January 20, 2025 • 46 mins
When you think of delivery routes - you probably think of news papers. But that’s not epic! January 19th has epic deliveries that you won’t want to miss!
- Like the time a guy named Chickie delivered Pabst Blue Ribbon beers to his buddies in a war zone!
- Or the time the biggest route ever raced on a bike was invented - because of scandal and rivalries.
- How ‘bout the routes taken by zeppelin bombers that took over the British skies during World War 1?
If it's a special day for you or for someone you care about, why not learn a little more about today by listening to some fun, engaging tales of the past. You’ll find yourself a little smarter and have some great stories you can tell in those awkward silent moments at the next baby shower you attend. If you need some great gift ideas, we have those too (along with links to where you can find them on Amazon).
Learn more about today’s events here (these links worked in early-2025 - not sure how long the links will be available):
- Link to the Apple TV movie made about the Greatest Beer Run Ever
- Link to the Steve Smith’s guide page and blog post about zeppelin raids
Gift ideas for folks who celebrate January 19th:
- Immerse yourself into the Greatest Beer Run books and movies - and you gotta check out these Pabst Blue Ribbon crew socks
- There are books and decor featuring the Tour de France - but the winner is this yellow cycling jersey!
- Books about the zeppelin bombings - or about the towns bombed are nice - but so is a desktop zeppelin model.
- Posters & movies of today’s famous folks: Dolly Parton, Shawn Johnson, Paula Deen and Edgar Allen Poe
- Similarly, there are fun gift options to celebrate today’s holidays: Popcorn Day is fun, Brew a Potion Day
Text me your favorite time travel movie!!!
~~~ DayStrider Fun ~~~
Do you want to be mentioned here in the podcast? Or do you want me to do a shout-out for a loved one? All you need to do is send me an e-mail: daystriderstories@gmail.com
Better yet, you can record your own shout-out by leaving me a voice message using this SpeakPipe link
Do you have a story that you wish to share? Join me as a guest and let’s tell the world together! Once again, just send me an e-mail or find me here on Facebook: Truman Pastworthy
If you had as much fun listening as I did creating this episode, please click "follow" in your favorite podcast platform . . . oh . . . and even better - why not share it with a friend (or three)! I’m betting you know just the perfect person who would enjoy today’s stories!
If you feel adventurous, how 'bout writing a great review? :-)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Truman (00:02):
Welcome Seeker! Would you risk your life just to
deliver a cold beer to a friendin a war zone?
Or dream up a rivalry stunt sooutrageous that it might make
history?
Well, today we're diving intotales of fearless friendship,
bold ambition, and sky-highdanger.
(00:24):
This isn't just any day inhistory.
It's January 19th, and it'spacked with stories that will
blow your mind and make you say,wait, that actually happened?
Yeah.
Our journey begins with thetale of fearless friendship, or
maybe sheer madness, as one manbraves a war zone just to bring
(00:45):
his buddies a beer.
Then we'll race back to theturn of century Paris, where
scandal and ambition sparked oneof the toughest sporting events
ever.
Finally, we'll soar overEngland in 1915, where the skies
became a battleground in waysthe world had never seen before.
(01:05):
We'll return you to your normalself with some wild stories to
tell, a new lens on history, andmaybe, just maybe, a little
inspiration to create anadventure of your own.
The portal's humming, history'ssecrets are waiting, and our
day-striding adventure beginsnow.
Grab your curiosity and stepthrough, my friend.
(01:27):
Let's get to it.
Welcome, seekers, to theenchanting world of Daystrider,
the podcast where we embark on adaily journey through history.
I'm your travel guide, TrumanPastworthy, and together we'll
(01:47):
explore some fascinating storiesthat happened on this exact
day, but from some time in thepast.
From groundbreaking inventionsto remarkable birthdays and
extraordinary events to quirkynational holidays, we've got it
all.
So kick back, relax, and openyour mind for some lighthearted
stories that'll leave yousaying, huh, I never knew that
(02:08):
happened on this day.
Alrighty then, let's get to it.
Picture this, a wild midnightbeer run, a four-passenger
convertible packed with sevenpeople, and uh-oh.
you're out of gas on a pitchblack empty road has this ever
(02:31):
happened to you maybe maybe notbut if you're old enough to
drink beer i bet you probablyhave some kind of crazy story to
tell so what is that best beerstory you have come on think
about it for a second what'smine you ask Maybe it was the
time I decided to drink a wholecase of beer in one day and to
(02:54):
make it more fun, slap some ducttape on each can and wrote a
name on it.
Yeah, I started with Angus andended with Willie and used the
other 22 letters in between tohelp me track my progress while
drinking.
Do you think I finished thatquest?
Well, I'll answer that questionafter I tell you the story
(03:14):
about the greatest beer runever.
And this one is pretty crazy.
All right.
Cue the Mission Impossibletheme song.
Chickie Donahue, your mission,should you choose to accept it,
is to deliver some beer andhometown blessings to this list
of young men spread across alldifferent cities in a country
(03:40):
halfway around the world.
Wait a second.
That's too boring.
Let's up the stakes.
These men were drafted into theU.S.
Army and are now fighting fortheir lives in Vietnam.
Yes, the year is 1968, and thenation is at war out in the Far
East and kind of at war here athome.
Many people are protesting awar they didn't understand, and
(04:03):
our freedom fighters back thendidn't get the same kind of love
they get today.
So, Chickie, you need to gotell them we care.
and bring them some beer toshow them that we care.
Do you accept your mission?
Well, John Chickie Donahue didexactly that.
And on this day in 1968, hestepped off the merchant ship,
(04:24):
Drake Victory, at Queen Yon,wearing a pair of blue jeans, a
plaid shirt, and carrying aduffel sack full of Pabst Blue
Ribbon beer.
Yeah, for real, this is a truestory.
And some of you are grinningand nodding because you've seen
the Zac Efron movie that theymade about this adventure.
But others of you are thinking,what?
(04:47):
No way.
How's that even possible?
Your first question probably,how does someone even get to a
country that's at war, much lessget around while you're there?
Well, grab a cold beer, pop thetop, and kick your feet back
while I tell you.
Now, Tiki, he was a littleolder than his buddies fighting
(05:08):
in Nam, and he had alreadyserved four years as a merchant
marine.
So when this crazy idea cameabout, he already had what's
called a seaman's license in hispocket.
Yep, and of course, this crazyidea took place at a bar.
Where else would it happen?
In Inwood, New York, which isway up at the tippy top of
Manhattan.
(05:28):
And in the 60s, thisneighborhood was Irish American,
and the folks were really tightthere.
Everyone knew everyone else.
And the owner of the bar, hewas ex-military, and he was not
happy with the protests going ondown in Central Park.
He felt like if the boys overin NAMM heard about this or saw
it on TV, their morale would godown.
(05:48):
They were putting their liveson the line.
So, he suggested someone bringhim a beer and tell him that we
loved him.
And of course, Jicky was in thebar that night, and he agreed
to it.
Because, you know, he didn'treally have much anything much
better to do.
His words later.
And he was definitely one ofthose types who was often
(06:09):
zagging while most folks arezigging.
So the next day, a bunch ofmoms showed up at the bar with
their sons' names and messagesthey wanted to share.
And they had money to give toChickie for his quest.
And he was trying to write allthese names down and where these
soldiers were in Vietnam.
Yeah.
And if our hero was having anydoubts after a good night's
(06:30):
sleep, They all got squashed.
And so, seaman's card in hand,he finagled his way onto a ship
bound for Vietnam called theDrake Victory.
And like I said before, hedidn't plan his packing very
well.
He had a toothbrush, a razor,and a case and a half of New
York beers, including Pabst BlueRibbon.
Now, before I keep going, letme explain that Vietnam curves
(06:54):
gently along the South ChinaSea, like a backwards sea or
maybe a banana, with its stemtouching China in the northern
border.
And Chickie's ship pulled intoQuy Nhon, which is about
one-third of the way up from thebottom.
Stepping off the ship, Chickiedidn't have a map or a plan.
Imagine, it's sticky and hot,and there's a hum of soldiers
(07:15):
unloading cargo, and there's adistant echo of gunfire.
It's not exactly your typicalbeer delivery spot, right?
It took him a minute, but henoticed that the Army soldiers
working at the dock were fromthe 127th Division.
What?
That can't be.
He pulled out his list andlooked.
Tommy was in Unit 127.
Tommy Collins, one of the guyson the list.
(07:39):
So he asked around, hey, youguys know Tommy Collins from New
York?
And sure enough, one of themdid.
And so they drove him toCollins, and he was stunned.
Total disbelief.
What?
What are you doing here?
How did you get here?
You're crazy.
You're freaking crazy.
And Tiki's response was, Iwanted to bring you a cold beer.
(08:00):
Yes, this is a true story.
Now, of course, many of you areprobably asking the same
question I had.
How is this even possible?
And wait till you hear thiscrazy cover story he came up
with, which today the kids wouldcall sus.
Anyway, folks over there boughtit.
He said he was whatever soldierhe was trying to find.
(08:22):
He said he was theirstepbrother and their mom was
ill and he needed to deliversome message personally.
That's as soft as foam on afresh beer pour.
But it worked.
It worked every time.
All right, so back to QueenYon.
So that night, while beerhopping with his pal Tommy, he
(08:42):
ran into a guy with a patch onhis jacket that matched...
another person on his list,some airborne something.
So the next day, that guyhelped him sneak onto a plane
and they flew to the nextlocation on his list.
But after they landed, he stillneeded to catch a helicopter
out to the perimeter where hisbuddy Rick Dugan was stationed.
(09:03):
And he boldly walked up to theperson in charge and said, I
need to be on the chopper goingto LZ Jane at 1800 hours.
And he said it with authority.
And they said, yes, sir.
Where are you coming from?
And Chicky said, down south.
And that was it.
And the guy squinted at him.
And he stopped askingquestions.
And he just wrote Donahue downon the manifest.
(09:25):
And that was it.
Yeah.
And then later that evening, heactually connected with Dugan,
who was totally stunned, asyou'd expect.
And of course, he was worriedabout Chickie's outfit.
He stood out like a sore thumb.
So Dugan got him a militaryshirt to wear so he wasn't this
big target for the bad guys.
(09:46):
But can you picture these twoand a couple other GIs sitting
in a foxhole out on the edge ofdanger, drinking beers and
swapping stories?
Yeah, it's crazy, right?
Chickie's adventures like thiscontinued for another couple
weeks, but you'll have to checkout the book or the movie to
catch them all, and they're asfun and crazy as the ones you
(10:07):
just heard.
And you may even still bedoubting this whole adventure,
wondering how is it so manysenior military officers were
not doing something about thisguy walking around in street
clothes in the middle of acountry at war.
Well, here's the thing.
These officers thought thatChickie was with the CIA.
(10:28):
And when he told people he wasthere to deliver beer, some of
them would just laugh and walkaway.
And others would complain, youCIA guys are all alike.
Never want to tell anyone whatyou're up to.
And that was enough to enableChickie to complete this
mission.
Crazy, right?
I'm still stunned.
My story about naming beerswasn't nearly as fun as this
(10:52):
one.
Especially when I tell you Ionly made it to Stanley.
Or was it Terrence?
I can't remember.
Boo.
Anyway, when our pal Chickiefinally walked back into Doc
Fiddler's, that's that bar backin Inwood, New York, where this
crazy idea was born, he wasn'tjust a local hero.
(11:12):
He was a legend.
Free beers for life.
Yay.
And that, my friends, is howone man's crazy idea became the
greatest beer run ever.
Cheers to Chickie.
And to the stories we'retelling.
But wait a second.
One more thing.
(11:33):
And this is the crazy part.
The only people who knew aboutthis story for the longest time
were the folks from Inwood, NewYork.
And it's almost too crazy tobelieve, right?
But in the 60s and 70s, storieslike this didn't pop up on
social media and they didn't goviral.
(11:53):
No.
No.
It was just a great story thatkind of faded with time until
1990 rolled around.
And that year, some lineworkers at the New York Daily
News went on strike.
And these people happened to befriends of Chickie's.
But the paper was hell-bent onpublishing anyway, and they
rounded up scab replacements totry to get printed.
(12:16):
And that didn't sit well withChickie.
And he knows a guy and he usedhis connections to actually
reroute the newsprint suppliesthat were headed to New York to
somewhere, nowhere, NorthDakota.
And the daily news couldn't goto print because they didn't
have anything to print on.
And another reporter coveringthis story was getting her
(12:39):
background on this crazy Donahueguy and the beer run stories
bubbled up.
And she's like, Hey, there's astory here.
And this needs to get told.
And so she got around toresearching it.
And then they made adocumentary.
And one thing led to another.
And now you can watch the movieon Apple TV.
Yeah.
Chickie nailed the con artist'sbest secret.
(13:00):
Act like you belong and keep itsimple.
In Chickie's case, that was allhe needed.
I'll drink to that, folks.
Cheers.
Roses are red and Pabst beertastes great.
Writing a review would be firstrate.
Can't think of the words?
Chicky might write.
A toast to Daystrider andstories done right.
(13:23):
What if I told you that one ofthe top five sporting events in
the entire world came into beingby accident?
Yeah, it's true.
Now think about it for asecond.
In your head, list the world'stop sporting events.
Go ahead.
I'll wait.
(13:44):
All right, man, okay.
So many of you probably startedwith either the World Cup or
the Olympics, right?
And then, huh, after a bit ofthought, you might have said
Wimbledon?
I don't know.
How about the Super Bowl?
Yeah, that's on the list.
What about the grueling 23-day,2,000-mile bicycle race in
(14:08):
France?
Oh yeah, that's definitely inthe top five sporting events in
the world.
And I miss that.
Well, would you believe thatthe world-renowned Tour de
France was actually born out ofa political scandal and a
business rivalry?
Yeah.
Basically, this major event wasoriginally created as a
(14:29):
gimmick, a way to improvecirculation and subscribers.
A way...
Come on, Truman.
Yeah, yeah, it's true.
Follow me here while I spin upa good old story for you.
I want to take you back toParis, France in the 1890s.
Oh, Paris.
Ah, la belle époque.
(14:52):
A time of excitement, culturalflourishing, and technological
innovation.
Ah, yes.
Can-can dancers.
Art nouveau.
Even the Eiffel Tower.
Tour d'Evelle.
forever melding itself into theParis skyline.
Oh, and scandal in the air.
(15:13):
Maybe you've heard of theDreyfus Affair?
No?
All right, give me 30 secondsand I'll explain.
There's this guy, AlfredDreyfus.
He was a Jewish militaryofficer, and he was falsely
accused and convicted oftreason, sparking outrage and
controversy.
The military's handling of thecase, including fabrication of
(15:37):
evidence and manipulation of thejustice system, fueled a major
scandal.
It was uproar in the late1890s.
Everyone was up in arms aboutaccusations of anti-Semitism,
which is Jewish racism, and thecriminal justice system, and how
awful things were.
It was horrible, and the debatewas viral, and it wasn't going
(15:58):
away.
This political debate found itsway into every nook and cranny
of society.
even the cycling world of allplaces.
A great example of this was atLavello, which was a daily
sports paper in Paris thatincluded coverage of cycling,
and from time to time, theymixed in political editorials.
(16:18):
Well, when the Dreyfus Affairdebates were reaching their
peak, the Lavello folks made itclear which side they were on.
But their biggest advertiser,with the deepest pockets,
happened to be in theopposition.
And they weren't going to standfor spending money on such
outrageous propaganda.
So they took their money andstarted their own daily sports
(16:42):
paper called Lotto, pronouncedLotto.
Makes sense, right?
Not much different than thetime Steve Jobs was kicked out
of Apple and he started anothercompany called Next Computers to
compete with the Macintosh.
Yeah.
So anyway, back to Paris.
To differentiate themselvesfrom Lavello, which was printed
(17:04):
on green paper, Lotto decided toprint on yellow paper.
And of course, their politicalleanings were on the opposite
side of their competitor andrival, so in the beginning, that
helped sell papers.
At least for a while, anyway.
But of course, as with moststories, the Dreyfus Affair
eventually became old news.
(17:26):
And in the early 1900s, thesporting stories that Lotto
covered was basically the samestuff that Lavello was covering,
written in mostly the samestyle and format, and so they
struggled to compete.
And sadly, their circulationbegan to decline.
And their numbers got worse andworse until this day in 1903.
(17:52):
That's right.
On January 19th, they made abig announcement.
They were going to sponsor thebiggest cycling race in the
world and provide insider accessand coverage that no one else
would be able to do.
Yeah, it was going to be huge.
(18:15):
And they would basically have amonopoly on the sports
coverage.
What a gimmick, right?
Yeah.
So they got to planning andthey planned big.
They set up a 19-day,2,400-kilometer course all
around France that was going totake place in six massive
stages.
(18:35):
Yeah, so for perspective, realquick, what's it look like
today?
It's about 23 days to raceabout 3,400 kilometers over 21
stages.
So the race hasn't evolved muchdifferent than it was, except
it's harder today, but we'll getto that in a minute.
Anyway, they were making theserules to be much different than
other cycling races being heldat that time in Europe.
(18:58):
This whole idea of stages wastotally unique because most
cycle races just took place inone single day.
And then tack on the fact thatsome of these stages were far
longer than those one-day raceswere, making this a really
difficult event to compete in.
They wanted only the toughestriders in the world because
(19:21):
covering them would be so muchbetter for the circulation of
their paper.
See how that works?
And to up the stakes, they madeit so that each rider was all
on their own during the race.
No teams.
No mechanics to fix theirbikes.
No pacers to help them stay ontrack as they were racing these
(19:41):
stages.
No doctors to massage theirburning calves in between the
stages.
Yeah, it's crazy, right?
Today, each rider has a hugeteam supporting them.
And back in the day, when theyhad those one-day races, there
was a team concept.
There were people helping withthe bikes and people that helped
pace the racers.
(20:02):
Yeah, but not in the originalTour de France.
Nope.
They wanted this race to betough, like I said, because they
were going for drama.
Why?
Because drama sells papers.
But In order to sell papers,you also need racers.
Yeah, the original race dateswere in June of that year, but
(20:23):
guess what?
There were not enough toughguys who decided to sign up for
this race.
So, the Lotto folks had to digdeeper into their coffers and
come up with some more prizemoney.
Yep, it worked, and they foundsome more tough guys, and they
revised the race dates to July,and then off they went.
(20:44):
Now, I'm not going to provide ablow-by-blow of that first
race, but the short story is therace was a huge success on and
off the course.
It was extremely popular, andthe circulation of Lotto soared.
Clearly, having a monopoly overthe coverage of each of those
(21:06):
racers worked exactly asplanned.
And guess what?
They never looked back.
In fact, by the time of the1904 race was gearing up to
start, that's just the nextyear, the Lovello paper had
actually closed up shop.
They were forced out ofbusiness.
Take that, suckas.
(21:26):
That's crazy.
Oh, my goodness.
The race itself, as you know,is obviously world-renowned.
And it's been run nearly everyyear since 1903.
There were a couple of breaksduring the First and Second
World Wars, of course.
But each time peace returned,the tour was back on.
And you know how we love ourfacts and tidbits here at
(21:49):
Daystrider, so I've found a fewof them for you.
About 16 years after the firstrace, so that's 1919, they
officially began using theyellow jersey for the race
leader.
You're familiar with the yellowjersey.
Well, this was an homage to theoriginal Lotto founders,
because remember I said theydecided to print on yellow paper
(22:11):
to differentiate themselves?
Yeah, yellow jersey.
And the race?
It's harder today than it wasback then, because they have
more mountain stages now anddifficult sprint stages mixed
in.
But the stakes are also muchhigher today.
Yeah, today, if you win, youcan take home a half a million
bucks.
(22:31):
But the OG racers who won backin the day, they only won the
equivalent of about 35 grand intoday's money.
Oh, my goodness.
And my last little nugget hasto do with the bikes they ride.
Today, the Tour requires aminimum weight limit of 15
pounds, which seems to me prettycrazy light.
(22:52):
But anyway, the originalriders...
had to pedal around onmonstrosities.
Their bikes weighed between 35and 45 pounds, so almost three
times heavier than today'sracers.
Wow.
So the next time you're on theweb surfing around or you're
doom scrolling and you spot aTour de France update, pause and
(23:14):
reflect a moment.
Even a gimmick born fromrivalry and scandal can evolve
into something legendary.
Yep, sometimes greatness pedalsits way in from the most
unexpected places.
A time traveler's delight, wepedal through time, spinning
(23:36):
great stories in rhythm andrhyme.
If these tales have you racingwith wonder anew, please share
with your friends.
Let them ride along too.
Imagine this.
It's a quiet, crisp Tuesdaynight.
And you're doing some chores orwriting a letter because it's
(23:57):
1915 and so TVs haven't beeninvented yet.
And you hear a low, distant humthat maybe sounds like a hive
of angry bees far off in thenight.
As the sound draws nearer, itdeepens and you can feel it
vibrating through the air.
So you run outside to figureout, hey, what's happening here?
(24:17):
And you can tell it'smechanical because the rhythm is
deep and relentless.
But you've never heard such asound before.
And then off in the distance,you can see some kind of shadowy
something floating in the sky.
What the?
Boom! Down the street, a flashof brilliance with a massive
(24:37):
explosion interrupts thepeaceful night.
And then another one, boom,shakes the earth a bit closer to
you.
And then another before youdecide, oh my, it's time to run
back inside and pray, pray, prayfor mercy.
Yeah.
This story actually happened onthis day in 1915 in Norfolk,
Britain.
(24:57):
You see, back then, Britain wasat war with the Germans.
It was called the Great War forthe longest time.
But your history teacher calledit World War I.
And that night was the veryfirst night those barbaric Huns
brought the war against Britainto the skies and caused
fatalities.
(25:18):
And guess what?
I found a battlefield tourguide who actually lives in that
area of Britain to talk usthrough that night and the
nights that followed.
Let's hear from Steve Smith howthose first eyewitnesses
reacted on that fateful night.
Steve (25:36):
Well, I think the biggest thing for it is
miscomprehension of what they'reseeing.
People have read aboutZeppelins, and yes, they may
have seen photographs of thembecause there's been reports of
actions that have happened onthe front.
But to see this thingphysically, it must have been
like them seeing a UFO.
(25:57):
Yeah.
You know, something...
Because, you know, what thehell am I seeing?
One witness describes it whenthey hear this zeppelin going
over at Heacham.
It sounds like a load ofmotorbikes going through the
village because of the engines.
So, you know, you're thinking,what the hell is this sound?
(26:17):
You know, what am I hearing?
And, of course, they'll seethis thing in the air and think,
Great majority of them probablyhave got no idea what it is.
So that in itself, isn't it, isgoing to create panic and
terror.
Soldiers are trying to fire onit, but they've got no hope.
Yeah, they could possibly sortof get bullets through it.
(26:38):
But we've got nothing at thattime that really is going to
cause any major harm to azeppelin.
Truman (26:45):
So hold on, Truman.
What is a zeppelin anyway?
Well, there are these massiveairships about as long as a
football field, and they hadmetal frames that were covered
with fabric and then filled withhydrogen, and that's how they
floated.
To some, they were beautifulmarvels of engineering, but to
others, they were a terrifyingharbinger of destruction.
(27:09):
They were powered by propellersand...
Steve (27:12):
They could get up to about 5,000 feet, something like
that.
So, you know, they can go quitehigh and that would enable
them.
It was a clear night, so itenables them to sort of navigate
by map reading, you know, andessentially following...
the lie of the land, so tospeak.
So for instance, you know,let's follow this route.
We see where it takes us.
(27:33):
You know, luckily for ZeppelinL3, the commander, he knew
exactly where he was anyway.
So he was able to navigate toGreat Yarmouth anyway by use of
map and landmark.
Truman (27:44):
Oh, okay.
So that sounds like they wereable to navigate these airships
in a controlled way.
But here's the crazy part.
To drop the bombs, they justbasically picked them up, held
them over the edge of thegondola, And, well, I'll let
Steve tell you.
Steve (27:59):
Yeah, we're talking about, it really was very much
very rudimentary, you know,literally look over and drop
them as you see it.
You know, none of the kind oftechnology that we have today,
we've got laser guided bombs.
It's literally this, the use ofyour eyeballs, where are we?
Okay, let's drop it as we can.
(28:20):
You know, there was no scienceto it at the time.
And so, you know, those bombsthat they're dropping, which
were either incendiary bombs orhigh explosive bombs, are just
literally right, you know, bang,you know, one drop, next one,
and as we do that.
Truman (28:35):
So the OG Zeppelin bombings were not very precise,
but they did manage to actuallyhit their target a few times
that night.
Steve, please tell us aboutthese very first victims in the
towns of Great Yarmouth andKings Limb on that fateful
night.
Steve (28:51):
In Great Yarmouth...
Bomb number four, which is ahigh explosive bomb, lands in a
particular place called St.
Peter's Plain.
And you have Martha Taylor, whowas a spinster in her 70s, who
was out shopping at the time,returning home and sadly just
happens to be in the wrong placeat the wrong time.
(29:13):
And when the bomb hits, shegets killed through blast
damage.
And the other victim was SamuelSmith, who was basically a
shoesmith, so, you know, ownedhis own little shop where he
kind of sort of like repairedshoes.
Here's this commotion, goes tolook out to see what that is.
(29:33):
And again, has the misfortuneto be in the firing line when
the bomb drops.
And again, he's killed throughblast damage.
Truman (29:39):
If
Steve (29:40):
he would have stayed inside, he would have been maybe
safe?
Quite possibly.
Yeah.
Yeah, very much so.
With King's Lynn, the twovictims there are Percy Goat, a
14-year-old boy, who sadly is inbed when a bomb lands and that
falls through the house wherehe's at.
(30:01):
And when he explodes, it'sdescribed that he dies through
concussion.
So it's just literally theconcussion of the bomb going
off.
And it's described actuallythat he didn't even have a mark
on him.
So when you think about whatkind of horrible injuries you
can get from bomb blast damage,it was just literally described
(30:22):
as being seen as dead, but withno real mark.
Truman (30:27):
So no shrapnel hit him?
I'm sorry.
No, no.
No shrapnel.
It's just the pulse of thebomb.
Steve (30:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just the concussion.
Truman (30:36):
Jarring his body so much that
Steve (30:38):
it shut everything down.
Yeah,
Truman (30:40):
sadly.
Steve (30:41):
And then Alice Gasly, who's the last victim,
26-year-old lady who had sadlylost her husband in the fighting
in December of 1914.
So she's a widow and had beenstaying with friends because of
that.
Coming back, again, theZeppelin's over.
(31:01):
And sadly, when the bomb lands,again, she's at the wrong
place, wrong time.
And the same description,apparently, is that she was
killed through concussion.
So, yeah, so they become thesefour victims, you know, the
first victims of the Zeppelinraid in the UK.
Yeah.
Truman (31:21):
But of course, these bombs were just being dropped
out of the Zeppelins with notargeting.
So some folks did get lucky.
Steve (31:27):
In fact, if you talk about lucky escapes, you have a
gentleman in a house in St.
Peter's Plain, a Mr.
Ellis, who was wrappingpresents for something.
His wife and his daughter areout and he decides that he needs
to go to the back of his houseto get something while he's
(31:48):
trapped in his presence, andthat's when the bomb lands.
So what saves him is the factthat he was in the rear of the
property when the bomb hit, butit blew the front of the house
off.
So he had a very lucky escape.
Truman (32:00):
All right, well, that's all we have time for right now.
But as you can tell, Steve isquite knowledgeable about these
events, and you can hear muchmore about that night in the
full bonus episode.
Yeah, he walks us through thebackground of how the Germans
decided to begin usingZeppelins.
He plots out the entire journeythey took that night.
And more importantly, he walksus through how they eventually
(32:24):
figured out how to shoot theseairships out of the sky.
But I gotta tell you, thecoolest thing I learned from
Steve had nothing to do withZeppelins.
As I said, he's a tour guide,and he takes guests on
pilgrimages.
That's what he calls them.
And he helps people findexactly where their grandparents
or great-grandparents werefighting in France and Belgium.
(32:47):
Literally right to the spotwhere the trench was that they
were fighting in using GPStechnology and trench maps.
Yeah, it's really crazy.
You got to make time for thisbonus episode, folks.
He's got several great storiesto share, especially one about
one of his poker moves.
(33:09):
What a ride through time today,folks.
Three great stories that younever knew existed.
A couple of them actuallychanged the future entirely.
It's easy to see how January19th is a day about daring.
Whether it's daring a war zonefor a friend, daring a rival and
(33:30):
making the most of your crazyideas, or daring the whole world
to stop your new approach tochaos and fear.
Why not share these storieswith someone who loves a little
intrigue?
And guess what?
If today's stories made yougrin, there's so much more
waiting for you.
If you enjoy toasting abottoms-up to a great beer run,
(33:53):
then you'll also want to shoutcheers to the Irish coffee on
March 17th.
And there are tons of originstories like the Tour de France.
There's the cross-country tatertot adventure on February 2nd.
And another circulation gimmickwith the crossword puzzle on
December 21st.
(34:13):
And don't forget the humblebeginnings of nighttime football
under the lights on September28th.
Yeah, and if you love taking tothe air in a Zeppelin, then
you'll be thrilled by the aerialacrobatics of the F-14 Tomcat
on December 21st.
And you'll get a hugeadrenaline rush from hearing
about the SR-71 Blackbird onSeptember 1st.
(34:36):
And if your passion is funguests with great stories to
tell, there are half a dozenbonus episode options for you.
To find them, just scrollthrough the feed and look for
the words bonus episode.
Enjoy, because every day has astory and they're so much fun.
We're going to stride throughthem all until we're done.
(34:57):
If you enjoyed the August 16thepisode about Usain Bolt and his
world record 100 meter dashtime, guess what?
Just recently, Gout Gout, a16-year-old sprinter from
Australia, ran the 100 meterdash in 10.04 seconds.
(35:19):
Now, this is not as fast asBolt's world record, but it is
faster than what Bolt was ableto do when he was 16.
Uh-oh.
So maybe the world record willget broken?
I don't know.
We'll have to stay tuned to seeif this amazing young sprinter
can stride his way into thehistory books.
(35:39):
By the way, do you suppose heeats chicken McNuggets like Bolt
did?
Good luck, young man.
All right, after you sharetoday's special stories, you can
also mention the followingfamous folks who celebrate their
birthdays today.
Now, we could start and endthis whole famous birthday
(36:00):
segment with Dolly Parton.
We could brag on her countrymusic legendary status.
She sold over 100 millionrecords with 25 number one
songs.
For perspective, Taylor Swiftrecently hit the 104 million
equivalent records, whateverthat is, and has 12 number one
(36:23):
songs.
So Dolly, pretty impressive.
She also did some acting.
The movie 9 to 5 is still agood one to watch even today.
Go find that on Netflix.
And she was in several othermovies as well.
And she's also famous for herphilanthropy.
But we're going to stop thereand give some love to some
others.
Like Shawn Johnson, who hops,skips and flips her way over her
(36:46):
birthday cake on this day everyyear.
Not only is she a Hall of FameOlympic gymnast with a pile of
medals, she's a New York Timesbest-selling author and
entrepreneur.
You go, girl.
Another legend, but this timefrom the kitchen, Paula Deen.
She blows out the candlestoday.
She owns restaurants, she'spublished cookbooks, and she's
(37:10):
been around the TV world foryears with her Emmy-winning
cooking shows.
I actually have a Paula Deencookbook.
And it seems to me her favoriteingredient is butter.
You can't go wrong there, canyou?
One famous birthday from all ofhistory is Edgar Allan Poe, who
was born on this day in 1809.
(37:30):
He is known for his dark andmacabre poems, including his
most famous work, The Raven,which, if you're from Baltimore,
you know that this was theinspiration for the name of our
local football team.
My favorite Poe work is hisshort story called The Telltale
Heart.
(37:50):
I'll be doing a reading of thatstory on January 6th, so stay
tuned.
Alright, the 50th most famousperson born today, according to
FamousBirthdays.com, is rapperZ-Bro.
Have you heard of him?
In 1998, the New York Timesproclaimed him the most
underrated rapper that year.
(38:10):
Yeah, prior to his rappingcareer, he was a drug dealer and
he had been in and out of jailfor drug possession.
But what's impressive is thathe's turned things around.
And in 2022, he received anhonorary doctorate in humanities
from the leaders esteemedChristian Bible University.
That's pretty impressive.
You go zero.
(38:32):
January 19th is also PopcornDay.
I love me some popcorn.
Especially when the movietheater has one of those
self-service butter machines andyou can just drizzle even more
butter over top of the extraamount of butter that the worker
guy just added.
(38:52):
It's also Brew a Potion Day.
It's probably not surprisingthat this day is mostly
celebrated by Harry Potter fans.
The books and movie seriesfeature lots of potions.
But in Chinese culture, theelixir of life potions go back
centuries, as dynasties haveused these to try to remain in
(39:14):
power.
Shakespeare also featured alove potion that was made from a
wild pansy.
Ah, and we can't leave outMinecraft.
They have charts on how to makevarious potions.
Now, for some reason, I can'trecall the third day I was going
to talk about.
Huh.
Um, my memory's failing mehere.
(39:35):
Um, oh wait, that's it.
I got it.
Today is Good Memory Day.
I know, shake your head.
And the point of this day is tofondly reflect on your greatest
memories from the past.
Yeah, and you know what?
If you have a great memory, youought to call or text your
(39:56):
loved one right now who sharedthat memory with you and
celebrate today.
Or...
Here's an even biggerchallenge.
Make a list of five things youwant to do in 2025 and go create
some new memories.
Yeah, you only get one go atlife, right?
So make 2025 an epic year.
Come on, people.
(40:18):
All right, so do you need agreat gift idea for your loved
one?
Well, in addition to retellingthe stories you just learned
about this day in history, youcan have them open up a gift
that is customized to theirbirthday.
And I have several great ideasfor you.
And as always, you can findlinks to these in the gift ideas
section of the show notes.
(40:38):
Now, most days, I make theclaim that these gifts are so
unique, there's no way yourloved one will have any of
these.
And today is definitely noexception.
We'll start with the greatestbeer run story.
You can get them Chickie'sactual memoirs.
Yeah, but what would really befun?
(40:59):
is the Pabst blue ribbon decorthat I found.
There is no way your loved onehas the crew socks I found with
the Pabst colors and logo.
Yep, check them out.
And when it comes to the Tourde France, there are books and
decor that would be great.
But you want that good one?
Do you think your loved one hasa yellow cycling jersey?
(41:20):
No way.
Maybe it's time you added oneto their collection.
And if your loved one likesdesk trinkets, there are many
Zeppelin models that woulddefinitely be a fresh addition
to their collection.
The famous folks that were borntoday, they all have some great
gift ideas too.
Usually my famous folks haveposters or movies, but today
(41:42):
obviously is cookbooks.
Yeah, Dolly has a cookbook, andof course Paula has dozens of
cookbooks.
Similarly, today's specialholidays, they have unique gift
ideas too.
Obviously, you can get popcornonline and popcorn decor, but to
celebrate Brew a Potion Day,you'll not only find neat
(42:02):
brewing materials, but also someinteresting potion cookbooks.
Yeah, check those out.
But the best idea?
Definitely, Good Memory Dayopens the door to an awesome
gift that you can give.
An empty journal.
That's right, because...
You can give them a journal andthen you can take your loved
(42:24):
one on an adventure and startmaking great new memories and
put those into the blank pages.
Come on, fill them up.
You can do it.
Go make some memories.
All right.
So like I said, there areactually lots of customized
gifts for folks who wake upready to celebrate January 19th.
And these ideas are unique toonly this day of the year.
(42:46):
But if you really want to upyour gift-giving game, you have
the chance to really makesomeone's birthday special, you
can dedicate a personalizedshout-out right here on this
podcast, and they'll bememorialized forever.
Yep, I can do the shout-out foryou if you email me their name
and something fun you want toshare, or you can do your own by
using the SpeakPipe linkavailable in the show notes.
(43:09):
But today, we don't have ashout-out.
Instead, we have a creepy,rhythmic ode to a master.
Are you ready?
In chambers black as midnight'sheart Where spectral shadows
(43:31):
dance apart I scratch thesebirthday lines to thee While
ravens lurk with grim decree Thebells toll soft, the spirits
sing As ancient terrors spreadtheir wing Happy birthday from
death's door.
Your heart shall beatnevermore.
(43:52):
Ah, so that's a great shoutout, huh?
Very nice.
All right, so this episodehappens to be my first one in
the 2025 calendar year.
And we have a lot we want toaccomplish, but I need your
help.
One pattern that I've alwaysfollowed is that I release
(44:13):
episodes on the day that's beingcelebrated.
So, for example, today'sepisode about January 19th was
published on January 19th.
The one before that was aboutDecember 27th, again, published
on that day.
The question is, does thisapproach appeal to you as the
listener?
To have the episode date beattached to that day in history.
(44:36):
Why am I asking?
Well, I've received tons ofsuggestions from listeners.
And so far, I've gotten luckyenough to weave several of them
in to this about-the-day,on-the-day schedule.
For example, today.
My friend Muddy Grimes, back inthe fall of 24, he suggested I
do the greatest beer run ever.
(44:57):
And I was able to work it intoday.
Yeah, thanks, Muddy.
But I could change thatapproach.
I could just bounce around andevery three to four weeks make
an episode about any given day.
As long as they keep rollingout once every three to four
weeks.
What do you think?
All right, it's time to vote,people.
(45:17):
Click on the link in the shownotes and let me know.
Today's tales or any timeadventures.
We'll see how many of youactually respond.
In the meantime, I'm going tostart working on the next
episode for February.
Alrighty.
Thanks so much for listening.
And like I said before, make2025 an epic year.
(45:39):
Thanks so much for listening.
Until next time, this is TrumanPastworthy, reminding you that
every day has a great story.
And we'll be striding throughthem all to find some more
goodies for you.
Now get out there and make yourown great story today.
Welcome Seeker! Would you risk your life just to
deliver a cold beer to a friendin a war zone?
Or dream up a rivalry stunt sooutrageous that it might make
history?
Well, today we're diving intotales of fearless friendship,
bold ambition, and sky-highdanger.
(00:24):
This isn't just any day inhistory.
It's January 19th, and it'spacked with stories that will
blow your mind and make you say,wait, that actually happened?
Yeah.
Our journey begins with thetale of fearless friendship, or
maybe sheer madness, as one manbraves a war zone just to bring
(00:45):
his buddies a beer.
Then we'll race back to theturn of century Paris, where
scandal and ambition sparked oneof the toughest sporting events
ever.
Finally, we'll soar overEngland in 1915, where the skies
became a battleground in waysthe world had never seen before.
(01:05):
We'll return you to your normalself with some wild stories to
tell, a new lens on history, andmaybe, just maybe, a little
inspiration to create anadventure of your own.
The portal's humming, history'ssecrets are waiting, and our
day-striding adventure beginsnow.
Grab your curiosity and stepthrough, my friend.
(01:27):
Let's get to it.
Welcome, seekers, to theenchanting world of Daystrider,
the podcast where we embark on adaily journey through history.
I'm your travel guide, TrumanPastworthy, and together we'll
(01:47):
explore some fascinating storiesthat happened on this exact
day, but from some time in thepast.
From groundbreaking inventionsto remarkable birthdays and
extraordinary events to quirkynational holidays, we've got it
all.
So kick back, relax, and openyour mind for some lighthearted
stories that'll leave yousaying, huh, I never knew that
(02:08):
happened on this day.
Alrighty then, let's get to it.
Picture this, a wild midnightbeer run, a four-passenger
convertible packed with sevenpeople, and uh-oh.
you're out of gas on a pitchblack empty road has this ever
(02:31):
happened to you maybe maybe notbut if you're old enough to
drink beer i bet you probablyhave some kind of crazy story to
tell so what is that best beerstory you have come on think
about it for a second what'smine you ask Maybe it was the
time I decided to drink a wholecase of beer in one day and to
(02:54):
make it more fun, slap some ducttape on each can and wrote a
name on it.
Yeah, I started with Angus andended with Willie and used the
other 22 letters in between tohelp me track my progress while
drinking.
Do you think I finished thatquest?
Well, I'll answer that questionafter I tell you the story
(03:14):
about the greatest beer runever.
And this one is pretty crazy.
All right.
Cue the Mission Impossibletheme song.
Chickie Donahue, your mission,should you choose to accept it,
is to deliver some beer andhometown blessings to this list
of young men spread across alldifferent cities in a country
(03:40):
halfway around the world.
Wait a second.
That's too boring.
Let's up the stakes.
These men were drafted into theU.S.
Army and are now fighting fortheir lives in Vietnam.
Yes, the year is 1968, and thenation is at war out in the Far
East and kind of at war here athome.
Many people are protesting awar they didn't understand, and
(04:03):
our freedom fighters back thendidn't get the same kind of love
they get today.
So, Chickie, you need to gotell them we care.
and bring them some beer toshow them that we care.
Do you accept your mission?
Well, John Chickie Donahue didexactly that.
And on this day in 1968, hestepped off the merchant ship,
(04:24):
Drake Victory, at Queen Yon,wearing a pair of blue jeans, a
plaid shirt, and carrying aduffel sack full of Pabst Blue
Ribbon beer.
Yeah, for real, this is a truestory.
And some of you are grinningand nodding because you've seen
the Zac Efron movie that theymade about this adventure.
But others of you are thinking,what?
(04:47):
No way.
How's that even possible?
Your first question probably,how does someone even get to a
country that's at war, much lessget around while you're there?
Well, grab a cold beer, pop thetop, and kick your feet back
while I tell you.
Now, Tiki, he was a littleolder than his buddies fighting
(05:08):
in Nam, and he had alreadyserved four years as a merchant
marine.
So when this crazy idea cameabout, he already had what's
called a seaman's license in hispocket.
Yep, and of course, this crazyidea took place at a bar.
Where else would it happen?
In Inwood, New York, which isway up at the tippy top of
Manhattan.
(05:28):
And in the 60s, thisneighborhood was Irish American,
and the folks were really tightthere.
Everyone knew everyone else.
And the owner of the bar, hewas ex-military, and he was not
happy with the protests going ondown in Central Park.
He felt like if the boys overin NAMM heard about this or saw
it on TV, their morale would godown.
(05:48):
They were putting their liveson the line.
So, he suggested someone bringhim a beer and tell him that we
loved him.
And of course, Jicky was in thebar that night, and he agreed
to it.
Because, you know, he didn'treally have much anything much
better to do.
His words later.
And he was definitely one ofthose types who was often
(06:09):
zagging while most folks arezigging.
So the next day, a bunch ofmoms showed up at the bar with
their sons' names and messagesthey wanted to share.
And they had money to give toChickie for his quest.
And he was trying to write allthese names down and where these
soldiers were in Vietnam.
Yeah.
And if our hero was having anydoubts after a good night's
(06:30):
sleep, They all got squashed.
And so, seaman's card in hand,he finagled his way onto a ship
bound for Vietnam called theDrake Victory.
And like I said before, hedidn't plan his packing very
well.
He had a toothbrush, a razor,and a case and a half of New
York beers, including Pabst BlueRibbon.
Now, before I keep going, letme explain that Vietnam curves
(06:54):
gently along the South ChinaSea, like a backwards sea or
maybe a banana, with its stemtouching China in the northern
border.
And Chickie's ship pulled intoQuy Nhon, which is about
one-third of the way up from thebottom.
Stepping off the ship, Chickiedidn't have a map or a plan.
Imagine, it's sticky and hot,and there's a hum of soldiers
(07:15):
unloading cargo, and there's adistant echo of gunfire.
It's not exactly your typicalbeer delivery spot, right?
It took him a minute, but henoticed that the Army soldiers
working at the dock were fromthe 127th Division.
What?
That can't be.
He pulled out his list andlooked.
Tommy was in Unit 127.
Tommy Collins, one of the guyson the list.
(07:39):
So he asked around, hey, youguys know Tommy Collins from New
York?
And sure enough, one of themdid.
And so they drove him toCollins, and he was stunned.
Total disbelief.
What?
What are you doing here?
How did you get here?
You're crazy.
You're freaking crazy.
And Tiki's response was, Iwanted to bring you a cold beer.
(08:00):
Yes, this is a true story.
Now, of course, many of you areprobably asking the same
question I had.
How is this even possible?
And wait till you hear thiscrazy cover story he came up
with, which today the kids wouldcall sus.
Anyway, folks over there boughtit.
He said he was whatever soldierhe was trying to find.
(08:22):
He said he was theirstepbrother and their mom was
ill and he needed to deliversome message personally.
That's as soft as foam on afresh beer pour.
But it worked.
It worked every time.
All right, so back to QueenYon.
So that night, while beerhopping with his pal Tommy, he
(08:42):
ran into a guy with a patch onhis jacket that matched...
another person on his list,some airborne something.
So the next day, that guyhelped him sneak onto a plane
and they flew to the nextlocation on his list.
But after they landed, he stillneeded to catch a helicopter
out to the perimeter where hisbuddy Rick Dugan was stationed.
(09:03):
And he boldly walked up to theperson in charge and said, I
need to be on the chopper goingto LZ Jane at 1800 hours.
And he said it with authority.
And they said, yes, sir.
Where are you coming from?
And Chicky said, down south.
And that was it.
And the guy squinted at him.
And he stopped askingquestions.
And he just wrote Donahue downon the manifest.
(09:25):
And that was it.
Yeah.
And then later that evening, heactually connected with Dugan,
who was totally stunned, asyou'd expect.
And of course, he was worriedabout Chickie's outfit.
He stood out like a sore thumb.
So Dugan got him a militaryshirt to wear so he wasn't this
big target for the bad guys.
(09:46):
But can you picture these twoand a couple other GIs sitting
in a foxhole out on the edge ofdanger, drinking beers and
swapping stories?
Yeah, it's crazy, right?
Chickie's adventures like thiscontinued for another couple
weeks, but you'll have to checkout the book or the movie to
catch them all, and they're asfun and crazy as the ones you
(10:07):
just heard.
And you may even still bedoubting this whole adventure,
wondering how is it so manysenior military officers were
not doing something about thisguy walking around in street
clothes in the middle of acountry at war.
Well, here's the thing.
These officers thought thatChickie was with the CIA.
(10:28):
And when he told people he wasthere to deliver beer, some of
them would just laugh and walkaway.
And others would complain, youCIA guys are all alike.
Never want to tell anyone whatyou're up to.
And that was enough to enableChickie to complete this
mission.
Crazy, right?
I'm still stunned.
My story about naming beerswasn't nearly as fun as this
(10:52):
one.
Especially when I tell you Ionly made it to Stanley.
Or was it Terrence?
I can't remember.
Boo.
Anyway, when our pal Chickiefinally walked back into Doc
Fiddler's, that's that bar backin Inwood, New York, where this
crazy idea was born, he wasn'tjust a local hero.
(11:12):
He was a legend.
Free beers for life.
Yay.
And that, my friends, is howone man's crazy idea became the
greatest beer run ever.
Cheers to Chickie.
And to the stories we'retelling.
But wait a second.
One more thing.
(11:33):
And this is the crazy part.
The only people who knew aboutthis story for the longest time
were the folks from Inwood, NewYork.
And it's almost too crazy tobelieve, right?
But in the 60s and 70s, storieslike this didn't pop up on
social media and they didn't goviral.
(11:53):
No.
No.
It was just a great story thatkind of faded with time until
1990 rolled around.
And that year, some lineworkers at the New York Daily
News went on strike.
And these people happened to befriends of Chickie's.
But the paper was hell-bent onpublishing anyway, and they
rounded up scab replacements totry to get printed.
(12:16):
And that didn't sit well withChickie.
And he knows a guy and he usedhis connections to actually
reroute the newsprint suppliesthat were headed to New York to
somewhere, nowhere, NorthDakota.
And the daily news couldn't goto print because they didn't
have anything to print on.
And another reporter coveringthis story was getting her
(12:39):
background on this crazy Donahueguy and the beer run stories
bubbled up.
And she's like, Hey, there's astory here.
And this needs to get told.
And so she got around toresearching it.
And then they made adocumentary.
And one thing led to another.
And now you can watch the movieon Apple TV.
Yeah.
Chickie nailed the con artist'sbest secret.
(13:00):
Act like you belong and keep itsimple.
In Chickie's case, that was allhe needed.
I'll drink to that, folks.
Cheers.
Roses are red and Pabst beertastes great.
Writing a review would be firstrate.
Can't think of the words?
Chicky might write.
A toast to Daystrider andstories done right.
(13:23):
What if I told you that one ofthe top five sporting events in
the entire world came into beingby accident?
Yeah, it's true.
Now think about it for asecond.
In your head, list the world'stop sporting events.
Go ahead.
I'll wait.
(13:44):
All right, man, okay.
So many of you probably startedwith either the World Cup or
the Olympics, right?
And then, huh, after a bit ofthought, you might have said
Wimbledon?
I don't know.
How about the Super Bowl?
Yeah, that's on the list.
What about the grueling 23-day,2,000-mile bicycle race in
(14:08):
France?
Oh yeah, that's definitely inthe top five sporting events in
the world.
And I miss that.
Well, would you believe thatthe world-renowned Tour de
France was actually born out ofa political scandal and a
business rivalry?
Yeah.
Basically, this major event wasoriginally created as a
(14:29):
gimmick, a way to improvecirculation and subscribers.
A way...
Come on, Truman.
Yeah, yeah, it's true.
Follow me here while I spin upa good old story for you.
I want to take you back toParis, France in the 1890s.
Oh, Paris.
Ah, la belle époque.
(14:52):
A time of excitement, culturalflourishing, and technological
innovation.
Ah, yes.
Can-can dancers.
Art nouveau.
Even the Eiffel Tower.
Tour d'Evelle.
forever melding itself into theParis skyline.
Oh, and scandal in the air.
(15:13):
Maybe you've heard of theDreyfus Affair?
No?
All right, give me 30 secondsand I'll explain.
There's this guy, AlfredDreyfus.
He was a Jewish militaryofficer, and he was falsely
accused and convicted oftreason, sparking outrage and
controversy.
The military's handling of thecase, including fabrication of
(15:37):
evidence and manipulation of thejustice system, fueled a major
scandal.
It was uproar in the late1890s.
Everyone was up in arms aboutaccusations of anti-Semitism,
which is Jewish racism, and thecriminal justice system, and how
awful things were.
It was horrible, and the debatewas viral, and it wasn't going
(15:58):
away.
This political debate found itsway into every nook and cranny
of society.
even the cycling world of allplaces.
A great example of this was atLavello, which was a daily
sports paper in Paris thatincluded coverage of cycling,
and from time to time, theymixed in political editorials.
(16:18):
Well, when the Dreyfus Affairdebates were reaching their
peak, the Lavello folks made itclear which side they were on.
But their biggest advertiser,with the deepest pockets,
happened to be in theopposition.
And they weren't going to standfor spending money on such
outrageous propaganda.
So they took their money andstarted their own daily sports
(16:42):
paper called Lotto, pronouncedLotto.
Makes sense, right?
Not much different than thetime Steve Jobs was kicked out
of Apple and he started anothercompany called Next Computers to
compete with the Macintosh.
Yeah.
So anyway, back to Paris.
To differentiate themselvesfrom Lavello, which was printed
(17:04):
on green paper, Lotto decided toprint on yellow paper.
And of course, their politicalleanings were on the opposite
side of their competitor andrival, so in the beginning, that
helped sell papers.
At least for a while, anyway.
But of course, as with moststories, the Dreyfus Affair
eventually became old news.
(17:26):
And in the early 1900s, thesporting stories that Lotto
covered was basically the samestuff that Lavello was covering,
written in mostly the samestyle and format, and so they
struggled to compete.
And sadly, their circulationbegan to decline.
And their numbers got worse andworse until this day in 1903.
(17:52):
That's right.
On January 19th, they made abig announcement.
They were going to sponsor thebiggest cycling race in the
world and provide insider accessand coverage that no one else
would be able to do.
Yeah, it was going to be huge.
(18:15):
And they would basically have amonopoly on the sports
coverage.
What a gimmick, right?
Yeah.
So they got to planning andthey planned big.
They set up a 19-day,2,400-kilometer course all
around France that was going totake place in six massive
stages.
(18:35):
Yeah, so for perspective, realquick, what's it look like
today?
It's about 23 days to raceabout 3,400 kilometers over 21
stages.
So the race hasn't evolved muchdifferent than it was, except
it's harder today, but we'll getto that in a minute.
Anyway, they were making theserules to be much different than
other cycling races being heldat that time in Europe.
(18:58):
This whole idea of stages wastotally unique because most
cycle races just took place inone single day.
And then tack on the fact thatsome of these stages were far
longer than those one-day raceswere, making this a really
difficult event to compete in.
They wanted only the toughestriders in the world because
(19:21):
covering them would be so muchbetter for the circulation of
their paper.
See how that works?
And to up the stakes, they madeit so that each rider was all
on their own during the race.
No teams.
No mechanics to fix theirbikes.
No pacers to help them stay ontrack as they were racing these
(19:41):
stages.
No doctors to massage theirburning calves in between the
stages.
Yeah, it's crazy, right?
Today, each rider has a hugeteam supporting them.
And back in the day, when theyhad those one-day races, there
was a team concept.
There were people helping withthe bikes and people that helped
pace the racers.
(20:02):
Yeah, but not in the originalTour de France.
Nope.
They wanted this race to betough, like I said, because they
were going for drama.
Why?
Because drama sells papers.
But In order to sell papers,you also need racers.
Yeah, the original race dateswere in June of that year, but
(20:23):
guess what?
There were not enough toughguys who decided to sign up for
this race.
So, the Lotto folks had to digdeeper into their coffers and
come up with some more prizemoney.
Yep, it worked, and they foundsome more tough guys, and they
revised the race dates to July,and then off they went.
(20:44):
Now, I'm not going to provide ablow-by-blow of that first
race, but the short story is therace was a huge success on and
off the course.
It was extremely popular, andthe circulation of Lotto soared.
Clearly, having a monopoly overthe coverage of each of those
(21:06):
racers worked exactly asplanned.
And guess what?
They never looked back.
In fact, by the time of the1904 race was gearing up to
start, that's just the nextyear, the Lovello paper had
actually closed up shop.
They were forced out ofbusiness.
Take that, suckas.
(21:26):
That's crazy.
Oh, my goodness.
The race itself, as you know,is obviously world-renowned.
And it's been run nearly everyyear since 1903.
There were a couple of breaksduring the First and Second
World Wars, of course.
But each time peace returned,the tour was back on.
And you know how we love ourfacts and tidbits here at
(21:49):
Daystrider, so I've found a fewof them for you.
About 16 years after the firstrace, so that's 1919, they
officially began using theyellow jersey for the race
leader.
You're familiar with the yellowjersey.
Well, this was an homage to theoriginal Lotto founders,
because remember I said theydecided to print on yellow paper
(22:11):
to differentiate themselves?
Yeah, yellow jersey.
And the race?
It's harder today than it wasback then, because they have
more mountain stages now anddifficult sprint stages mixed
in.
But the stakes are also muchhigher today.
Yeah, today, if you win, youcan take home a half a million
bucks.
(22:31):
But the OG racers who won backin the day, they only won the
equivalent of about 35 grand intoday's money.
Oh, my goodness.
And my last little nugget hasto do with the bikes they ride.
Today, the Tour requires aminimum weight limit of 15
pounds, which seems to me prettycrazy light.
(22:52):
But anyway, the originalriders...
had to pedal around onmonstrosities.
Their bikes weighed between 35and 45 pounds, so almost three
times heavier than today'sracers.
Wow.
So the next time you're on theweb surfing around or you're
doom scrolling and you spot aTour de France update, pause and
(23:14):
reflect a moment.
Even a gimmick born fromrivalry and scandal can evolve
into something legendary.
Yep, sometimes greatness pedalsits way in from the most
unexpected places.
A time traveler's delight, wepedal through time, spinning
(23:36):
great stories in rhythm andrhyme.
If these tales have you racingwith wonder anew, please share
with your friends.
Let them ride along too.
Imagine this.
It's a quiet, crisp Tuesdaynight.
And you're doing some chores orwriting a letter because it's
(23:57):
1915 and so TVs haven't beeninvented yet.
And you hear a low, distant humthat maybe sounds like a hive
of angry bees far off in thenight.
As the sound draws nearer, itdeepens and you can feel it
vibrating through the air.
So you run outside to figureout, hey, what's happening here?
(24:17):
And you can tell it'smechanical because the rhythm is
deep and relentless.
But you've never heard such asound before.
And then off in the distance,you can see some kind of shadowy
something floating in the sky.
What the?
Boom! Down the street, a flashof brilliance with a massive
(24:37):
explosion interrupts thepeaceful night.
And then another one, boom,shakes the earth a bit closer to
you.
And then another before youdecide, oh my, it's time to run
back inside and pray, pray, prayfor mercy.
Yeah.
This story actually happened onthis day in 1915 in Norfolk,
Britain.
(24:57):
You see, back then, Britain wasat war with the Germans.
It was called the Great War forthe longest time.
But your history teacher calledit World War I.
And that night was the veryfirst night those barbaric Huns
brought the war against Britainto the skies and caused
fatalities.
(25:18):
And guess what?
I found a battlefield tourguide who actually lives in that
area of Britain to talk usthrough that night and the
nights that followed.
Let's hear from Steve Smith howthose first eyewitnesses
reacted on that fateful night.
Steve (25:36):
Well, I think the biggest thing for it is
miscomprehension of what they'reseeing.
People have read aboutZeppelins, and yes, they may
have seen photographs of thembecause there's been reports of
actions that have happened onthe front.
But to see this thingphysically, it must have been
like them seeing a UFO.
(25:57):
Yeah.
You know, something...
Because, you know, what thehell am I seeing?
One witness describes it whenthey hear this zeppelin going
over at Heacham.
It sounds like a load ofmotorbikes going through the
village because of the engines.
So, you know, you're thinking,what the hell is this sound?
(26:17):
You know, what am I hearing?
And, of course, they'll seethis thing in the air and think,
Great majority of them probablyhave got no idea what it is.
So that in itself, isn't it, isgoing to create panic and
terror.
Soldiers are trying to fire onit, but they've got no hope.
Yeah, they could possibly sortof get bullets through it.
(26:38):
But we've got nothing at thattime that really is going to
cause any major harm to azeppelin.
Truman (26:45):
So hold on, Truman.
What is a zeppelin anyway?
Well, there are these massiveairships about as long as a
football field, and they hadmetal frames that were covered
with fabric and then filled withhydrogen, and that's how they
floated.
To some, they were beautifulmarvels of engineering, but to
others, they were a terrifyingharbinger of destruction.
(27:09):
They were powered by propellersand...
Steve (27:12):
They could get up to about 5,000 feet, something like
that.
So, you know, they can go quitehigh and that would enable
them.
It was a clear night, so itenables them to sort of navigate
by map reading, you know, andessentially following...
the lie of the land, so tospeak.
So for instance, you know,let's follow this route.
We see where it takes us.
(27:33):
You know, luckily for ZeppelinL3, the commander, he knew
exactly where he was anyway.
So he was able to navigate toGreat Yarmouth anyway by use of
map and landmark.
Truman (27:44):
Oh, okay.
So that sounds like they wereable to navigate these airships
in a controlled way.
But here's the crazy part.
To drop the bombs, they justbasically picked them up, held
them over the edge of thegondola, And, well, I'll let
Steve tell you.
Steve (27:59):
Yeah, we're talking about, it really was very much
very rudimentary, you know,literally look over and drop
them as you see it.
You know, none of the kind oftechnology that we have today,
we've got laser guided bombs.
It's literally this, the use ofyour eyeballs, where are we?
Okay, let's drop it as we can.
(28:20):
You know, there was no scienceto it at the time.
And so, you know, those bombsthat they're dropping, which
were either incendiary bombs orhigh explosive bombs, are just
literally right, you know, bang,you know, one drop, next one,
and as we do that.
Truman (28:35):
So the OG Zeppelin bombings were not very precise,
but they did manage to actuallyhit their target a few times
that night.
Steve, please tell us aboutthese very first victims in the
towns of Great Yarmouth andKings Limb on that fateful
night.
Steve (28:51):
In Great Yarmouth...
Bomb number four, which is ahigh explosive bomb, lands in a
particular place called St.
Peter's Plain.
And you have Martha Taylor, whowas a spinster in her 70s, who
was out shopping at the time,returning home and sadly just
happens to be in the wrong placeat the wrong time.
(29:13):
And when the bomb hits, shegets killed through blast
damage.
And the other victim was SamuelSmith, who was basically a
shoesmith, so, you know, ownedhis own little shop where he
kind of sort of like repairedshoes.
Here's this commotion, goes tolook out to see what that is.
(29:33):
And again, has the misfortuneto be in the firing line when
the bomb drops.
And again, he's killed throughblast damage.
Truman (29:39):
If
Steve (29:40):
he would have stayed inside, he would have been maybe
safe?
Quite possibly.
Yeah.
Yeah, very much so.
With King's Lynn, the twovictims there are Percy Goat, a
14-year-old boy, who sadly is inbed when a bomb lands and that
falls through the house wherehe's at.
(30:01):
And when he explodes, it'sdescribed that he dies through
concussion.
So it's just literally theconcussion of the bomb going
off.
And it's described actuallythat he didn't even have a mark
on him.
So when you think about whatkind of horrible injuries you
can get from bomb blast damage,it was just literally described
(30:22):
as being seen as dead, but withno real mark.
Truman (30:27):
So no shrapnel hit him?
I'm sorry.
No, no.
No shrapnel.
It's just the pulse of thebomb.
Steve (30:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just the concussion.
Truman (30:36):
Jarring his body so much that
Steve (30:38):
it shut everything down.
Yeah,
Truman (30:40):
sadly.
Steve (30:41):
And then Alice Gasly, who's the last victim,
26-year-old lady who had sadlylost her husband in the fighting
in December of 1914.
So she's a widow and had beenstaying with friends because of
that.
Coming back, again, theZeppelin's over.
(31:01):
And sadly, when the bomb lands,again, she's at the wrong
place, wrong time.
And the same description,apparently, is that she was
killed through concussion.
So, yeah, so they become thesefour victims, you know, the
first victims of the Zeppelinraid in the UK.
Yeah.
Truman (31:21):
But of course, these bombs were just being dropped
out of the Zeppelins with notargeting.
So some folks did get lucky.
Steve (31:27):
In fact, if you talk about lucky escapes, you have a
gentleman in a house in St.
Peter's Plain, a Mr.
Ellis, who was wrappingpresents for something.
His wife and his daughter areout and he decides that he needs
to go to the back of his houseto get something while he's
(31:48):
trapped in his presence, andthat's when the bomb lands.
So what saves him is the factthat he was in the rear of the
property when the bomb hit, butit blew the front of the house
off.
So he had a very lucky escape.
Truman (32:00):
All right, well, that's all we have time for right now.
But as you can tell, Steve isquite knowledgeable about these
events, and you can hear muchmore about that night in the
full bonus episode.
Yeah, he walks us through thebackground of how the Germans
decided to begin usingZeppelins.
He plots out the entire journeythey took that night.
And more importantly, he walksus through how they eventually
(32:24):
figured out how to shoot theseairships out of the sky.
But I gotta tell you, thecoolest thing I learned from
Steve had nothing to do withZeppelins.
As I said, he's a tour guide,and he takes guests on
pilgrimages.
That's what he calls them.
And he helps people findexactly where their grandparents
or great-grandparents werefighting in France and Belgium.
(32:47):
Literally right to the spotwhere the trench was that they
were fighting in using GPStechnology and trench maps.
Yeah, it's really crazy.
You got to make time for thisbonus episode, folks.
He's got several great storiesto share, especially one about
one of his poker moves.
(33:09):
What a ride through time today,folks.
Three great stories that younever knew existed.
A couple of them actuallychanged the future entirely.
It's easy to see how January19th is a day about daring.
Whether it's daring a war zonefor a friend, daring a rival and
(33:30):
making the most of your crazyideas, or daring the whole world
to stop your new approach tochaos and fear.
Why not share these storieswith someone who loves a little
intrigue?
And guess what?
If today's stories made yougrin, there's so much more
waiting for you.
If you enjoy toasting abottoms-up to a great beer run,
(33:53):
then you'll also want to shoutcheers to the Irish coffee on
March 17th.
And there are tons of originstories like the Tour de France.
There's the cross-country tatertot adventure on February 2nd.
And another circulation gimmickwith the crossword puzzle on
December 21st.
(34:13):
And don't forget the humblebeginnings of nighttime football
under the lights on September28th.
Yeah, and if you love taking tothe air in a Zeppelin, then
you'll be thrilled by the aerialacrobatics of the F-14 Tomcat
on December 21st.
And you'll get a hugeadrenaline rush from hearing
about the SR-71 Blackbird onSeptember 1st.
(34:36):
And if your passion is funguests with great stories to
tell, there are half a dozenbonus episode options for you.
To find them, just scrollthrough the feed and look for
the words bonus episode.
Enjoy, because every day has astory and they're so much fun.
We're going to stride throughthem all until we're done.
(34:57):
If you enjoyed the August 16thepisode about Usain Bolt and his
world record 100 meter dashtime, guess what?
Just recently, Gout Gout, a16-year-old sprinter from
Australia, ran the 100 meterdash in 10.04 seconds.
(35:19):
Now, this is not as fast asBolt's world record, but it is
faster than what Bolt was ableto do when he was 16.
Uh-oh.
So maybe the world record willget broken?
I don't know.
We'll have to stay tuned to seeif this amazing young sprinter
can stride his way into thehistory books.
(35:39):
By the way, do you suppose heeats chicken McNuggets like Bolt
did?
Good luck, young man.
All right, after you sharetoday's special stories, you can
also mention the followingfamous folks who celebrate their
birthdays today.
Now, we could start and endthis whole famous birthday
(36:00):
segment with Dolly Parton.
We could brag on her countrymusic legendary status.
She sold over 100 millionrecords with 25 number one
songs.
For perspective, Taylor Swiftrecently hit the 104 million
equivalent records, whateverthat is, and has 12 number one
(36:23):
songs.
So Dolly, pretty impressive.
She also did some acting.
The movie 9 to 5 is still agood one to watch even today.
Go find that on Netflix.
And she was in several othermovies as well.
And she's also famous for herphilanthropy.
But we're going to stop thereand give some love to some
others.
Like Shawn Johnson, who hops,skips and flips her way over her
(36:46):
birthday cake on this day everyyear.
Not only is she a Hall of FameOlympic gymnast with a pile of
medals, she's a New York Timesbest-selling author and
entrepreneur.
You go, girl.
Another legend, but this timefrom the kitchen, Paula Deen.
She blows out the candlestoday.
She owns restaurants, she'spublished cookbooks, and she's
(37:10):
been around the TV world foryears with her Emmy-winning
cooking shows.
I actually have a Paula Deencookbook.
And it seems to me her favoriteingredient is butter.
You can't go wrong there, canyou?
One famous birthday from all ofhistory is Edgar Allan Poe, who
was born on this day in 1809.
(37:30):
He is known for his dark andmacabre poems, including his
most famous work, The Raven,which, if you're from Baltimore,
you know that this was theinspiration for the name of our
local football team.
My favorite Poe work is hisshort story called The Telltale
Heart.
(37:50):
I'll be doing a reading of thatstory on January 6th, so stay
tuned.
Alright, the 50th most famousperson born today, according to
FamousBirthdays.com, is rapperZ-Bro.
Have you heard of him?
In 1998, the New York Timesproclaimed him the most
underrated rapper that year.
(38:10):
Yeah, prior to his rappingcareer, he was a drug dealer and
he had been in and out of jailfor drug possession.
But what's impressive is thathe's turned things around.
And in 2022, he received anhonorary doctorate in humanities
from the leaders esteemedChristian Bible University.
That's pretty impressive.
You go zero.
(38:32):
January 19th is also PopcornDay.
I love me some popcorn.
Especially when the movietheater has one of those
self-service butter machines andyou can just drizzle even more
butter over top of the extraamount of butter that the worker
guy just added.
(38:52):
It's also Brew a Potion Day.
It's probably not surprisingthat this day is mostly
celebrated by Harry Potter fans.
The books and movie seriesfeature lots of potions.
But in Chinese culture, theelixir of life potions go back
centuries, as dynasties haveused these to try to remain in
(39:14):
power.
Shakespeare also featured alove potion that was made from a
wild pansy.
Ah, and we can't leave outMinecraft.
They have charts on how to makevarious potions.
Now, for some reason, I can'trecall the third day I was going
to talk about.
Huh.
Um, my memory's failing mehere.
(39:35):
Um, oh wait, that's it.
I got it.
Today is Good Memory Day.
I know, shake your head.
And the point of this day is tofondly reflect on your greatest
memories from the past.
Yeah, and you know what?
If you have a great memory, youought to call or text your
(39:56):
loved one right now who sharedthat memory with you and
celebrate today.
Or...
Here's an even biggerchallenge.
Make a list of five things youwant to do in 2025 and go create
some new memories.
Yeah, you only get one go atlife, right?
So make 2025 an epic year.
Come on, people.
(40:18):
All right, so do you need agreat gift idea for your loved
one?
Well, in addition to retellingthe stories you just learned
about this day in history, youcan have them open up a gift
that is customized to theirbirthday.
And I have several great ideasfor you.
And as always, you can findlinks to these in the gift ideas
section of the show notes.
(40:38):
Now, most days, I make theclaim that these gifts are so
unique, there's no way yourloved one will have any of
these.
And today is definitely noexception.
We'll start with the greatestbeer run story.
You can get them Chickie'sactual memoirs.
Yeah, but what would really befun?
(40:59):
is the Pabst blue ribbon decorthat I found.
There is no way your loved onehas the crew socks I found with
the Pabst colors and logo.
Yep, check them out.
And when it comes to the Tourde France, there are books and
decor that would be great.
But you want that good one?
Do you think your loved one hasa yellow cycling jersey?
(41:20):
No way.
Maybe it's time you added oneto their collection.
And if your loved one likesdesk trinkets, there are many
Zeppelin models that woulddefinitely be a fresh addition
to their collection.
The famous folks that were borntoday, they all have some great
gift ideas too.
Usually my famous folks haveposters or movies, but today
(41:42):
obviously is cookbooks.
Yeah, Dolly has a cookbook, andof course Paula has dozens of
cookbooks.
Similarly, today's specialholidays, they have unique gift
ideas too.
Obviously, you can get popcornonline and popcorn decor, but to
celebrate Brew a Potion Day,you'll not only find neat
(42:02):
brewing materials, but also someinteresting potion cookbooks.
Yeah, check those out.
But the best idea?
Definitely, Good Memory Dayopens the door to an awesome
gift that you can give.
An empty journal.
That's right, because...
You can give them a journal andthen you can take your loved
(42:24):
one on an adventure and startmaking great new memories and
put those into the blank pages.
Come on, fill them up.
You can do it.
Go make some memories.
All right.
So like I said, there areactually lots of customized
gifts for folks who wake upready to celebrate January 19th.
And these ideas are unique toonly this day of the year.
(42:46):
But if you really want to upyour gift-giving game, you have
the chance to really makesomeone's birthday special, you
can dedicate a personalizedshout-out right here on this
podcast, and they'll bememorialized forever.
Yep, I can do the shout-out foryou if you email me their name
and something fun you want toshare, or you can do your own by
using the SpeakPipe linkavailable in the show notes.
(43:09):
But today, we don't have ashout-out.
Instead, we have a creepy,rhythmic ode to a master.
Are you ready?
In chambers black as midnight'sheart Where spectral shadows
(43:31):
dance apart I scratch thesebirthday lines to thee While
ravens lurk with grim decree Thebells toll soft, the spirits
sing As ancient terrors spreadtheir wing Happy birthday from
death's door.
Your heart shall beatnevermore.
(43:52):
Ah, so that's a great shoutout, huh?
Very nice.
All right, so this episodehappens to be my first one in
the 2025 calendar year.
And we have a lot we want toaccomplish, but I need your
help.
One pattern that I've alwaysfollowed is that I release
(44:13):
episodes on the day that's beingcelebrated.
So, for example, today'sepisode about January 19th was
published on January 19th.
The one before that was aboutDecember 27th, again, published
on that day.
The question is, does thisapproach appeal to you as the
listener?
To have the episode date beattached to that day in history.
(44:36):
Why am I asking?
Well, I've received tons ofsuggestions from listeners.
And so far, I've gotten luckyenough to weave several of them
in to this about-the-day,on-the-day schedule.
For example, today.
My friend Muddy Grimes, back inthe fall of 24, he suggested I
do the greatest beer run ever.
(44:57):
And I was able to work it intoday.
Yeah, thanks, Muddy.
But I could change thatapproach.
I could just bounce around andevery three to four weeks make
an episode about any given day.
As long as they keep rollingout once every three to four
weeks.
What do you think?
All right, it's time to vote,people.
(45:17):
Click on the link in the shownotes and let me know.
Today's tales or any timeadventures.
We'll see how many of youactually respond.
In the meantime, I'm going tostart working on the next
episode for February.
Alrighty.
Thanks so much for listening.
And like I said before, make2025 an epic year.
(45:39):
Thanks so much for listening.
Until next time, this is TrumanPastworthy, reminding you that
every day has a great story.
And we'll be striding throughthem all to find some more
goodies for you.
Now get out there and make yourown great story today.
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