Dave Does History

In this episode of Dave Does History, we uncover the dark, forgotten side of Sir Isaac Newton, the man who defined the laws of motion and gravity but also brought those same laws crashing down on London’s criminal underworld.

When England’s economy teetered on collapse in the 1690s, the Crown turned to Newton, not as a scientist, but as a weapon. As Warden of the Royal Mint, he traded telescopes for testimony, equations for evidence, and used his brilliance to hunt counterfeiters in a city drowning in fraud.

His greatest adversary was William Chaloner, a master criminal bold enough to challenge Newton himself. What followed was a battle of intellect and will that ended at the gallows.

This is the story of Isaac Newton’s war on crime, where the man who measured the heavens proved equally capable of measuring guilt—and enforcing justice.

It was Halloween night, 1837. The Mississippi River was swollen and dark, a restless current running beneath a starless sky. Near Profit Island Bend, north of Baton Rouge, two steamboats met in the black water and changed history. One carried cargo. The other carried over seven hundred Creek men, women, and children forced from their homeland under government contract.

When the Monmouth collided with another vessel, the wooden hull split wide, and within minutes the river swallowed more than three hundred lives. It was the deadliest steamboat disaster on the Mississippi before the Civil War, and one of the most forgotten.

In this episode of Dave Does History, we revisit that tragic night and the world that allowed it to happen. This is not just a story about a wreck. It is a story about removal, greed, and the moment when progress demanded a terrible price.

John Adams was not a marble statue. He was a man of nerves, pride, and passion who helped build a new nation while wrestling with his own humanity. As the second president of the United States and one of the sharpest minds of the Revolution, Adams fought for independence, defended the rule of law, and gave the young Republic its conscience.

In this episode of Dave Does History, we explore the life of a founder who refused to bend to popularity. From his fiery debates in Congress to his complicated friendship with Jefferson, from his partnership with Abigail to his struggle to govern in a divided nation, Adams lived by conviction, not convenience. He left office unloved but undiminished, a man who believed that principle was the soul of freedom. Two centuries later, his stubborn integrity still speaks to the heart of the American experiment.

For thousands of years, the cat has walked beside us, never behind us. It has been worshipped as a god, cursed as a demon, and loved as a companion. From the temples of ancient Egypt to the cobblestone streets of medieval Europe, and now to the quiet hum of our living rooms, cats have shaped human history in ways we are only beginning to understand.

In this episode of Dave Does History, we explore the curious and enduring bond between people and their feline counterparts. We will travel through time to uncover how this creature went from divine protector to persecuted outcast to cherished pet. Along the way, we will see how science now confirms what cat lovers have always known, that these mysterious animals not only soothe our hearts but sharpen our minds. The story of the cat is, in many ways, the story of ourselves.

Today we tell the story of Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens—a name you won’t find carved on the National Mall, but one that should be there all the same. Laurens was born rich in Charleston, fought poor with Washington, and dreamed big enough to try freeing the enslaved in the middle of a slaveholding revolution. He was fearless to the point of foolishness, brilliant to the point of isolation, and loved his friends with a devotion that still stirs debate. He fought for liberty not just for himself, but for everyone, and he died before he could see what little of it the world would allow. This is the story of John Laurens, the soldier who tried to make freedom mean what it said.

The life and legacy of Theodore Roosevelt

Today, we head to the cold, churning waters off Korea in October 1597, where one man and thirteen battered ships faced the impossible. Admiral Yi Sun-sin, disgraced, beaten, and nearly forgotten by his own government, stood against a Japanese invasion force more than twenty times his size. The Battle of Myeongnyang was not supposed to be a victory. It was supposed to be the end. Instead, it became one of the most astonishing triumphs in naval history, a masterclass in courage, discipline, and tactical genius. We’ll look at the man behind the legend, the sea that became his ally, and the battle that saved a nation. This is The Miracle at Myeongnyang: Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s Last Stand.

Welcome to Dave Does History, where the past isn’t distant, it’s alive and muddy. Today we’re going back to October 25, 1415, Saint Crispin’s Day, to a field in northern France that would become one of the most improbable victories in military history. The Battle of Agincourt was more than a clash of swords and arrows. It was a collision of arrogance and endurance, of knights in shining armor sinking into the mud while English longbowmen carved their names into legend.

King Henry V led a starving, sick, and outnumbered army against a force that should have crushed him. What happened next would shatter French pride and reshape warfare for generations. It is a story of faith, fatigue, and the cold, relentless rain that leveled the field between kings and commoners. This is Agincourt, the triumph in the mud, where history bent its knee to the bowstring.

Tonight, we turn to one of the darkest nights in Los Angeles history, October 24, 1871. On that night, a mob of hundreds stormed through Chinatown and lynched at least eighteen Chinese immigrants. The victims were doctors, shopkeepers, and laborers, dragged from their homes and executed in the streets.

This was not a random act of violence. It was the result of years of rising hatred, fear, and resentment aimed at a community that helped build the city itself. The massacre shocked the nation but led to few consequences for those responsible.

In this episode, we’ll uncover what led to that night, what happened in its aftermath, and how the event has been remembered, forgotten, and rediscovered in the long story of America’s struggle with race and justice.

Today we turn back to 42 BCE, to the plains of Macedonia, where the fate of Rome was decided. The Battle of Philippi was not just another clash of legions. It was the final act in the long death of the Roman Republic. On one side stood Brutus and Cassius, men who believed they had saved freedom by killing a tyrant. On the other were Mark Antony and Octavian, men who believed they were avenging Caesar. Their struggle was more than a fight for power. It was a fight over the very idea of Rome itself.

What happened there would shape the next five hundred years of Roman history and leave lessons that still haunt every republic that forgets its purpose.