrett, Jennifer. “The History of Adidas and Puma.” Newsweek. March 13, 2008. https://www.newsweek.com/history-adidas-and-puma-86373 Bisno, Adam. “The search for lost X-patents.” USPTO. July 13, 2022. https://www.uspto.gov/blog/the-search-for-lost-x “Brand Story.” Dunlop. https://www.dunlopboots.com/why-dunlop/brand-story Carpenter, Julia. “Adidas vs. Puma: The Family Rift That Shaped the Sportswear Industry.” History. May 6, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/adidas-puma-rivalry-dassler “Chuck Taylor Converse All Star: The Man Who Made the Shoe.” Indiana Hist

Charles Goodyear's work is important to so many things we have in the 21st century. But his life and his work to create a stable rubber was full of problems -- many of them caused by Goodyear himself. Research: Britannica Editors. "Charles Goodyear". Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Dec. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Goodyear “Charles Goodyear.” Who Made America? PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/goodyear_hi.html “Charles Goodyear - Vulcanization of Rubber.” National Inventors Hall of Fame. https://www.invent.org/inductees/charles-goodyear “Charles Goodyear - Vulcanized Rubber.” Lemelson-MIT. https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/charles-goodyear “Charles Goodyear and the Vulcanization of Rubber.” ConnecticutHistory.org. https://connecticuthistory.org/charles-goodyear-and-the-vulcanization-of-rubber/ “Charles Goodyear’s Machine for Making Rubber Fabrics.” ConnecticutHistory.org. https://connecticuthistory.

This 2022 episode covers the development of penicillin, which started – but definitely did not end – with the chance discovery of some mold in a petri dish.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy shares stories of her time in London. There is also a discussion of Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin’s marriage.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After earning her first-class degree in chemistry from Oxford, Dorothy embarked on an impressive career in the new field of X-ray crystallography. She would ultimately earn many, many accolades for her work. Research: "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 1998. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, Biophysical Society. “Profiles in Biophysics: Dorothy Hodgkin.” 2016. https://www.biophysics.org/profiles/dorothy-hodgkin Boon, Rachel. “Curator Rachel Boon celebrates the work of Dorothy Hodgkin.” Science Museum. 12/10/2014. https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/celebrating-dorothy-hodgkin-britains-first-female-winner-of-a-nobel-science-prize/ Bragg, Sir William. “Concerning The Nature Of Things.” London. Bell & Sons. 1932. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.222386/ Bud, Robert. "Discoverers and developers of penicillin (act. 1928–1950)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. May 21, 2009. Oxford University Press. Date of