Stuff You Missed in History Class
Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.
Episodes
E. Virgil Neal’s career started out with writing successful textbooks, but then took a turn into being a stage hypnotist and then a series of dicey mail-order businesses.
Research:
- “Can’t Find E. Virgil Neal.” New York Times. January 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496816.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
- “Claimed to Raise the Dead.” Kansas City Star. Jan. ...
This 2022 episode covers Hortense and Marie Mancini, who tried to make a place for themselves in 17th-century Europe, defying all kinds of conventions along the way.
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Tracy talks about a book that she didn't use for research on Viola Roseboro'. Holly talks about how wealth inequality has shaped science history.
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Boyle is frequently described at the first modern chemist, but his work encompassed much more than that. Among other things, he was a founding member of the Royal Society.
Research:
- Boyle, Robert. “An account of Philaretus during his Minority.” Accessed online: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/E650001-100.html
- Boyle, Robert. “New experiments physico-mechanicall.” Oxford. 1660. https://archive.org/details/c...
Viola Roseboro’ isn’t well-known today, but she played a big behind-the-scenes role in the careers of a lot of American writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, shaping what’s thought of as the American literary canon.
Research:
- “4 New Features.” Washington D.C. Evening Star. 4/29/2013. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1913-04-29/ed-1/?sp=10&r=-0.115,-0.055,1.648,0.596,0 ...
This 2016 episode covers the May 30, 1948 flood that destroyed Vanport, Oregon. What really makes the story more than a historical footnote is how it ties into the racial makeup of both Portland and Oregon at the time.
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Tracy talks about a strange statement in a paper she read while working on the Carlos J. Finlay episode. Holly shares her amusement at the pact Hartlib and his friends made.
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Samuel Hartlib doesn’t exactly spring to mind when thinking about influential figures of the 17th century. But he served as a sort of conduit for information and connections among them as he sought to promote his ideas regarding theology and education.
Research:
- Britannica Editors. "Samuel Hartlib". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Mar. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Hartlib
- Britannica Editors. "Thirty ...
Carlos Juan Finlay was a Cuban doctor who did a lot of work to understand the spread of Yellow Fever. But Walter Reed got most of the credit.
Research:
- American Experience. “Carlos Finlay (1833-1915).” From The Great Fever. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/fever-carlos-finlay/
- Berenbrok, Dorothy E., "Latin Heritage Month. Carlos Juan Finlay: Outrageous, Courageous and Correct" (2015). Poste...
This 2022 episode covers Deborah Sampson, who could count William Bradford and Myles Standish in her family tree. That tree didn’t include Robert Shurtliff; that was the alias Deborah used to enlist in the Continental Army.
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Holly shares a quote from Daniela Lippi about the importance of ongoing learning in the restoration profession. There is then discussion of the nerve-racking construction of Disneyland.
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Disneyland's opening seemed like an impossibility throughout the construction process. Holly interviews filmmaker Leslie Iwerks about her new film "Disneyland Handcrafted," which shares the journey from an empty dirt lot to the theme park we know today.
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In 1993, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy was damaged by a car bomb. But this story starts in the 16th century with painter Bartolomeo Manfredi, and reaches all the way to the 2000s with an extraordinary restoration project.
Research:
- “600 fragments and one photograph. The restoration of Bartolomeo Manfredi’s “Card Players.” Scala Archives. May 23, 2023. https://scalarchives.com/600-fragments-and-o...
This 2019 episode covers the Regulator War, aka the War of the Regulation, aka the Regulator Movement. It was a North Carolina event which arose in response to unfair taxes, poor representation and corruption.
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Tracy shares why Bhagat Singh Thind rocketed to the top of her topics list. Holly shares a story of bad cat behavior.
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The Carrington Event was a massive geomagnetic storm that happened in 1859. It led to expanded understanding of solar phenomena.
Research:
- “Great Aurora of 1859. Art. XLII – The Great Auroral Exhibition of August 28th to September 4th, 1859.” American Journal of Science. Ser. 2. Vol. 28. July-November 1859.
- Cardenas, Freddy Moreno et al. “The Grand Aurorae Borealis Seen in Colombia in 1859.” Prepr...
United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind was a 1923 case that hinged on what it meant to be white.
Research:
- “Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922).” https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/260/178/
- “United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923).” https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/261/204/
- de la Garza, Amanda. “Doctorji: The Life. Teachings, and Legacy of Dr. Bhagat Singh...
This 2023 episode covers the Insular Cases, which are SCOTUS cases regarding rights of people in U.S. territories.
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Holly talks about how small the circle of London intellectuals was in John Graunt's time. Then there is discussion of disco balls in bathrooms.
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There are so many things in our modern world that we presume are fairly recent inventions. But the three things we’re going to talk about in this instance are quite old, but they have close associations with the recent past.
Research:
- Abbott, David, PhD., ed. “The Biographical Book of Scientists: Engineers and Inventors.” Peter Bedrick Books. New York. 1985.
- “Bad Breath.” Medline Plus. https://med...
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