Stuff You Missed in History Class

Bayard Rustin was an openly gay black man born in 1912. He spent his life working tirelessly for equal rights, peace, democracy, and economic equality, including being one of the primary planners of the 1963 March on Washington.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There was a whole lot more to Harriet Tubman's life and work than her time as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. During the United States Civil War, she worked as a Union spy, eventually earning the nickname "General."

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people are familiar with her involvement with the Underground Railroad, but Harriet Tubman was also a spy for the Union during the Civil War, among many other things. Untangling the truth from the myth is the trickiest part of her story.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

British hair guru Raymond Bessone became the first celebrity hair stylist by leveraging the post-war desire for glamour and his own innate skill at marketing. His larger-than-life persona and skill with shears made his coiffures the pinnacle of style.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She's sometimes called the patron saint of cats, and the story of Gertrude's religious devotion starts when she was just a young child. Her family's history is important, because they formed the roots of the Carolingian dynasty.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1973, after a series of earthquakes, a fissure opened up on the eastern side of the Icelandic island of Heimaey. As the eruption developed over time, it became more dangerous, and a variety of measures were undertaken to stop the flow of lava.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the Bauhaus school is well known, and its original manifesto proclaimed an environment of equality, most of the women who went to the school were ushered into specific courses, rather than given their choice of studies.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fashion historian April Calahan joined Holly for a talk about the surprising ways that women of France protested German occupation during WWII.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Insatiable hunger completely dominated every aspect of this French man's existence in the 18th century. His life took a series of twists and turns, but his condition was never truly diagnosed or cured.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No starving artist, Vigée Le Brun was the first woman to ever become a court painter in France when she was commissioned to paint Marie Antoinette. She painted royalty and nobility throughout Europe, even as her personal life had its ups and downs.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.