Random Knowledge

Random Knowledge

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Random Knowledge episodes

  • S1E125 - Mantra-Rock Dance
    The Mantra-Rock Dance was a counterculture music event held on January 29, 1967, at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. It was organized by followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) as an opportunity for its founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to address a wider public. It was also a promotional and fundraising effort for their first center on the West Coast of the United States.The Mantra-Rock Dance featured some of the most prominent Californian rock groups of the time, such as the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, as well as the then relatively unknown Moby Grape. The bands agreed to appear with Prabhupada and to perform for free; the proceeds were donated to the local Hare Krishna temple. The participation of countercultural leaders considerably boosted the event's popularity; among them were the poet Allen Ginsberg, who led the singing of the Hare Krishna mantra onstage along with Prabhupada, and LSD promoters Timothy Leary and Augustus Owsley Stanley III.The Mantra-Rock Dance concert was later called "the ultimate high" and "the major spiritual event of the San Francisco hippie era." It led to favorable media exposures for Prabhupada and his followers, and brought the Hare Krishna movement to the wider attention of the American public. The 40th anniversary of the Mantra-Rock Dance was commemorated in 2007 in Berkeley, California.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra-Rock_Dance
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    13 min
  • S1E124 - Hurricane John (1994)
    Hurricane John, also known as Typhoon John, was the farthest-traveling tropical cyclone ever observed worldwide. It was also the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record globally at the time, until it was surpassed by Cyclone Freddy in 2023. John formed during the 1994 Pacific hurricane season, which had above-average activity due to the El Niño of 1994–1995, and peaked as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale, the highest categorization for hurricanes.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_John_(1994)
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    11 min
  • S1E123 - Chariot racing
    Chariot racing (Greek: ἁρματοδρομία, translit. harmatodromia, Latin: ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from a very early time. With the institution of formal races and permanent racetracks, chariot racing was adopted by many Greek states and their religious festivals. Horses and chariots were very costly. Their ownership was a preserve of the wealthiest aristocrats, whose reputations and status benefitted from offering such extravagant, exciting displays. Their successes could be further broadcast and celebrated through commissioned odes and other poetry.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot_racing
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    34 min
  • S1E122 - Stanley Price Weir
    Brigadier General Stanley Price Weir, (23 April 1866 – 14 November 1944) was a public servant and Australian Army officer. During World War I, he commanded the 10th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the landing at Anzac Cove and the subsequent Gallipoli Campaign, and during the Battles of Pozières and Mouquet Farm in France.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Price_Weir
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    12 min
  • S1E121 - Ole Miss riot of 1962
    The Ole Miss riot of 1962 (September 30 – October 1, 1962), also known as the Battle of Oxford, was a violent disturbance that occurred at the University of Mississippi—commonly called Ole Miss—in Oxford, Mississippi. Segregationist rioters sought to prevent the enrollment of African American veteran James Meredith, and President John F. Kennedy was forced to quell the riot by mobilizing over 30,000 troops, the most for a single disturbance in American history.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Miss_riot_of_1962
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    22 min
  • S1E120 - London and North Western Railway War Memorial
    The London and North Western Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial located outside Euston station in London, England. The memorial was designed by Reginald Wynn Owen, architect to the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), and commemorates employees of the LNWR who were killed in the First World War. Some 37,000 LNWR employees left to fight in the war—around a third of the company's workforce—of whom over 3,000 were killed. As well as personnel, much of the company's infrastructure was turned over to the war effort. Of the £12,500 cost of the memorial, £4,000 was contributed by the employees and the company paid the remainder.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_and_North_Western_Railway_War_Memorial
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    6 min
  • S1E119 - Paper Mario
    Paper Mario is a video game series and part of the Mario franchise, developed by Intelligent Systems and produced by Nintendo. It combines elements from the role-playing, action-adventure, and puzzle genres. Players control a paper cutout version of Mario, usually with allies, on a quest to defeat the antagonist, primarily Bowser. The series consists of six games and one spin-off; the first, Paper Mario (2000), was released for the Nintendo 64, and the most recent, Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020), for the Nintendo Switch.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Mario
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    27 min
  • S1E118 - Northern England
    Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik and the Brythontic Celtic Hen Ogledd kingdoms.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_England
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    1 hr 17 min
  • S1E117 - 1993 Football League First Division play-off final
    The 1993 Football League First Division play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 31 May 1993 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Leicester City and Swindon Town. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the 1992–93 Football League First Division, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League. The top two teams in the Football League First Division gained automatic promotion to the Premiership, while the teams placed from third to sixth in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; Swindon Town ended the season in fifth position while Leicester City finished sixth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 1993–94 season in the Premiership. Winning the game was estimated to be worth around £5 million to the successful team.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Football_League_First_Division_play-off_final
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    11 min
  • S1E116 - Cutthroat trout
    The cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus Oncorhynchus, it is one of the Pacific trout, a group that includes the widely distributed rainbow trout. Cutthroat trout are popular gamefish, especially among anglers who enjoy fly fishing. The common name "cutthroat" refers to the distinctive red coloration on the underside of the lower jaw. The specific name clarkii was given to honor explorer William Clark, coleader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutthroat_trout
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    23 min

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