It’s a summer day in Strasbourg, France. The year is 1518. A woman named Frau Troffea steps into the city square and starts to dance. There’s no music and yet she twists and turns for hours while onlookers watch, confused. Occasionally, she collapses from exhaustion only to get back up and resume her frenzied dancing soon after. This goes on day after day and soon some 400 others have joined her, many of them dancing themselves to death. The “Dancing Plague of 1518” is believed to have been caused by “mass hysteria” - a psychological phenomenon that causes irrational behaviors, thoughts, and even physical symptoms among a group of people. But did you know, this isn’t the only time mass hysteria has reared its ugly head? Let’s fix that. 

Sources: 

• https://www.history.com/news/mysterious-illnesses-mass-hysteria
• https://www.britannica.com/event/dancing-plague-of-1518
• https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220512-the-people-who-danced-themselves-to-death
• https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/mass-hysteria
• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/
• https://www.history.com/news/salem-witch-trials-accusers
• https://allthatsinteresting.com/mad-gasser-of-mattoon
• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/488986#:~:text=The%20name%20hysteria%20is%20derived,Celsus%2C%20Arataeus%2C%20and%20Soranus.
• https://www.npr.org/2022/11/01/1133375223/the-first-female-crash-test-dummy-has-only-now-arrived
• https://www.rosenfeldinjurylawyers.com/news/do-men-or-women-get-in-more-car-accidents/

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In 1911 Shipbuilder magazine featured an ocean liner under construction in Belfast, Ireland. It was called Titanic and it was the largest moveable object ever built. With new state of the art technology, the magazine claimed Titanic was “practically unsinkable,” a reputation that stuck… until April of 1912 when the RMS Titanic began its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York harbor. Four days later, the ship lay at the bottom of the North Atlantic, its massive hull ripped in two and 1,500 passengers dead. Few stories have captivated our minds like the sinking of Titanic. And no, of course it wasn’t actually unsinkable. But did you know, it really shouldn’t have sunk? Let’s fix that.


Youtube video of Alvin footage

Sources: 

• https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/titanic 
• https://www.history.com/news/why-did-the-titanic-sink
• https://www.history.com/news/titanics-watery-grave-located 
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Titanic/Discovery-and-legacy
• https://ultimatetitanic.com/titanic-construction/
• https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/2/miraculous-story-of-the-youngest-titanic-survivor-millvina-dean-737507#:~:text=Of%20the%202%2C208%20people%20on,Millvina%20Dean%20
• A Short History of podcast episode about Titanic
  
  

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“Downton Abbey” is a popular period drama set in Edwardian England that details the life of the Crawley family, their motley crew of servants and of course Dame Maggie Smith playing the ever witty and sharp tongued granny. Love her. But Downton, with its iconic Gothic facade is a real place. It’s actually called Highclere Castle and, did you know the real story of its inhabitants is truly stranger than fiction? Let’s fix that. 


Sources: 

• Stuff You Missed in History Class  podcast “The Cursed Tomb of King Tut”
• Unexplained Mysteries podcast “Curse of the Pharaohs - King Tut’s Tomb”
• https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-downton-20140105-story.html
• https://www.readersdigest.ca/culture/highclere-castle-downton-abbey/
• https://www.veranda.com/luxury-lifestyle/a36175010/highclere-castle-history/
• https://blog.newspapers.com/highclere-castle-the-real-life-downton-abbey/
• https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a28984430/downton-abbey-crawley-family-true-story/
• https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1888680
• https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/15/lady-almina-downton-carnarvon-review
• https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/the-real-downton-abbey-sordid-affairs-153592
• https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/George_Herbert,_5th_Earl_of_Carnarvon
• http://www.unmuseum.org/mummy.htm

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“Murder is murder whether committed by the villain skulking in the dark or by uniformed men stepping to the strains of martial music. Murder is murder and somebody must answer.” Those are the words of John G Burnett, a translator for the US Army during the forced removal of indigenous Americans that took place between 1830 and 1850. During this “displacement,” tens of thousands of indigenous people lost their lives along what’s commonly referred to as the “Trail of Tears” in an American genocide that got swept under the rug. But did you know, that “somebody” Burnett referred to, the one responsible… Did you know his face is on the $20 bill to this day? Let’s fix that. 


Sources: 

• https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/andrew-jackson
• https://thehermitage.com/learn/andrew-jackson/childhood/
• http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/ARTICLE/h-2350
• https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/facts-continental-army
• https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2014/marchapril/feature/hannah-andrew-jacksons-slave#:~:text=By%20the%20time%20he%20was,Hermitage%20and%20a%20Mississippi%20plantation.
• https://www.history.com/news/andrew-jackson-presidency-controversial-legacy#:~:text=He%20strongly%20supported%E2%80%94and%20profited%20from%E2%80%94slavery.&text=Records%20show%20he%20beat%20his,chains%20when%20they%20were%20recovered.
• https://dailyhistory.org/How_did_the_United_States_acquire_Florida
• https://ualrexhibits.org/tribalwriters/artifacts/Family-Stories-Trail-of-Tears.html#Fleming
• History Uncovered podcast episode about the Trail of Tears
• Dark History podcast episode about Andrew Jackson

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In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I’m sure you’re familiar with the singsong mnemonic meant for remembering the year Christopher Columbus stumbled upon islands in the Caribbean. This set off a chain reaction of European exploration that transformed two continents. But did you know Viking explorers actually reached North America 500 years before Columbus? Let’s fix that. 


Sources: 

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379118307261
• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/footprint-study-is-best-evidence-yet-that-humans-lived-in-ice-age-north-america-180978757/
• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-vikings-a-memorable-visit-to-america-98090935/#:~:text=But%20more%20and%20more%20scholars,too%20cold%20even%20for%20Vikings.
• https://www.history.co.uk/articles/harald-hardrada-the-last-viking
• https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1497931/Queen-Elizabeth-Family-tree-related-to-William-the-Conqueror-evg
• https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-william-the-conqueror
• https://scandinaviafacts.com/why-dont-the-vikings-get-credit-for-discovering-america-2/
• https://www.britannica.com/story/did-the-vikings-discover-america
• https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/10/14/232120128/how-columbus-sailed-into-u-s-history-thanks-to-italians
• https://www.history.com/news/6-things-we-owe-to-the-vikings
• A "Short History of" podcast episode about Vikings

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Computer science is a field completely dominated by men. Charles Babbage, Alan Turing, Tim Berners-Lee, Steve Jobs, the list goes on and on. But on that list, pretty high up on that list is Ada Lovelace. Although the world overlooked her contributions for an entire century, did you know the very first computer programmer was actually a woman? Let’s fix that. 

Sources: 

• Biography.com
• Encyclopedia Britannica Online
• computerhistory.org
• sciencehistory.org
• Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast episode titled “The Ada Lovelace Episode: Who Was the Enchantress of Numbers?”
• Ridiculous History podcast 2 part episode on Ada Lovelace

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He was said to embody the devil himself - extraordinarily tall with a wild black beard and hair tied up with lit fuses. His eyes, like embers, burned with a demonic glow and even the fiercest of men cowered at the sight of his flag. History paints Blackbeard as one of the most feared pirates of the seven seas, but did you know there’s no evidence that he actually killed anyone? Let’s fix that. 


Sources: 

• “The Republic of Pirates” by Colin Woodard
• "A Short History of…" podcast episode titled “Blackbeard the Pirate”
• https://www.britannica.com/event/Queen-Annes-War 
• "General History of The Pyrates" by Captain Charles Johnson

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Roughly 5 stories beneath the streets of Paris you’ll find the bones of over 6 million people stacked in neat rows and arranged in grotesquely intricate designs. The Paris Catacombs attract over 500,000 visitors each year, but do you know why such a shockingly morbid site exists? Let’s fix that.

Sources: 

• https://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/history
• ​​https://lister.history.ox.ac.uk/index-page_id=412.html
• https://mineralogicalrecord.com/new_biobibliography/hericart-de-thury-louis-e-f/
• https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/what-to-visit-in-paris/history-heritage/articles/248888-history-of-paris-the-holy-innocents-cemetery-and-what-remains-of-it
• https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/art-culture/paris-catacombs
• https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-people-eat-during-siege#:~:text=In%201590%2C%20Starving%20Parisians%20Ground%20Human%20Bones%20Into%20Bread%20%2D%20Gastro%20Obscura

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