Muhammad bin Tughlaq (Two-cli-ock) was born in 1300 and was the eldest son of the Sultan of Delhi. This kingdom covered most of what is now northern India and Pakistan. They also had a cool flag (dark green with one off center black vertical stripe).  Muhammad was a strict Muslim, maintaining his five prayers during a day and fasting. He was hailed as a "man of knowledge" and had interest in subjects like philosophy, medicine, mathematics, religion, and poetry.

In 1325 Muhammad’s father, the Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, was watching a parade of elephants. The elephants were war booty that Delhi has acquired in the capture of another territory. Suddenly the large wooden pavilion the Sultan and many others was sitting on collapsed killing him. At the time there was a mass conspiracy that the collapse was deliberate, but this is refuted by historians. (More on the podcast)

It was like a frat house... but everyone was way dumber and evil.

Franz Reichelt dreamt of designing the first wearable parachute. The only problem was he wasn't good at it and he liked to test things himself. 

(Spoilers: The GIF of him testing it.)

On February 1912 Franz announced to the press that he had received permission to conduct a test of one of his designs on a dummy from the Eiffel Tower. To him this was the perfect time to actually test his invention.

On Sunday, February 4, at 7:00 a.m., he arrived at the tower by car with two friends to a crowd of anxious onlookers, who were cordoned off outside the drop-zone. He was already wearing his parachute suit. A suit that did not restrict the wearer's movements when the parachute was packed, and the method of deploying the parachute as being as simple as extending the arms out to form a cross with the body. Once extended, the outfit resembled "a sort of cloak fitted with a vast hood of silk". The weather was cold, with temperatures below 32 °F and there was a stiff breeze blowing. (More on podcast)

Billy was a natural stunt master. In 1944 The Republican Convention came to town in and he posted a sign saying, "No Republicans allowed." This caused the tavern to be packed with Republicans demanding to be served.

He would also sneak his goat, Murphy, into unusual locations in order to try and gain publicity for his bar and in 1945 he was presented with the perfect opportunity. The Cubs were gearing up to face the Detroit Tigers in Game Four of the World Series. Many Cubs fans believed 1945 would be their year. They’d come into Game Four with a 2-1 lead over the Tigers, and only needed two more wins to claim the title.

Billy was a long-time Cubs fan and on October 6, 1945, he bought two tickets worth $7.20 for game 4 of the world series. One of the tickets was for him; the other one was for his goat who was wearing a sign stating "We Got Detroit's Goat". (More on the podcast)

Story by: Zachary Crockett at priceonomics.com

Timothy Dexter was born in Malden, Mass., Jan. 22, 1747. From his birth, he fancied himself a legend -- he later wrote “I was to be one grat [sic] man,”

He came from a family of farm laborers who, in the times of British colonialism, saw little financial stability. Nonetheless, by the age of 16, Dexter secured himself an apprenticeship with a Boston leather dresser and began working toward a career as a craftsman. Though the profession was generally considered “lower class,” the money was good: by the 1760s, Dexter’s Boston teachers had monopolized the art of crafting “Moroccan leather,” a material that was in high demand by colonial fashionistas. (More on the podcast)

They quickly got to work on their flying vehicle and in just two years they had two prototypes and three more under construction. Well you obviously can’t work that quick by engineering something from the ground up. They instead took two already existing production models and put them together. The actual flying mechanism was a Cessna Skymaster. The Skymaster (great name) is a twin-engine civil utility aircraft that had been under production since 1965. I looked it up and it appears to have a good flight record and is a good plane. So they just took that plane and cut off the front of it. If you look at pictures you’ll see that it’s the wings and and rutters and everything, just the part where the pilot sits is cut off. The car that they chose was the Ford Pinto. (more on the podcast)

VIDEO OF THIS THING IN ACTION

Santa Anna used his military and political influences to rise to the highest ranking general in the Mexican Army and In 1833 Santa Anna was overwhelmingly elected President of Mexico. In the early years of Mexico the country was in extreme turmoil. Santa Anna ran on the promise to unite the nation, but once he got the job things changed. His vice president, Dr. Valentin Gomez Farias (Dr. Go for short) said that being president “Annoyed Santa Anna, bored him, and perhaps frightened him”. Because of this Santa Anna really only governed for a year before he left all the real work of being president to his vice president, Dr. VGF, and Santa Anna retired to his home in the countryside. After taking power, Dr. Go soon launched an ambitious reform of church, state, and army. This was a huge problem to many of the conservatives in Mexico and in 1834 Santa Anna seized the opportunity to reassert his authority, and led a military coup against his own government. (more on the podcast)

In the 1st millennium (or the 1000’s or the 11th century) the city of Pisa was becoming an important Italian seaport. Its fame and power grew gradually as the people of Pisa were involved in various military conflicts and trade agreements. In 1063 the Christian city of Pisa attacked the Muslim-ruled city of Palermo (Pal-air-mo). The attack was successful and the conquerors returned to Pisa with a great deal of treasure. To show the world just how important the city was, the people of Pisa decided to build a great cathedral complex called “the Field of Miracles”. Part of that plan was an 8 story bell tower.

On August 9th, 1173 construction began on the bell tower. A foundation for the tower was built of a 3 foot deep mixture of clay. After 5 years of construction they had completed three out of eight floors of the structure, but quickly noticed a problem. It turned out the clay that they used for the foundation wasn’t nearly as strong as they thought and wasn’t able to keep the tower upright. Even everyday citizens could see that the tower had already began to lean. This wasn’t new in Pisa as the river city has soft grounds and a number of other structures have exhibited this same behavior. (More on the podcast)

Archaeologists have found evidence that men started to remove their beards as early as 100,000 BC. In order to remove facial hair they would use two sea shells, clasp them together to grip the hair, and then pull, ripping the hair out. The first razors were discovered by archaeologists to date back to 30,000 BC, and were made of flint.

3000 B.C. To 1580 B.C. - The earliest records indicate that the highest ranking Egyptians grew hair on their chins. They frizzed, dyed, and sometimes plaited the beard with interwoven gold thread. Later, a metal false beard, which was a sign of sovereignty, was worn by queens as well as kings. This was held in place by a ribbon tied over the head and attached to a gold chin strap.

Mesopotamian civilizations devoted great care to oiling and dressing their beards, using tongs or curling irons to create elaborate ringlets and frizzles, in a tiered effect. (more on the podcast)

The Chicago L has had a pretty good safety record throughout history, but when they make a mistake it's a big one. This week we cover from the very first derailment to the O'hare blue line crash.

"In the late 19th century Chicago was the fastest-growing city in the country. The downtown became increasingly congested with horses, carts, and carriages. Residents realized that they needed a better, more organized form of transportation in the city. On June 6th, 1892 a steam locomotive pulling four wooden coaches on a raised elevated platform departed the 39th Street station traveled 3.6 miles and arrived at the Congress Street Terminal 14 minutes later. It was the first ever Chicago L train journey. The train was an instant hit with locals. A reporter for the Chicago Tribune noted one of the "L"'s most distinguishing features was its usefulness to all citizens of the city. He pointed out the variation of the passengers, from members of "the lunch pail crowd" to passengers "resembling gentlemen."" (more on the podcast)

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