The History Cache Podcast

350 miles off the cost of Costa Rica lies the legendary Cocos Island. Over the centuries it’s been a refuge for pirates, mutinous mariners, and the obsession of hundreds of treasure hunters. Some believe it was the original inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. 

Though little evidence exists for the purported billion dollars worth of treasure said to be hidden within its shores, it has seen centuries worth of strange and interesting history. Pirates like Captain Morgan, Benito Bonito, Captain Edward Davis, Captain Bennett Grahame, and the mutinous Captain Thompson used the island as a haven and, some believe, left treasures such as the Devonshire hoard, the fabled treasure of Lima, and pirate booty on the island.

Subsequent centuries saw hundreds of treasure hunting expeditions. Some brought dynamite, one dug an irrational series of tunnels for two decades, at least eight exploded, many were evicted or arrested, and all left empty handed.

In this all new episode we explore the historical figures and incredible events surrounding this island and the treasure hunting expeditions carried out by those who became obsessed with the legends surrounding this real Treasure Island.  

There are many legendary figures who emerged from the American Wild West. In this all new episode we explore the life of the lesser known, though no less incredible, Mary Fields, who has come to be known as Stagecoach Mary.

A mythical holiday legend grew from the life of Hans von Trotha, a medieval knight who served in both the German Palatinate and the French court of Louis XII. His life had some tumultuous twists and turns: excommunication, exile, and a row with a Benedictine abbot over Berwartstein Castle that nearly destroyed the town of Weissenburg.

After his death, history was transformed into lore, and this chevalier d’or, “knight of gold,” became a monster whose tale is still told in several regions of France and Germany.

Come learn how myth turned the medieval knight Hans von Trotha into Hans Trapp, the Christmas scarecrow.

The 1904 Olympic marathon is remembered as history’s most bizarre race. Running in tandem with the St. Louis World’s Fair, or the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the 1904 Olympics were the first games hosted by the US. Given the disorganization, poor international turnout, and competition with the World Fair’s 20 million visitors, the 1904 games were perhaps doomed before they started. But no single event would ever compare with the absurd chaos of the marathon. From wild dogs to a professional clown on performance enhancing drugs, this race had it all.

We also delve into the history of the ancient Olympic games and explore how an ancient festival honoring Zeus became a worldwide modern event.

Come hear the unbelievable true story of the 1904 St. Louis Olympic marathon.

48.5 tons of meteoric material falls onto our planet every day, which has made for some stellar history. Today we explore history that has fallen from the sky. We begin in Egypt by examining the meteorite dagger of Tutankhamun, then we travel to Sylacauga, Alabama in the year 1954 when Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges became the first documented person in history to be struck by a meteorite. After that we travel 50,000 years back in time to hear the story of the basket meteorite, a special piece of space rock that made its way to Northern Arizona’s Meteor Crater twice thanks to a yard sale and a retired Wisconsin man. Grab your space suit and tune in for an episode that’s truly out of this world.

In 1845 Edgar Allen Poe first published his now iconic poem The Raven. Come hear the full reading of this legendary literary tale in this bonus Halloween mini episode.

About 30 miles north of Manhattan lies the town of Sleepy Hollow. Made famous by Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, this nook in the Hudson Valley is home to legends and history alike. A real, lesser known figure in the history of this region is a woman the townsfolk called Hulda of Bohemia.

Ostracized by the larger community, the elderly Hulda crafted herbal medicines for the town, leaving them anonymously on people’s doorsteps and windowsills. Though her gifts were appreciated in secret, Hula was shunned and labeled as a witch.

When the American Revolution came, bringing war to the countryside, Hulda wanted to join the local militia. She was refused. One day in 1777 British Troops began marching towards Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. Not to be turned away this time, Hulda grabbed her musket and joined the fight.

Her acts on the battlefield were so impactful, that she’s still remembered today. Find out what happened, and discover the woman who is known, for better or worse, as the witch of Sleepy Hollow.

We’ve been putting animals on trial probably as long as we’ve been putting one another on trial. In this episode we examine several animal trials spanning nearly a 600-year period. We cover six trials extending over three continents: A monkey in Hartlepool accused of espionage, a murderous pig in Savigny, a group of slugs who just wouldn’t listen, a circus elephant in Tennessee we should never forget, a bear who served time with good behavior in Kazakhstan, and a rooster (or basilisk depending on whom you ask) in Basel, Switzerland, burned at the stake for laying an egg. Grab you gavels and get ready to travel on this sometimes whimsical, sometimes sad, and constantly strange episode exploring the history of animals put on trial.

It was believed the Coelacanth went extinct along with the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago when the Chicxulub impactor smashed into planet Earth…that was until Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, curator of the East London Museum, found one in a pile of fish on a dock in South Africa in 1938. This ancient fish surprised the scientific world when the first living specimen was pulled up by Captain Hendrik Goosen while he was trawling for fish near the mouth of the Chalumna River. The Coelacanth was dubbed a “living fossil” though it was eventually discovered that it has evolved over the last 400 million years. Come hear the story of how the determined Marjorie saved the world’s first extant Coelacanth specimen, and what exactly makes this strange, ancient species so special.

The Monte Vista Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona is a place where history and lore are inseparably intertwined. Built in 1927, this 73-room hotel and cocktail bar has seen prohibition, a speakeasy, mysterious underground tunnels, historic radio broadcasts, Hollywood, and some swear a ghost or two. Come explore the fascinating story of this famous, and some say infamous, hotel nestled in the Arizona mountains.