At the outset of World War II, the United States faced a shortage of pilots. As a result, a plan was launched to help ease the situation. This was the creation of a unit of women to fly non-combat duties - such as delivering airplanes to bases. More than 1,000 female pilots would go on to deliver over half of newly made military aircraft during the war to bases all over the nation. This is the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots - better known as the WASPs.

Sources

https://www.afhistory.af.mil/FAQs/Fact-Sheets/Article/458964/womens-airforce-service-pilots-wasp/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_Airforce_Service_Pilots

https://www.npr.org/2010/03/09/123773525/female-wwii-pilots-the-original-fly-girls

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/wasp-women-airforce-service-pilots

Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_L._Remba_Gardner,_Women%27s_Airforce_Service_Pilots,_NARA-542191.jpg

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How do you fight a disease with no known cure - and spreads by just drinking water? This disease is no fantasy but rather Dracunculiasis, or Guinea Worm Disease. While not necessarily fatal, it is extremely painful, and can leave the infected crippled for the rest of their life. But this being a parasite means there are no vaccines or antibiotics to fight it. In 1985, the disease infected more than 3.5 million individuals, and the global community decided it was time to eliminate the disease. And by 2024, there were just 15 cases. This is the story of the eradication of Dracunculiasis.

Sources

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02306-8

https://www.cartercenter.org/programs/guinea-worm/

https://www.who.int/activities/eradicating-dracunculiasis

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guinea_Worms_in_Carter_Museum.jpg

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In the early 1970s, in a small town in Southeastern Wisconsin, two young gaming enthusiasts, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, would concoct an idea for a new game. Little did they know they would create something that would revolutionize the industry - and to this day - remains the biggest role-playing game in the world. This is the story of the origins of Dungeons & Dragons.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gygax

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Arneson

https://medium.com/@louis-fiori/dungeons-dragons-the-history-impact-and-legacy-of-a-cultural-phenomenon-b6a6b8c9e3af

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From 1921-1926, in the dry craggy mountains of northern Morocco, a brutal conflict would unfold. Claiming tens of thousands of lives, it would see guerrilla warfare, massacres, poison gas attacks, and amphibious landings of tanks. And the amazing thing is that this conflict has been all but forgotten in the English-speaking world. This is the story of the Rif War.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/event/Rif-War

https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/the-rif-war-a-forgotten-war-923

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camion_transform%C3%A9_en_auto-mitrailleuse_par_les_guerriers_d%27Abd-el-Krim,_dans_le_Rif_oriental_-_btv1b53213097z.jpg

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On Nov 10, 1975, a storm swept over Lake Superior. For hours and hours, the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald was tossed and battered. Then, a little after 7:00 pm, contact was lost with one of the biggest and most celebrated vessels to ever sail the Great Lakes. This is the story of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

https://shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald/

Gordon Lightfoot's 'Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzTkGyxkYI

Image: Credit: Greenmars - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edmund_Fitzgerald,_1971,_3_of_4_(restored;_cropped).jpg

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During WWII, America was seeking a way to avoid the German submarine fleet that prowled the waters of the Atlantic. Businessman Henry Kaiser would team up with aviation pioneer and film director Howard Hughes to find a way to bypass to this problem. That solution was the largest plane ever constructed. And the amazing thing is that they were going to construct it out of wood. This is the story of the Spruce Goose.

Sources

https://www.evergreenmuseum.org/exhibit/the-spruce-goose/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H-4_Hercules_2.jpg

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On May 24, 1941, the German battleship Bismarck faced off against the pride of the British Navy - the HMS Hood. The Hood lasted eight minutes - sending the British admiralty into a frenzy. If the new, powerful Bismarck could get into the shipping lanes in the North Atlantic - Great Britain could be choked off of critical supplies from Canada and the United States. And so word was sent from the highest sources, Sink the Bismarck.

Sources

https://www.kbismarck.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Bismarck

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_193-04-1-26,_Schlachtschiff_Bismarck.jpg

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We all love a good silly pun name. There are the classics, such as Harry Pitts, or Seymour Butts. But one of the best was also a real person - Ima Hogg. Born in the late 1800’s to the governor of Texas, she would - either despite or because of her interesting name - lead a remarkable life. She became a patron of the arts, contributor to historic preservation, and an early proponent of mental health research and care. This is the story of Ima Hogg.

Sources

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hogg-ima

https://www.humanitiestexas.org/programs/tx-originals/list/ima-hogg

https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/hall-of-fame/ima-hogg/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ImaHogg.jpg

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On Aug. 24, 1970, a bomb went off outside of Sterling Hall, the home of the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The destruction damaged 26 buildings, killed one man, and injured several others. It was, until 1995, the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in United States History. This is the story of the Sterling Hall Bombing.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Hall_bombing

https://mediamilwaukee.com/special-projects/sterling-hall-bombing/

https://onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/the-blast-that-changed-everything/

Images

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sterling_Hall_bombing_after_explosion_1.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sterling_Hall_Bombers.jpg

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Born in 1892, Rafael Hernández Marín rose from humble origins to one of the greatest musicians in history. He started playing professionally at the age of 14, served in a military band in WWI, and ended up touring the world. His style took influences from African American music, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, and others. He wrote over 3,000 songs, and is one of the greatest Latin American artists of all time. This is the story of Rafael Hernández Marín.

Sources

https://en.enciclopediapr.org/content/rafael-hernandez-marin/

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/rafael-hernandez

"Preciosa" by Marc Anthony - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbbB1BFL-qg&list=RDRbbB1BFL-qg

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