History Uncovered

In this episode, we talk about some of the darkest elements of our otherwise revered Founding Fathers, and talk with Alexis Coe about her biography of George Washington, You Never Forget Your First.

You’ve likely heard the legends about these men because they were unprecedented in our nation’s history, indeed they founded the nation. They were essential in drafting the U.S. Constitution, declaring our independence, and sculpting a nation out of turmoil. 

But these men were men, they were human and they existed in a time where both slavery and pistol dueling for bragging rights were acceptable behaviors. 

So naturally, there’s a crass and uncomfortable dimension to each of them. Let’s explore those.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/founding-fathers-facts

credits: https://allthatsinteresting.com/podcast-credits

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In early 1346, Mongol forces were already three years into their siege of the Crimean port city of Kaffa when their soldiers started coming down with a deadly disease. The sick fell quickly, suffering high fevers and grotesque inflammation, and vomiting blood before dying. 

Listen to learn about the siege of Kaffa, which may have been the origin of the Black Death in Europe.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/when-did-the-black-plague-start

credits: https://allthatsinteresting.com/podcast-credits

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On July 14, 1518, a woman identified only as Frau Troffea stepped out of her house in Strasbourg, Alsace -- in what is now France -- and started to dance. After many hours, drenched in sweat and twitching, she finally collapsed. Then, a few hours later, she got up and started again -- and then again the next day. By the third day, her feet were bruised and blood soaked through her shoes, but still she continued to dance. 

https://allthatsinteresting.com/dancing-plague

Credits: 

https://allthatsinteresting.com/podcast-credits

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In the spring of 1945, as the Allies approached victory over the Axis powers, Japan considered launching a terrifying attack on the U.S. mainland. Though the plan’s codename, "Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night," sounded perfectly innocent, the plot was anything but.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/operation-cherry-blossoms-at-night

Credits:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/podcast-credits

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On September 15, 2007, villagers in the remote Peruvian town of Carancas saw a glowing fireball soar toward Earth — then felt the meteorite crash into the ground. 

Not only was the meteorite able to reach Earth without burning up in our atmosphere — but its arrival sparked a mysterious plague that caused hundreds of people to inexplicably fall ill. These strange circumstances have baffled scientists to this day.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/carancas-meteorite-sickness

Credits: https://allthatsinteresting.com/podcast-credits

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In 1845, two ships carrying 134 men set sail from England in order to explore an unnavigated stretch of the arctic waters between Canada and Greenland in search of the long sought after Northwest Passage. They would never return again.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/john-torrington-franklin-expedition

Credits: https://allthatsinteresting.com/podcast-credits

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In January of 1959, nine Soviet college students died under mysterious circumstances while hiking through the Ural Mountains in what's now known as the Dyatlov Pass incident.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/dyatlov-pass-incident

Intro music taken from: Unify by Snowflake http://ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59709 Used under the CC Attribution license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Wind sound from: https://freesound.org/people/Bosk1/sounds/217186/ Used under the CC Attribution license  

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On June 22, 1983, 15-year-old Vatican resident Emanuela Orlandi went missing and was never heard from again. Her disappearance has been linked to the Pope, Turkish insurrectionists, Italian mobsters, and even a potential covert Satanic orgy ring.

Read more here: https://allthatsinteresting.com/emanuela-orlandi 

Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/20/emanuela-orlandi-brother-anguish-vatican-missing-teenager-investigationhttps://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparizione_di_Emanuela_Orlandihttps://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/06/gone-girl/https://www.blitzquotidiano.it/opinioni/nicotri-opinioni/emanuela-orlandi-scomparsi-sky-2814001/http://projects.thestar.com/projects/2014/10/22/rome_the_pope_the_vatican_and_the_twisted_mystery_of_a_kidnapped_girl.htmlhttps://emanuelaorlandi.altervista.orghttp://espresso.repubblica.it/plus/articoli/2017/09/27/news/a-londra-sulle-tracce-del-fantasma-di-emanuela-orlandi-1.310802 Il segreto di Emanuela Orlandi by Pino Nazio 

Intro music taken from: Unify by Snowflake http://ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59709

Used under the CC Attribution license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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History Uncovered is brought to you by the digital publisher All That’s Interesting, where we explore all things weird and bizarre in the natural world and the world past. Each Wednesday, we take a deep dive into a topic we haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Dive deeper into these stories on All That's Interesting.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/history-uncovered

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