"TOURING HISTORY" - MAY 12th THROUGHOUT HISTORY INTRO

LANE: Welcome back to "Touring History," the show where we pretend to know what we're talking about while fumbling through the past. I'm Lane...

DAVE: And I'm Dave. We're your guides through the twisted highways of history, where we make wrong turns constantly.

LANE: Today is May 12th, 2025, and as always, we're looking back at all the significant things that happened on this day throughout history. It's like reading Wikipedia after three beers.

DAVE: That's right, Lane. May 12th has quite the historical resume. Wars ended, blockades lifted, and earthquakes that shook more than just the ground. This day's got everything.

NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS

LANE: Let's start with the birthday celebrations. On May 12th, 1820, Florence Nightingale was born – the mother of modern nursing and probably the first person to say, "Have you tried putting a cold compress on that?"

DAVE: She was actually nicknamed "The Lady with the Lamp" because she would check on wounded soldiers at night with a lamp. Not to be confused with my uncle Terry who was nicknamed "The Guy with the Flashlight" because he kept getting caught sneaking around his neighbor's yard.

LANE: Completely different situations.

DAVE: Absolutely. May 12th also gave us Yogi Berra, born in 1925. Yankees legend and master of sayings that sound profound until you actually think about them.

LANE: "Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical." Math was not his strong suit.

DAVE: And neither was avoiding redundancy. "It's déjà vu all over again." But hey, he won 10 World Series rings, so he could say whatever he wanted.

LANE: Also born on this day in 1968, Tony Hawk – the man who made an entire generation of kids think they too could skateboard off rooftops. Narrator: They could not.

DAVE: I tried a kickflip once. Now I have what doctors call a "permanently interesting walk."

ARCTIC EXPLORATION

LANE: On May 12th, 1926, the airship Norge became the first aircraft to fly over the North Pole. It was piloted by Roald Amundsen, who was apparently not satisfied with just reaching the South Pole earlier.

DAVE: Some people just can't get enough of brutal, life-threatening climates. "I've seen one pole, might as well see the other one. They're basically the same but in opposite directions!"

LANE: The Norge was basically a fancy balloon with an engine. These days, we have heated seats in our cars and still complain about the cold.

DAVE: "It's 68 degrees in here! I'm practically freezing!" Meanwhile, Amundsen was probably like, "If my eyeballs don't freeze shut, it's a warm day."

TRAGIC MOMENTS

LANE: In much sadder news, on May 12th, 1932, the body of Charles Lindbergh's kidnapped son was found. The Lindbergh baby kidnapping was called the "crime of the century" at the time.

DAVE: A truly horrific event that led to the Federal Kidnapping Act, also known as the "Lindbergh Law." Sometimes it takes tragedy to create necessary change.

LANE: The case was a media sensation that dominated headlines for months. It shows how some things haven't changed – our endless appetite for tragic news.

COLD WAR MILESTONES

DAVE: On a more positive note, May 12th, 1949, marked the end of the Soviet blockade of Berlin. For almost a year, the Soviets had blocked all land and water access to Berlin.

LANE: The Western Allies responded with the Berlin Airlift, delivering supplies by plane. We're talking over 200,000 flights delivering everything from food to coal.

DAVE: Can you imagine? "We can't drive there, so let's just fly 2.3 million tons of supplies instead." That's like when the elevator's broken in my building and I have to take the stairs with groceries.

LANE: Exactly the same thing, Dave.

NATURAL DISASTERS

DAVE: In more recent history, on May 12th, 2008, a devastating earthquake hit China's Sichuan province, killing approximately 87,000 people.

LANE: One of the deadliest earthquakes in modern history. It measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and affected millions of people.

DAVE: The scale of this disaster is almost impossible to comprehend. Entire towns were just... gone.

LANE: Mother Nature doesn't mess around. She doesn't send a warning text or anything.

POLITICAL TRANSITIONS

DAVE: On May 12th, 2010, David Cameron became the UK Prime Minister, forming a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

LANE: Ah yes, before Brexit made UK politics interesting in the way a house fire is "interesting."

DAVE: Cameron promised not to hold a referendum on Brexit, then held one anyway, lost, and immediately resigned. It's like lighting a match, dropping it in a gas station, and then saying, "Well, that's my cue to leave!"

ENTERTAINMENT & POP CULTURE

LANE: In movie history, on May 12th, 2002, Spider-Man became the fastest film to reach $200 million at the box office, sparking a wave of branded marketing partnerships with companies like Burger King and Dr Pepper.

DAVE: I remember those Spider-Man cups at Burger King. Nothing makes you feel like a superhero more than drinking a gallon of soda from a plastic cup with a guy in spandex on it.

LANE: That film changed everything for superhero movies. Before then, comic book movies were hit or miss. After Spider-Man, studios realized they could print money with men in tights.

DAVE: And speaking of Burger King, on May 12th, 2017, they released a controversial Google Home ad that triggered people's devices at home.

LANE: The 15-second commercial ended with a Burger King employee saying "OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?" which activated Google Home devices nationwide to read the Whopper's Wikipedia entry.

DAVE: Google quickly blocked the ad from triggering devices, but not before people realized their homes were being invaded by the King himself. Talk about having it your way!

LANE: It's time for a quick break. When we return, we'll cover more May 12th moments, including a historic tunnel opening and a former president's controversial trip.

DAVE: Stay with us, history lovers!

SPONSOR BREAK

[SOUND EFFECT: RETRO RADIO TRANSITION]

LANE: [ENTHUSIASTIC] Folks, have you heard about the Ball Mason Jar Facebook group? It's where over 100,000 people gather to share delicious recipes and food ideas!

DAVE: [IMPRESSED] You know, Lane, I joined that group last month, and my family hasn't eaten store-bought pickles since. It's the original time travel machine!

LANE: That's right! The Ball Mason Jar lets you drop in some ingredients from gardens of the past, add seasoning, time, and patience, and be rewarded in the future with food the whole family will enjoy!

DAVE: And the best part? You're not paying those crazy costs to supermarkets and giant food processing companies. My grandmother used to say, "Why buy it when you can jar it?"

LANE: She sounds wise. Just last week, I made spicy pickled carrots from a recipe I found in the group. My kids actually ate vegetables... voluntarily!

DAVE: The Ball Mason Jar Facebook group – preserving more than food, they're preserving tradition. Join today!

[SOUND EFFECT: RETRO RADIO TRANSITION]

RETURN & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

LANE: And we're back with more May 12th moments. On this day in 1965, West Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations, a significant step in post-Holocaust reconciliation.

DAVE: This was a big deal. Twenty years after the end of World War II, it represented an important moment in healing for both nations.

LANE: It was controversial in the Arab world, though, with many countries breaking diplomatic ties with West Germany in response.

DAVE: History is complicated that way. One handshake can build a bridge and burn three others.

ENGINEERING FEATS

LANE: On May 12th, 1994, the UK's Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand officially opened the Channel Tunnel.

DAVE: Ah yes, the "Chunnel" – connecting two nations that have spent most of their history trying to invade each other.

LANE: England and France finally figured out that trading cheese and tourists is better than trading cannonballs.

DAVE: The tunnel runs under the English Channel for 31 miles. That's a long way to go underwater without seeing a single fish.

LANE: And it took 13,000 workers six years to build. Just think – that's 13,000 people digging a hole and hoping they'd meet in the middle.

DAVE: Like a really high-stakes version of digging to China in your backyard.

DIPLOMATIC MILESTONES

LANE: On May 12th, 2002, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter began a historic five-day visit to Cuba, becoming the first U.S. president, current or former, to visit since Castro took power in 1959.

DAVE: Carter was always a bit of a diplomatic maverick. While the official U.S. position was still firmly anti-Castro, Carter was there shaking hands and taking tours.

LANE: He even gave a speech in Spanish on Cuban television. Though I'm told his accent was about as Cuban as a Taco Bell is Mexican.

DAVE: Hey, he tried! That's more Spanish than most presidents speak. Usually they just know how to say "vote for me" and "where's the good photo op?"

HEALTH CRISES

LANE: In public health history, May 12th, 2003, marked the peak of the SARS outbreak in East Asia.

DAVE: SARS – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – was a coronavirus that infected about 8,000 people worldwide and killed nearly 800.

LANE: Looking back, it was kind of a dress rehearsal for COVID-19, except we apparently learned nothing from it.

DAVE: "Hey, remember that respiratory virus that spread around the world? Let's completely forget any lessons from that experience!"

LANE: Humans are great at learning from history, aren't we?

RECENT POP CULTURE

DAVE: And finally, on May 12th, 2021, Elon Musk hosted Saturday Night Live, which was... a choice.

LANE: Ah yes, the episode where the world's richest man revealed he had Asperger's syndrome and tanked Dogecoin prices during his monologue.

DAVE: It was like watching your awkward uncle perform at the company talent show, except your uncle has more money than most countries.

LANE: The episode drew mixed reviews, but it was one of the most-watched in years. People couldn't look away, like a car crash where the car costs $70,000 and has weird doors.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

DAVE: And that brings us to today, May 12th, 2025. Another day when things will happen that future history nerds will talk about while making questionable jokes.

LANE: Maybe someone's inventing something amazing right now. Or maybe someone's making a huge mistake that future historians will analyze for centuries.

DAVE: Or both! Often it's the same event.

LANE: That's all the time we have for today's tour through history. I'm Lane...

DAVE: And I'm Dave, reminding you that history is just gossip that's aged really, really well.

LANE: Join us next time on "Touring History," where we'll continue to pretend we understand the complexities of human civilization!

BOTH: [SIMULTANEOUSLY] Goodbye, history lovers!

[THEME MUSIC FADES]

 

00000213 00000213 00003BE7 00003BE7 00014CA7 00014CA7 00007E86 00007E86 00014CC1 00014CC1