Upon listening to a podcast about Mary Anning, the famous fossil collector, I heard a familliar name: William Buckland. I spoke about Buckland during my episode entitled: That Time The French King was Cannibalized. The story, probably untrue, is that Buckland was handed the mumified heart (or part of it) of King Louis XIV from France. Buckland, bei…

Geneaology: where you confuse the dead and irritate the living – Unknown There are some family history stories that you just know you should take with a grain of salt. Like the one about how your ancestor was bffs forevah with George Washington. Or the one where you are omg we totes swear a descendant of a queen. Or at least an Indian princess. For…

Depending on who you ask, Thomas Jefferson is either much loved, or the founding father you love to hate. Not only did he write the Declaration of Independence, but he also presided over the Louisana Purchase and pushed for the Lewis and Clark expedition. On the other hand, he sat out most of the revolution as an ambassador to France, wrung his han…

May Pierstorff, a little girl made famous for being mailed to her grandparents. Back when it would have been an adventure, not a police report. 100 years ago was a simpler time. A time when you could pin postage on your four year old’s coat and send them on a mail train to Grandma. Back then people would laugh about it and go “Oh, You!” Now trying …

Aluminum Christmas Trees were a big industry before this show came along. In 1964, one of the hottest selling items around Thanksgiving was the aluminum Christmas tree. The Aluminum Specialty Company manufactured an estimated 150,000 trees that year. Then in 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired. By 1970 the Aluminum Specialty Company had shut down…

Susan B. Antony and Nine Friends managed to vote for Ulysses S. Grant. For her trouble, Anthony was arrested, sent to court and fined. She swore she would never pay the fine, and she didn’t. Today’s podcast is about all the people who drew a line, so that tomorrow we can stand in one to vote.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

It’s the season of ghosts, ghouls and goblins. So let’s tell a story. This is the story of Julie, or possibly Julia Brown, or possibly Black, or maybe even White. A Voodoo practitioner said to have taken a whole town with her when she died. Or maybe that was just coincidence. You know how these stories go.…

No matter how he looks, we know Columbus as the guy in that hat. Rightly or wrongly (and these days, everyone considers it wrongly) Columbus is known as “The Man Who Discovered America.” For many of us, that is how history is taught: Columbus set out to prove that the Earth wasn’t flat, landed in the Caribbean and said “whoooo hoooo! New world!” Th…

A well-worn Hollywood plot is one where the President’s daughter is kidnapped, so a hero has to rescue her. In real life, this never would have happened to Alice Roosevelt. Not just because her father, Teddy Roosevelt was a badass who could have rescued her himself. But also because the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, and Alice could rescue he…

The library of Alexandria may have contained between 40,000 and 400,000 scrolls in it’s heyday. On September 2, a fire destroyed the National Museum of Brazil, taking with it 90 percent of the museum’s collection. This included recordings of dead languages and zoological and botanical specimens. When we think about large, destructive loss of accumu…

Missouri’s distinctive “Boot heel.” When Thomas Jefferson envisioned westward expansion, he wanted the new states to be neat and orderly, unlike the 13 colonies. Jefferson wanted each state boundary to lay along latitude and longitude markers. As anyone who has ever seen a map of the United States knows, that’s not what happened. So why do the 50 U…

One of the two man-eating Tsavo lions. Scientists believe that a combination of encroachment and disease drove the lions to attack humans. The attacks came in the night. Monsters came into the very tents, undaunted by campfire and torchlight. The monsters dragged fully grown men from their beds, taking them away in the night to satisfy their bloodl…

The archaeopterx is considered the link between dinosaurs and modern birds. A Chickenosarus might resemble one of these extinct creatures. After working as a consultant on Jurassic Park, a paleontologist wants to bring back the dinosaurs. Clearly, he didn’t pay enough attention to the movie.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

Inspired by the holiday, and by my Arkansas Razorbacks Baseball Team going to the college world series (where, despite my wishes in the podcast, they did not win) I focused on the history of Baseball for this episode. Or what we think we know. Because once again, while I am not making this up, someone else did.…

For something that could be considered the poster child for processed food, hot dogs have a very organic origin.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

There is a story (definitely not true) that Martha Washington invented ice cream. Regardless of the story’s truth or fiction, George Washington loved ice cream. So much that he and Martha served it to guests both at Mt. Vernon, and when they were at the president’s home in New York City. While these days ice cream is a ubiquitous summer treat, in t…

Marie Antoinette built La Hameau De La Reine, a rustic village situated on the grounds of Versailles. You would think that Comicon attendees invented cosplay, but Queen Marie Antoinette would tell you au contraire. When she was Queen of France, rocked the milkmaid look while visiting her personal village on the grounds of Versailles.…

The French monarch’s regalia for the Order of the Golden Fleece was one of the stolen items. When something is easy, we say that it’s like taking candy from a baby. Maybe we should say that it’s like stealing the French Crown Jewels. Because stealing the French Crown Jewels was just that easy. Allegedly. I wouldn’t know personally.…

Ella Watson, a woman who was never known as Cattle Kate until the men behind her murder dubbed her so. One of the most infamous outlaws of the Old West may not have existed, but may have been invented by real murderers to cover up the lynching of an innocent rancher and her husband. This is the story of who Cattle Kate was, and who she was not.…

The other half of the battle appears to be lasers. Ever hear of the cobra effect? Sadly, it’s not an episode of GI Joe. But if you listen to this episode, you’ll know what it is. And knowing is half the battle.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

Clyde Beatty in his iconic outfit. Beatty’s image on circus posters guaranteed huge box office sales. When you think of a lion tamer, you probably imagine a guy in a safari outfit, pith helmet and wielding a chair and whip. That’s because the most famous lion tamer ever, Clyde Beatty, dressed in safari gear, and wielded a chair. Beatty was so famou…

The Banker Ponies of South Carolina may be descended from marooned spanish horses. If you visit the Outer Banks of South Carolina, you may see the descendants of some of the first immigrants to our country, still living in the area where their ancestors first settled. These descendants are still living as their ancestors lived hundreds of years ago…

The Winchester house as it appears today. The large shrub on the left hides a space where a chimney was not replaced. The Brown Family, who purchased the home, changed the exterior colors. Under Mrs. Winchester, the colors were hunter green, deep purple and gray. We all think we know the story of Sarah Winchester. Folklore states that the heiress o…

Patriots owner Robert Kraft If Russian hackers crash this podcast and website, you’ll know that this episode is why. Yesterday, the New England Patriots met the Philadelphia Eagles in the Superbowl for the first time in 13 years. The last time the two met, the Patriots narrowly squeaked out a win for their third consecutive Superbowl victory. Short…

Napoleon is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders of all time, up there with Alexander the Great. But one of his most humiliating defeats actually came from a pack of domesticated rabbits.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

Imagine you’re an American farmer 170 years ago. Depending on where you live, you may go to a big city once a year, when it’s time to sell off your surplus livestock. A daguerreotype of a daguerreotypist showing off his daguerreotypes. Didn’t this happen in Inception? And, after you’ve done that, you might go have one of those fancy daguerreotype l…

You probably already know that no two snowflakes are alike. Every school child knows that. But before 1931, no one knew that. The man who changed our perspective on snowflakes was Wilson “snowflake” Bentley. Photography revealed that the crystaline structure is unique to each snowflake. Bently pioneered the scientific study of snowflakes. He invent…

Queenly cookies? Maybe! Gingerbread men are practically synonymous with Christmas. But, at the risk of sounding click-bait-y, you won’t believe the surprising origins of this cookie. Spoiler it’s Queen Elizabeth. Maybe. Martha Stewart has the gingerbread house recipe that I use each year. Emily Dickenson was a fan of Gingerbread loaves. My husband’…

When we gather around the table this Thanksgiving, we’ll probably have turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Turkey wrapped in bacon. Because? ‘Murica, I guess. Turkey is such an iconic part of Thanksgiving that there is even a giant turkey float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade. But the first Thanksgiving may not have even ha…

This Thanksgiving, remember that long before the founding of the United States, some of the first colonists didn’t have much to be thankful for. Including food. They called that season the starving time.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

Author Edgar Allan Poe is known for some of the best horror fiction around. He’s also a bit of a sad sack for whom things never seemed to go right. In the days leading up to his death, he vanished. He was found in clothes that didn’t belong to him, unconscious. Though he did wake, no one could make sense of his ravings before he died. Join author M…

Author Melanie Miller Fletcher is my special guest for this episode. Join us as we discuss the birth of Science Fiction and the modern vampire (A.K.A. the Byronpire). In 1814, Mount Tambora erupted, sending volcanic ash into the atmosphere and causing an unseasonably cold summer in 1815. During this summer, called “The Year Without Summer,” poet Pe…

Though The Robert Browning poem The Laboratory is a fictional poem, it may be based on a true event. A scandal that swept 17th century France, leading all the way to the Sun King’s inner circle, and right to the doors of his official mistress.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

There is a story of a girl who is locked away in a tower and forbidden to see her one true love. But this is no story about a signing princess with a talking animal friend. And the king in this story is the bad guy.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

This hearse conducted Lincolon’s body from his train to scheduled public viewings. When you’re a high-profile figure, your life isn’t really your own. This can even be true of elected officials. Particularly martyred elected officials. Such was the case with Abraham Lincoln, who was sent on a farewell tour after his death that would have been worth…

Howard Carter examines King Tut’s sarcophagus. When he was born, about 1342 BC, Tutankhaten’s life wasn’t his own. That’s what happens when you’re a public figure. Ask the Queen of England, or any of her relations who show up in the tabloids from time to time. But the boy who would become known to us as Tutankhamun would be especially noteworthy be…

The Fox Sisters. Margaret on the left, Kate at center and Leah on the right. Imagine if you were 11 years old, and your April fool’s prank got out of hand. So out of hand that it spawned a major religion? This actually happened to Kate Fox. She, along with her two sisters, Maggie and Leah ended up helping to found the Spiritualism movement after a …

One of the few photos of Johnson that can be authenticated. Robert Johnson is known as the king of Blues and the granddaddy of Rock and Roll, influencing some of the biggest names in music from Bob Dylan to Eric Clapton. Johnson’s life is shrouded in myth, and fans have filled in the gaps with even more myth. Legends say that he sold his soul at a …

*Note: Not With Actual Congress Go anywhere in the world, and ask people what they think of Americans, and the word “cowboy” is likely to pop up. How is it that a brief 50 year period involving the least populated part of the United States has come to define the country as a whole? You can thank – or blame depending on your viewpoint, a man named B…

The water that firefighters used to put out the fire, combined with freezing temperatures turned the museum into a life-sized gingerbread house. Recently it was announced to the world that in May of 2017, the Ringling brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus would be rolling up it’s tents for the last time. And while the circus is synonymous with P.T. Bar…

For 100 of these, you can wrestle for her hand in matrimony. If I asked you to name a badass warrior princess, you might mention Xena or Wonder Woman. But one real life woman left them all behind. Her name was Khutulun, and she was the great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

In 1857, if a New Yorker wanted to get away from the city, he or she would go to a cemetery. That all changed with the establishment of Manhattan’s Central Park, and it’s architect and superintendent, Frederick Law Olmsted.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

A comparison: Franziska Schanzkowska on the left, and the actual Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia on the right. It was a cold February night in Berlin, 1920, when Franziska Shanzkowska jumped into the Landwher Canal. We know why she jumped: she’d lost her fiancee during the war. She’d also suffered from an accident in the munitions plant where she…

Agatha Christie is the bestselling author of all time. Her works outsell Shakespeare, J. K. Rowling, and Stephen King. Even if you’ve never read her work, you’ve probably heard of Murder on the Orient Express, or And Then There Were None. But a greater mystery sits at the heard of Christie’s life. In 1926, after an argument with her husband, Christ…

Out of all the fairy tales known worldwide, Beauty and the Beast, or “La Belle et la bete” as it is known in French, may be one of the most popular. The themes of the fairy tale are even recycled in such popular and well-known works as The Phantom of the Opera and Twilight. Versions of this story appear around the world, and may date back 4,000 yea…

All Carlos Hurd wanted was to take a vacation. But when he boarded the Carpathia for Italy with his wife, Katherine, the reporter and his wife were put on the path to the most Titanic scoop in Carlos’s life.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

This guy is one pointy hat away from being the Travelocity Garden Gnome In the 18th century, the English took conspicuous consumption to a whole new level when they hired actual old men to live in their gardens as ornamental hermits.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

Like Peter Pan, only Real. Lots of kids talk about running away to join the circus or become pirates. But few actually do it. However in 1716, one boy did. His name as John King, and he was around ten years old.Oleh Tracy S. Morris

The one and only time all three acting Booth brothers appeared on stage together. Let’s talk a little about Edwin Booth. People don’t remember the other two Booth brothers. John Wilkes Booth casts a long shadow. And when they do, it’s because Edwin once rescued Robert Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s son, from being crushed by a train. There’s a certain …

I’m sure that’s exactly how it happened. Until you saw the musical Hamilton, You probably got the impression that the founding fathers all got along and always knew exactly what they were doing. That’s because people like to tell stories. Whenever a big event happens, usually before the dust even settles the media is casting events in terms of narr…