In this episode of History Fix, I discover how rats have impacted history. I'll go way back to uncover how the brown rat came to occupy every continent (except Antarctica) as well as how rats have impacted human health throughout history - their ties to the Bubonic plague and how they are used in medical and scientific testing today. Join me to learn more about rats than you ever thought you wanted to know! 

www.historyfixpodcast.com

Sources: 

• Smithsonian Institute "Year of the Rat"
• Washington Post "The researcher who loved rats and fueled our doomsday fears"
• USA Today "Fact Check: Yes Jack Black's mother worked on system that helped save Apollo 13 astronauts"
• Rocky Pest "The Origins and History of Rats" 
• Earth Guard Pest "Six Dangerous Diseases Spread by Rats and Rodents"
• BBC "Black Death spread by humans not rats"
• Live Science "Maybe rats didn't spread the Black Death after all, new evidence suggests"
• Haaretz "How Rats Took Over the World"
• Max-Planck-Gessellschaft "Spread of black rats was linked to human historical events"
• Laphram's Quarterly "Her Majesty's Rat-Catcher"
• University of Cambridge "Rats"
• NPR Throughline "Of Rats and Men"

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