Useless Information Podcast

By Recorded History Podcast Network

What's Useless Information Podcast about?

Collection of fascinating true stories from the Flip Side of history.

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1,279 ratings

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UI #138 - Titanic's Orphans

08.29.2020

After the Titanic sank, two brothers were orphaned after their dad perished. The search for a family member became an front page news worldwide.\\After the Titanic sank, two brothers became orphans after their dad perished. The search for a family ...

Useless Information Podcast episodes:

08.29.2020 UI #138 - Titanic's Orphans After the Titanic sank, two brothers were orphaned after their dad perished. The search for a family member became an front page news worldwide.\\After the Titanic sank, two brothers became orphans after their dad perished. The search for a family ...
08.12.2020 UI Bonus Episode #6 - Becoming a CPA with Morgan Simmons In this special edition of the podcast, Chatham High School graduate Morgan Simmons interviews Sue Baer, president of the Baer Tax Group in Ghent, NY. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
07.28.2020 UI #137 - The Zambian Space Program In 1964, the newly established country of Zambia announced that it planned to be the first nation to place a man on the moon. An excellent story about a forgotten chapter in space exploration history. Also, learn about the only ...
06.26.2020 UI #136 - The Child Bride Just how young is too young to marry? This episode takes a look at the 1937 marriage between 9-year-old Eunice Winstead and 22-year-old Charlie Johns. Also learn about the purpose of glassmaker's soap, a couple married atop the original Ferris ...
06.15.2020 UI Bonus Episode #5 - Game Design & Testing with Eddie Tice In this special edition of the podcast, Chatham High School senior Eddie Tice interviews Senior QA Tester Trevor Farnsworth at Vicarious Visions, a game developer located in Albany, NY. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
05.15.2020 UI #135 - Emperor of the Sahara (Part 2) In Part 2, we learn what happened to Jacques Lebaudy after his brief reign as an emperor came to an end. Let's just say that the story does not have a happy ending. Also, learn which country produces the most ...
04.27.2020 UI #134 - Emperor of the Sahara (Part 1) The crazy true story of a man who attempted to build an empire of his own in the Sahara. In Part 1, we look at Jacques Lebaudy's failed plan to create the empire and how the French military came to ...
03.31.2020 UI #133 - A Nose for Fishing Sometimes a person can accomplish a great deal over the span of his or her lifetime but is forever defined by one thing that took just a brief moment while they were still young. Harry Morse was one of those ...
02.22.2020 UI #132 - In the Blink of an Eye In 1925, the parents and sisters of 9-year-old Evelyn Castle were killed after their car collided with a train. What came next for Evelyn was totally unexpected. It's a story that is both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. ...
01.25.2020 UI #131 - An Inside Job The incredible story of how James Rufus Landis stole $160,000 in $20 bills from the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing on New Year's Eve of 1953. Also learn about the first ATM machine, a cork leg that saved ...
12.20.2019 UI #130 - A Christmas Eve Kidnapping On Christmas Eve of 1937, a man in Centerville, Indiana kidnapped a young boy and his babysitter. Minutes later, the boy's mother and the local grocer were taken prisoner by a second thug. A shootout between the bandit and the ...
11.22.2019 UI #129 - Soul Searching When miner James Kidd died in 1949, no one could have imagined that it would take more than 21-years to settle his estate. That's because he had made a very unusual request in his will, one that would be nearly ...
10.16.2019 UI #128 - The Prick of Death In 1933, a young man was walking through a busy train station in India when he was pricked in the arm by a man walking in the opposite direction. He would soon be dead and the shocking truth as to ...
09.13.2019 UI #127 - The Case of the Doctor-Doctor Kidnapping In 1933, a medical doctor and a chiropractic doctor were found severely injured a short distance from one another. The two had never met before, but their lives had somehow violently crossed on that fateful day. Also, learn about artist ...
08.09.2019 UI #126 - The Transcontinental Taxi Ride An offbeat story from 1966 about a woman requested that a taxicab drive her all the way from Toledo, Ohio to San Francisco, CA. An airplane or train ride would have been both faster and cheaper, yet she insisted on ...
07.03.2019 UI #125 - The Snoring War A fun story from 1964 in which Brooklyn neighbors Sam Gutwirth and Sam Scheir ended up in court due to Scheir's loud snoring. Also learn about the first bike path in the United States, a building filled with popcorn that ...
06.04.2019 UI #124 - Flying Blind A fantastic story about a Navy pilot who was blinded during a bombing run over North Korea in 1952 and the attempt by another pilot to land him safely. Would he make it? Listen to find out. Also learn about ...
05.19.2019 UI #123 - The Many, Many Murders of Michael Malloy Live presentation of one of my favorite stories of all time. Back in 1933, more than thirty attempts were made on the life of a drunk named Michael Malloy. Sounds like fiction, but is totally true. Learn more about your ...
05.05.2019 UI #122 - 1st Jewish Couple Married on TV (Part 2) Part 2 of my interview with cartoonist Leigh Rubin during which we discuss how he got into cartooning and went on to become a successful syndicated cartoonist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
04.23.2019 UI #121 - 1st Jewish Couple Married on TV (Part 1) Natalie and Stan Rubin were the first Jewish couple ever married on national TV, but it almost never happened. Hear clips from the television show and an interview with their son "Rubes" cartoonist Leigh Rubin. Also learn about the first ...
04.01.2019 The Great Podcast Switcheroo! It's April 1st and the Great Podcast Switcheroo is happening! It's where a number of podcasts have switched hosts for the day. Today we have an episode of the Historical Blindness podcast titled The Camden Wonder, which is one of ...
03.25.2019 UI Bonus Episode #4 - An Incredible Life of Learning Chatham High School student Van Oles interviews his grandfather, retired pharmacist Ronald McLean. It's the wonderful story of a man who started his career as a soda jerk in a pharmacy and ultimately made his way to be appointed as ...
03.17.2019 UI #120 - The Coal Mountain Casanova Back in 1952, Jesse Garrett had recently divorced and was in search of a new wife. He seemed like a catch and thousands of women contacted him to let them know that they were interested. What seemed like a good ...
02.25.2019 UI Bonus Episode #3 - Interview with John Murphy Part 2 of my interview with John Murphy. Here we discuss John's involvement with inventor Dean Kamen (of the Segway fame) and their work to establish the FIRST Robotics competition that now involves tens of thousands of students worldwide. Learn ...
02.06.2019 UI #119 - A Punishment That Went Horribly Wrong The parents of 21-year-old Linda Marie Ault were in a panic when their daughter didn't return home after attending a Friday night dance. They searched everywhere for her, but were unsuccessful. When Linda returned home the next morning, her parents ...
01.13.2019 UI Bonus Episode #2 - Salem Trade School Interview Bonus episode is an interview with John Murphy. His dad was a member of the Salem Trade School, which was the subject of Useless Information Podcast #90 in January 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12.21.2018 UI #118 - Christmas Time in Santa Heim Fun story from the 1940's about a man named Harry H. Heim who converted a defunct mill town into the ultimate Christmas wonderland. Also, learn about the most performed Christmas song, a girl who became very ill after an older ...
12.02.2018 UI #117 - The Adventure of a Lifetime In 1957, three Chicago aluminum awning salesmen decided to quit the jobs and sail to Africa to join in on the lucrative illegal diamond trade. They were in for a wild ride along with a very big surprise waiting for ...
10.21.2018 UI #116 - The Walking Murphys Long forgotten headline story about a family who lost everything in the Great Kansas flood of 1951. Yet, all was not as it seemed... Also learn about what a Lucy Stoner is, a man who used handcuffs to hitchhike, twins ...
09.13.2018 UI #115 - The Monster Crash at Crush During the late 1800's and early 1900's, people around the United States gathered to watch two trains being smashed together. As a PR stunt, W.G. Crush organized one of these crashes for the Kay Railroad near West, Texas. More than ...
08.07.2018 UI #114 - Baby Moses Pearl River, Louisiana resident Effie Crawford made the most startling discovery on November 11, 1936. Moving through the brush near her home she spotted a large dog carrying an unusual package in its mouth. She grabbed the bundle and opened ...
07.05.2018 UI #113 - Mile-A-Minute Murphy The world's fastest bicyclist in the 1890's was Charles Minthorp Murphy and he was certain that there was no locomotive on Earth that could go faster than he could. To prove this, Murphy set a goal to ride one-mile in ...
05.30.2018 UI #112 - A Journey to the Center of the Earth John Cleves Symmes was a popular lecturer back in the 1820's. Not only did Symmes believe that Newton got the concept of gravity totally wrong, he proposed that the Earth had a hollow interior and that one could enter this ...
04.29.2018 UI #111 - Dick the Dog Pennsylvania resident Jacob Silverman made national headlines back in 1922 for the crime of owning a dog named Dick within the commonwealth. The law at the time required that Dick be killed simply because he was owned by Jacob. Could ...
03.28.2018 Useless Information Podcast Bonus Episode #1 Bonus episode that includes an interview that I did back in 2014 with Lene Bech Sillesen and a recording of the NBC live news report when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
02.26.2018 UI #110 - Wife for Sale In 1948, Dorothy Lawlor decided to take an ad out in the Newsday newspaper seeking a husband in exchange for $10,000. Within twenty-four hours she became a media sensation. Did she really marry one of these men? The answer may ...
01.29.2018 UI #109 - The Case of the Phantom Vegetable Oil In the late 1950's and early 1960's, Anthony "Tino" De Angelis ran a global salad oil empire. Find out how Tino grew his business so quickly, his shocking downfall, how JFK’s assassination ties into the story, and the way that ...
12.29.2017 UI #108 - The Man Who Gave Away His Birthday When author Robert Louis Stevenson learned that young Vermont native Annie Ide hated her Christmas birthday, he decided to deed his own birthday to her. Listen to this episode to learn how she celebrated her new birthday and what happened ...
11.24.2017 UI #107 - The First Transatlantic Airplane Race In May of 1929, Old Orchard Beach in Maine was the site for an airplane race that pitted the smaller, more nimble American Green Flash against larger, more powerful French Yellow Bird. Anticipation mounted for weeks as the two planes ...
10.09.2017 UI #106 - Elixir of Death When the S.E. Massengill Co. introduced its Elixir Sulfanilamide to the market in September 1937, there was no law in the United States requiring pharmaceutical companies to test their medicines for toxicity. In just the short time that this elixir ...
08.31.2017 UI #105 - Le Mars Trilogy: Part 3 - Maybelle Trow Knox During desperate times some people are forced to do desperate things. The trick is to not get caught. Let's just say that Maybelle Trow Knox was not very good at that last part. Also learn the real name of Scooby ...
07.07.2017 UI #104 - Le Mars Trilogy: Part 2 - Farmers in Revolt The Great Depression was an awful time for farmers in Iowa. It culminated with the near hanging of a judge in Le Mars. It just happens that the farm involved was owned by the T.M. Zink estate, the same man ...
06.10.2017 UI #103 - Le Mars Trilogy: Part 1 - T.M. Zink's Library The first of a 3-part series on Le Mars, Iowa from the 1930's. Le Mars was thrust into the national spotlight by the actions of just one man: a successful lawyer named T.M. Zink, who left nearly his entire estate ...
05.06.2017 UI #102 - Dr. Mary Edwards Walker Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was one of the first female doctors in the United States and is the only woman to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, until the government rescinded her award. Also learn about a woman who ...
03.27.2017 UI #101 - Where There's a Wilby, There's a Way Between 1942 and 1943 Ralph Marshall Wilby appeared to pull off what appeared to be the perfect crime. An incredible story that has many elements of an international thriller: deception, false identities, international kidnapping, and the drop dead gorgeous woman ...
02.28.2017 UI #100 - A Miracle Birth in Mexico On March 5, 2000, Ines Ramirez Perez went into labor but was unable to get any medical care to help with the delivery. In a panic, Ines concluded that she had no other option than to deliver the baby herself. ...
11.26.2016 UI #99 - Millionaire for a Day Back in 1911, Wilkes-Barre, PA resident John Jay "Butch" McDevitt won the Democratic Primary for county treasurer. The only problem was that the Democratic Committee didn't want McDevitt on the ballot. Listen to this story to find out how the ...
10.17.2016 UI #98 - The Trick-or-Treat Dentist The Halloween episode. Learn about a reputable California dentist named William Shyne who supposedly gave the children of his neighborhood lollipops and laxative pills for Halloween. Also, learn about a woman arrested for dressing like a man, a man who ...
09.12.2016 UI #97 - Silent Susan On October 6, 1946 a young woman was arrested in Palisades Park, NJ for refusing to provide a police officer with her name. She had been cooperative in every way but refused to provide that single piece of information. Her ...
08.03.2016 UI #96 - The Ice Cream Wars The everything ice cream episode! Learn about an ongoing war between ice cream vendors, which included bombings, gunfire, torching of trucks, and threats. Also, learn about a ban on using glue in ice cream, a pharmacy robbery where one of ...

Older episodes

Useless Information Podcast

What's Useless Information Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Useless Information Podcast episodes:

UI #138 - Titanic's Orphans

UI Bonus Episode #6 - Becoming a CPA with Morgan Simmons

UI #137 - The Zambian Space Program

UI #136 - The Child Bride

UI Bonus Episode #5 - Game Design & Testing with Eddie Tice

UI #135 - Emperor of the Sahara (Part 2)

UI #134 - Emperor of the Sahara (Part 1)

UI #133 - A Nose for Fishing

UI #132 - In the Blink of an Eye

UI #131 - An Inside Job

UI #130 - A Christmas Eve Kidnapping

UI #129 - Soul Searching

UI #128 - The Prick of Death

UI #127 - The Case of the Doctor-Doctor Kidnapping

UI #126 - The Transcontinental Taxi Ride

UI #125 - The Snoring War

UI #124 - Flying Blind

UI #123 - The Many, Many Murders of Michael Malloy

UI #122 - 1st Jewish Couple Married on TV (Part 2)

UI #121 - 1st Jewish Couple Married on TV (Part 1)

The Great Podcast Switcheroo!

UI Bonus Episode #4 - An Incredible Life of Learning

UI #120 - The Coal Mountain Casanova

UI Bonus Episode #3 - Interview with John Murphy

UI #119 - A Punishment That Went Horribly Wrong

UI Bonus Episode #2 - Salem Trade School Interview

UI #118 - Christmas Time in Santa Heim

UI #117 - The Adventure of a Lifetime

UI #116 - The Walking Murphys

UI #115 - The Monster Crash at Crush

UI #114 - Baby Moses

UI #113 - Mile-A-Minute Murphy

UI #112 - A Journey to the Center of the Earth

UI #111 - Dick the Dog

Useless Information Podcast Bonus Episode #1

UI #110 - Wife for Sale

UI #109 - The Case of the Phantom Vegetable Oil

UI #108 - The Man Who Gave Away His Birthday

UI #107 - The First Transatlantic Airplane Race

UI #106 - Elixir of Death

UI #105 - Le Mars Trilogy: Part 3 - Maybelle Trow Knox

UI #104 - Le Mars Trilogy: Part 2 - Farmers in Revolt

UI #103 - Le Mars Trilogy: Part 1 - T.M. Zink's Library

UI #102 - Dr. Mary Edwards Walker

UI #101 - Where There's a Wilby, There's a Way

UI #100 - A Miracle Birth in Mexico

UI #99 - Millionaire for a Day

UI #98 - The Trick-or-Treat Dentist

UI #97 - Silent Susan

UI #96 - The Ice Cream Wars

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