Stuff You Missed in History Class

Husband-and-wife team William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells conducted research that had the potential to make a big difference in the safety of indoor air. But it didn’t really have a significant impact on public health.

Research:

• Associated Press. “Super-Oyster Is On its Way to Dinner Table Bigger and Better Bivalve Sports Pedigree.” 3/13/1927. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84020064/1927-03-13/ed-1/?s...

All over the world, for all of human history – and probably going back to our earliest hominid ancestors – people have found ways to try to keep themselves clean. But how did soap come about? 

Research:

• “Soap, N. (1), Etymology.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2025, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1115187665.
• American Cleaning Institute. “Soaps & Detergents History.” https:/...

The initial time period where a TV remote control was developed was pretty short. And it shows how two different people perceive their work, and how that work is perceived differently over time by their employer.

Research:

• Adler, R. “Control System.” Dec. 17, 1957. U.S. Patent Office. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/9a/fb/1a/619d2580b08526/US2817025.pdf
• AFX News. “COMPANY NEWS; MOTOROLA TO BUY ZEN...

Jane Cunningham Croly, who wrote under the pen name Jennie June, was a journalist who advocated for equality for women. She is most well known for founding one of the earliest clubs for women in the U.S.

Research:

• Croly, Jennie June. “Jennie June's American Cookery Book, Containing Upwards of Twelve Hundred Choice and Carefully Tested Receipts.” Excelsior. 1878. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jennie_June_s_Am...

Maria Dickin wanted to raise the status of animals in society and bring more awareness to the work they were doing during World War II. The Dickin Medal was created to honor military working animals. This episode covers six of those recipients.

Research:

• “Cats and Dogs.” Sabretache: The Official Journal of the Calgary Military Historical Society. August Extra #1. 2022. http://cmhs.ca/sabretache/Sabretache_2022_08_1...

The possible contenders for the title of inventor of spray paint were actually working across decades. And really, all those people contributed pieces of the story.

Research:

• Abplanalp, R.H. “Valve mechanism for dispensing gases and liquids under pressure.” U.S. Patent Office. March 17, 1953. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/e2/65/be/710e864cf870d8/US2631814.pdf
• “About Binks.” https://binks.c...

Buck v. Bell is the 1927 SCOTUS decision that upheld the constitutionality of laws allowing involuntary sterilization of people deemed to be “unfit.” Most of these laws have been repealed, but Buck v. Bell has never been directly overturned.

Research:

• "Buck v. Bell." Gale Encyclopedia of American Law, edited by Michael J. Tyrkus and Carol A. Schwartz, 4th ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2022, pp. 174-177. Gale In Context: Oppos...

Estevanico was a translator and guide, and was probably the first person of any race from outside the Americas to enter what’s now Arizona and New Mexico – which happened in 1539.

Research:

• Birzer, Dedra McDonald and J.M.H. Clark. “Esteban Dorantes.” Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade. Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation. https://enslaved.org/fullStory/16-23-92882/
• Birzer, Dedra McDonald. "Esteb...

William J. Sharkey was a pickpocket, a con man, a politician, and a murderer, though whether or not that murder was an accident became the question at the center of a case that gripped New York for months. And then, he vanished. Sort of.

Research:

• “An Assassin’s Career.” New York Times. March 22, 1875. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1875/03/22/91671169.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
• Asbury, Her...