John White stares at the sun bleached skull. Empty eye sockets stare back. This was surely one of Grenville’s men. But 15 stayed behind to hold Fort Raleigh. Where were the rest of them? “Governor White,” one of the men speaks up, “we should go.” White nods, but go where? He’s still rattled from the news he was given back at the ship, still trying to make sense of it. As they’d clamored into the boat to head to shore, the ship’s pilot, Simon Fernando, had leaned over the railing. “Leave the men on shore,” he had yelled down in his thick Portuguese accent, “you come back for the rest.” White hadn’t understood at first. They were only here to find Grenville’s men. They were meant to sail on to the Chesapeake Bay farther north, to settle in a more accessible spot, with friendlier native people. “Summer is far spent,” Fernando continued, “I will land all the planters in no other place.” They were stuck, it seemed, on Roanoke Island, stuck amidst hostile enemy territory. 

Sources: 

• The Head in Edward Nugent's Hand: Roanoke's Forgotten Indians
• Remarkable Women of the Outer Banks
• Coastal Land Trust "Coastal Land Trust Saves Site X"
• First Colony Foundation "Hidden Images Revealed on Elizabethan Map of America"
• Mental Floss "The Dare Stones"
• Smithsonian Magazine "The Mystery of Roanoke Endures Yet Another Cruel Twist"
• National Park Service "Fort Raleigh"
• First Colony Foundation "The Roanoke Colonies"

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In 1587, John White arrived on Roanoke Island, part of the Outer Banks of present day North Carolina. He was part of an expedition sent by Queen Elizabeth I of England to establish a permanent colony in the Americas. White was to be the governor of this new colony. But this wasn’t his first time on Roanoke Island. He had been part of an earlier expedition in 1585. An expedition that did not end well. And, spoiler alert, this new attempt would meet an even more disastrous end when as many as 116 men, women, and children disappeared entirely, going down in history as the mysterious “Lost Colony of Roanoke.” But did you know, there's a lot more to the story than what a handful of Englishmen recorded back in the 1580’s? A whole nother side to the story, that is mostly left out? Let’s fix that.

Sources: 

• "The Head in Edward Nugent's Hand: Roanoke's Forgotten Indians" by Michael Leroy Oberg
• National Parks Service "Fort Raleigh"
• Coastal Review "Did Thanksgiving Begin Here?"
• Smithsonian Magazine "Did Francis Drake Bring Enslaved Africans to North America Decades Before Jamestown?"
• Washington Daily News "The People Left Behind"
• First Colony Foundation "The Roanoke Colonies"
• Documenting the American South "Ralph Lane"

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She could play the piano by ear at the age of 3 and was accepted into the prestigious Julliard school of music at age 8. By 19 she was headlining at Café Society, the first racially integrated club in New York City. She went on to become a successful Hollywood film star, fierce Civil Rights activist, and the first Black woman to host her own television show. She counted Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, and Dizzy Gillespie as close friends, dominating the jazz scene as a piano virtuoso who put her own spin on the classics. Her rise to the top was nothing short of inspirational, the American dream at its finest, loved by all, glowing, electric. But did you know, you’ve probably never even heard of her? Let’s fix that. 

Sources: 

• WNYC Archives 1951 Hazel Scott Radio Interview (full)
• The Hazel Scott Show 1950 video clip
• Library of Congress Magazine "Jazz's Lost Star"
• National Women's History Museum "Hazel Scott"
• The Washington Post "McCarthyism silenced this Black icon. Now dancers are making noise."
• Library of Congress Blogs "Hazel Scott: The Gorgeous Face of Jazz at the Mid-Century"
• Smithsonian Magazine "Hazel Scott's Lifetime of High Notes"
• Encyclopedia Britannica "House Un-American Activities Committee" 
• The New Yorker "Joseph McCarthy and the Force of Political Falsehoods"
• The National WWII Museum of New Orleans "Cold Conflict"

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“Okay, Houston we’ve had a problem here. This is Houston, say it again please. Uh, Houston we’ve had a problem.” That 7 seconds of audio has been immortalized throughout time, history, and culture. Even if that was your first time hearing the original audio, you’ve definitely heard the quote “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” That’s astronaut Jim Lovell, commander of NASA’s Apollo 13 mission to the moon in 1970. But did you know the context of that quote? What the actual problem is? Did you know just how close Apollo 13 came to being the worst disaster in the history of space exploration? Let’s fix that. 

Sources: 

• YouTube video (7 minutes) by NASA "Apollo 13: 'Houston We've Had a Problem'"
• YouTube video "Apollo 13 Re-entry and Splashdown" Live Video Footage (10 minutes)
• Institute of Physics "How do we know that we went to the moon?"
• Short History of podcast episode "Apollo 13"
• NASA "Apollo 13 Accident"
• Encyclopedia Britannica "Apollo 13 Re-entry and Splashdown"
• Smithsonian Magazine "How the Crew of the Damaged Apollo 13 Came Home"
• NASA Apollo 13 audio archive

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The winter of 1609 to 1610 is referred to as the “Starving Time” in Jamestown, Virginia - England’s first permanent settlement in the Americas. A perfect storm of events - poor harvest, disease, violent relations with indigenous neighbors, an influx of new settlers without any new provisions, and an actual hurricane led to the starvation and death of around 80% of Jamestown settlers that winter. Survivors resorted to eating unconventional meals in order to survive - horses, dogs, cats, rats, and even the bodies of the dead. Various first hand accounts written by settlers reported survival cannibalism during the starving time, with no evidence to back it up. But, did you know, in 2012, archaeologists working at Jamestown finally uncovered solid forensic evidence to confirm those claims? Let’s fix that. 

Sources:

• Jamestown Rediscovery website
• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History "Discovering Jane"

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Chief Powatan stands shrouded in flickering shade amongst the forests of coastal Virginia, his arm raised, wooden club poised to strike the man who lay cowering beneath him. This man, with his pale skin and fair hair, is one of them. The ones trying to claim their ancestral lands. The ones who steal their precious food and burn their villages to the ground. This man must die. Suddenly, a streak of golden skin, a flash of black hair, and his beloved Pocahontas now lies beneath the club. She stares up at him, eyes flashing. “If you kill him, you’ll have to kill me too.” Pocahontas may very well be the best known indigenous historical figure ever. That’s mostly thanks to the 1995 animated Disney film. You know the one, where Pocahontas falls in love, despite herself, with the dashing Captain John Smith, heartthrob of every 90’s tween. It’s all very romantic. But did you know, the real John Smith completely fabricated his relationship with Pocahontas in order to cast himself as the hero in his own twisted history? Let’s fix that. 

Sources: 

• PBS NOVA "The Science of Jamestown"
• Williamsburg Yorktown Daily "Women's History Month: The Real Story of Pocahontas"
• Encyclopedia Virginia "Thomas Savage"
• National Park Service "Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend"
• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History "Struggling to Survive"
• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History "Discovering Jane"
• Short History of podcast episode "Pocahontas"

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It’s 1719, Daniel Defoe flips through the freshly printed pages of his latest novel. It took him just six months to write but he has a good feeling about this one. He runs his finger along the title page, “The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” printed in bold black ink. He feels good about this story, a story that landed on his lap, really. And his hunch would prove correct. The new novel would sell through 4 editions before the end of the year and over the next century or so it would come to be printed in more editions and translations than any other book in Western literature, besides the bible, of course. You’re likely familiar with Robinson Crusoe, even if you haven’t read the book. It’s become the quintessential story of adventure and survival. But did you know, the story of Robinson Crusoe is based on the real life survival of an actual man? Let’s fix that. 

Sources: 

• Smithsonian Magazine "The Author of Robinson Crusoe Used Almost 200 Pseudonyms"
• Chateau de Versailles "The Duke of Anjou, King of Spain 1700"
• National Health Service "Scurvy"
• US Naval Institute "Finding the Cure for Scurvy" 
• Smithsonian Magazine "The Real Robinson Crusoe"
• Short History of podcast "The Real Robinson Crusoe"

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In 1522 Catalina Suarez finally arrived in New Spain, excited to see her beloved husband after 3 years apart. Soon after her long awaited arrival, however, her excitement was deflated. She immediately learned her husband, Hern​​án Cortés, had been having an affair with his enslaved indigenous translator Doña Marina, who was often called La Malinche. And worse, the two had a child together. No matter, Catalina was determined to repair the relationship and assume her rightful position as consort to the governor of New Spain. Three months later, Catalina was dead of reported “natural causes.” But did you know, the evidence actually suggests that Catalina Suarez’ death was far more sinister than the records would have you believe? Let’s fix that. 

Sources: 

• Cultura Colectiva "The Tragic Fate of Catalina Suarez and La Malinche"
• archyde.com "The withering death of Hernán Cortés’ first wife: between the Black Legend and the mystery"

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"When we gazed upon all this splendor at once, we scarcely knew what to think, and we doubted whether all that we beheld was real. A series of large towns stretched themselves along the banks of the lake, out of which still larger ones rose magnificently above the waters. Innumerable crowds of canoes were plying everywhere around us; at regular distances we continually passed over new bridges, and before us lay the great city of Mexico in all its splendor." Those are the words of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a Spanish soldier, upon first seeing the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1519. At the time, the Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time, with 80,000 square miles of territory and some 15 million inhabitants. Just 2 years later, the empire would crumble, utterly defeated by European forces staking a claim for Spain. But did you know, the leader of this exploit, Hernán Cortés, had defied Spanish authority and run off to conquer the Aztecs with less than 500 soldiers? Let’s fix that.

Sources: 

• New York Times "After 500 Years Cortes Girlfriend Is Not Forgiven"
• New York Historical Society "Live Story: Malitzen (La Malinche)"
• Thoughtco "Ten Facts About Hernán Cortés"
• bizarreandgrotesque.com "Gonazlo Guerrero and Geronimo de Aguilar, Two Spanish Men who Were Captured by the Mayans"
• The Borgen Project "Facts About Indigenous Poverty in Mexico"
• History.com "How Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire"
• New World Encyclopedia "Battle of Tenochtitlan"
• Live Science "Hernán Cortés: Conqueror of the Aztecs"
• houstonculture.org "The Indigenous People of Central Mexico"

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The decade of the 1920s is often referred to as the “Roaring Twenties.” You can probably picture it now: jazz trumpets blare while women in shiny dresses dance the Charleston with their beaus and sip fancy martinis. It’s fast, it’s loud, it’s fun, it’s one big party, like New Years Eve every night. Night clubs, cocktails, rock and roll, all of these cultural staples evolved out of the roaring twenties. But take the alcohol away and, I’m not sure they would have roared quite as loudly. Surprisingly, the twenties took place during a 13 year period in the United States known as prohibition, when the manufacture, transport, and sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal. Despite this, Americans went to great lengths to keep the party roaring. The government had its work cut out for it to enforce this new ban on alcohol. But, did you know, they took that enforcement so seriously, it resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 Americans? Let’s fix that. 

Sources:

• Chicago Tribune "The Bender that Started America"
• Teaching American History "Entertainment of George Washington at City Tavern, Philadelphia"
• The Mob Museum "Women Led the Temperance Charge"
• University of Rochester "Stanton/Anthony Friendship"
• History.com "How Prohibition Fueled the Rise of the Ku Klux Klan"
• The Whiskey Wash "What Exactly Was Medical Whiskey 'Treating' Anyway?"
• National Library of Medicine "Poison's Legacy"
• Short History of podcast episode "Prohibition"
• Stuff They Don't Want You to Know podcast episode "The Prohibition Conspiracy"

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