July 15, 2024 • 42 mins
July 15th is a great day to unlock some of the hidden truths from the past! You thought you knew them - but are you sure? Today’s stories include:
- Some unsettling mistakes that lead to the worst disaster in marine history
- Celebrating I Love Horses Day and a surprising truth about the American mustangs
- How the Rosetta Stone unlocked the secrets of a 5,000 year old language
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 stories. You’ll find yourself a little smarter and have some great stories you can tell at the next summer bar-b-q! If you need some great gift ideas, we have those too (along with links to where you can find them on Amazon).
Today’s guest Ilona Regulski has some YouTube videos that may interest you (these links worked in mid-2024 - not sure how long the links will be available):
- Link to Ilona’s short video about the Rosetta Stone
- Link to Ilona’s long video about the Rosetta Stone
Gift ideas for folks who celebrate July 15th:
- Can’t celebrate BP - but we can enjoy the Gulf of Mexico.
- On the other hand - we can’t get enough of celebrating I Love Horses Day featuring decor, stuffed animals, books and movies- and more books!
- Want to learn more about the Rosetta Stone? And the gift for someone with everything: hieroglyph books and decor!
- There’s lots of cool stuff to celebrate famous birthdays from today featuring Arianna Huffington, Forest Whitaker, Iain Armitag and Rembrandt.
- Similarly, there are fun gift options to celebrate today’s holidays: Tapioca Pudding Day, Orange Chicken Day and Be a Dork Day.
Text me your favorite time travel movie!!!
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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 (00:01):
Welcome, Seeker.
Your portal is all warmed upand ready to stride through
history with me.
Together, we'll discover whyJuly 15th is so unique.
Surprising events, intriguingdiscoveries, and many fun
stories in between.
Today, we start off in the Gulfof Mexico, traveling back only
a decade or so to hear about oneof the worst disasters in
(00:24):
maritime history.
Thank goodness nature finds away to recover from man's
mistakes.
After that, we'll journeyacross many points in time to
experience the awesomeness of aparticular animal that literally
improved life as we know it onthis planet.
And then, strap in for a tripto ancient Egypt and dive into
(00:44):
the secrets of hieroglyphics andlearn how we unlock their
truths.
Curator Ilona Rogolsky will beour amazing tour guide.
After striding through July15th, you'll have a greater
appreciation for our planet'sresilience, the incredible bond
we make with animals, and theenduring legacy of ancient
civilizations.
Get ready for a journey throughthe past that will inspire your
(01:07):
vision for the future.
Time's a-tickin', so let's getto 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
(01:30):
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
(01:51):
happened on this day.
Alrighty then, let's get to it.
Have you ever tried to imaginea number so large that it seems
unreal?
For example, if I asked you toimagine 200 million gallons of
liquid, how would you thinkabout that?
(02:11):
Or how would you even describethat to others?
Well, an Olympic-sized swimmingpool holds a lot of water,
right?
But guess what?
You'd need over 300 pools tohold that much water.
Can you actually picture inyour head 300 Olympic-sized
swimming pools all next to eachother?
I can't imagine that.
(02:31):
How about this?
How about one of those oiltanker train cars?
You know, the ones I mean thatpass by on the train?
All right, so guess what?
You'd need almost 6,700 ofthose to hold 200 million
gallons of oil.
So probably, again, hard toimagine.
But hey, let me help.
If you hooked up those cars allin one long train, it would
(02:56):
stretch on and on for 62 miles.
So basically, if the traintracks were running alongside a
highway and it was sittingstill, it would take you an hour
to drive from the caboose allthe way up to the engine.
That's how many train tankercars you'd pass.
Well, guess what?
That is how much oil gushedinto the Gulf of Mexico in the
(03:19):
spring of 2010 making it thelargest oil spill ever and one
of the worst environmentaldisasters in the history of
human existence.
Yes, 200 million gallons ofoil, 62 miles worth of oil
tanker train cars.
That's horrible.
This oil killed thousands andthousands of marine plants and
(03:42):
animals in the Gulf andthousands more along the shores
of Florida, Louisiana, Texas,and Mexico.
Oil damaged a total of 16,000miles of coastline.
It's crazy, right?
And what's worse, based on allthe investigations and reports
that came out afterwards, theaccident was preventable.
There was a bunch of mistakesmade that didn't have to be and
(04:05):
a lot of warnings that weresimply ignored.
Yeah, and probably that doesn'tsurprise you.
And yes, it's very frustrating.
So how and why did somethinglike this happen?
Well...
Let's get some perspectivehere.
There are many, many oil fieldsdeep in the Earth's crust under
the Gulf of Mexico.
And it is a big, huge businessto get that oil out of the
(04:28):
ground.
About one-seventh of all oilproduced in the U.S.
comes from under the Gulf.
And there are over 50 differentcompanies out there with over
120 oil rigs in production rightnow drilling and pumping oil
out of the ground.
And BP happens to be one ofthose companies.
So here's their story.
(04:49):
In February 2010, BP'scontractors positioned their
drilling rig, called theDeepwater Horizon, in the Gulf
about 40 miles off the coast ofLouisiana.
And this thing is huge.
And it's pretty much like howthe movie Armageddon showed it,
where people live in barracks onthe rigs and they eat there and
they work their shifts there.
(05:09):
And then helicopters fly inevery two weeks.
They bring supplies and a freshcrew of workers to replace the
team that was there those pasttwo weeks.
And these crews have dozens ofworkers who have such a dirty,
messy job.
And not only that, they'reunder a lot of pressure and
stress to get the job done ontime and on budget.
(05:29):
Running a rig like this cost BPa million dollars a day,
roughly.
Okay, so the Deepwater Horizonwas situated a mile above the
seafloor.
And then the oil well that itwas drilling went another three
miles into the Earth's crust.
So that's a long way down, fourtotal miles, right?
(05:51):
A mile of sea, three miles ofEarth.
And of course, there were somehiccups in this drilling
project, and they were actuallysix weeks behind schedule.
But it should have been longer,people.
But due to some tough guybosses who have this I'm smarter
than you syndrome, severalquestionable decisions were made
(06:12):
about warning signs that thingswere wrong.
And several crew membersthought that the blowout
preventer was damaged.
A blowout preventer is exactlywhat it sounds like.
A device that's supposed toshut the pipes off.
If the oil begins forcing itsway backwards out of the well
and blowing out of the pipes.
(06:32):
So it's supposed to preventthat.
And it's a critical component.
And every drilling operationhas one of these.
And they test them regularly tomake sure they're going to work
if the oil decides to blow out.
Anyway...
In early April, just when theythought the project was finished
and the big cheeses at BP werehelicoptered onto the rig, my
(06:53):
friend Shannon calls the highestlevel people and companies the
big cheeses.
So anyway, that night, aftertheir celebrations were over,
bad things started to happen.
Oil burst through the faultyblowout preventer and forcefully
squirted up the four-mile pipeonto the rig, spraying
everything and everyone with oiland muck.
(07:15):
And of course, oil isflammable, right?
So once a spark happened, theentire rig exploded, caught
fire, and became engulfed inflames.
Even though it's made mostlyout of metal.
11 people died in thisexplosion.
17 were injured.
And the other 90, they made itoff the rig safely with no
issues.
But the same can't be said forthe marine plants and animals
(07:36):
that lived in this once peacefulsection of the Gulf.
But more on that in a minute.
So then the rig sank.
and that mile of piping in thewater all broke up, and down at
the bottom of the well, the oiljust began gushing, unchecked,
into the Gulf from the seafloor.
Remember when you pictured that200 million gallons of oil a
(07:58):
few minutes ago?
Well, for the 87 days that ittook officials to figure out how
to cap this well, that's howmuch oil was gushing all through
the Gulf, spreading around,killing marine plants and
animals, Yeah, so 87 days wentby before they could finally get
a cap that weighed 75 tons downto the well opening and then
(08:20):
plug it up so that no more oilwould gush out.
And I remember watching this onthe news every day, wondering
each day how much damage isbeing done to the marine life.
Every day thinking, why haven'tthey fixed this yet?
They finally did.
On this day, July 15, 2010.
Thank goodness.
Finally.
(08:40):
But man, such a lot of damagehad already been done.
Goodness.
So how bad was it?
Well, we know thousands ofanimals died and who knows how
many plants were destroyed.
BP ended up paying out billionsof dollars in fines and cleanup
costs.
And at least $20 billion ofthose dollars were set aside to
(09:02):
study the impact of the disasterafterwards on the marine life
in the Gulf and along thecoastline for the years after
the accident.
And what's good is there havebeen lots of 10 years later
studies in 2020, and I'm suresoon we're going to have the 15
year later studies as well in2025.
Surprisingly, from what I'mreading, all signs are
(09:26):
indicating marine life, plantsand animals are recovering.
They have found a way tosurvive this mess.
They adapted and overcame.
Of course, it's still notnearly back to the pre-spill
levels.
But it is promising that therecovery is better than what
researchers have expected.
So even so, this disastershould remind us of the
(09:50):
importance of safeguarding theenvironment.
So drillers, please run yourtests and then please don't
ignore the warning signs.
Think about it.
What's worse?
A million dollars a day for afew extra weeks to fix whatever
was broken?
Or $60 billion in fines andcleanup costs?
along with a huge negativeimpact to your reputation.
(10:12):
Yeah, my goodness.
But what's amazing is lifefound a way.
That is what's most inspiring.
Roses are red and oil is black.
Writing a review will keep uson track.
Can't think of the words?
Don't stress or fret.
(10:33):
Type, this pod's a gem.
The best one yet.
Today is I Love Horses Day, andso I figured what better way to
celebrate than to regale youwith stories about some of the
most famous horses in all ofhistory.
And when I suggest that, whathorse comes to your mind as
(10:53):
famous?
Did you jump straight to TV orthe movies?
Did you immediately think aboutracehorses?
Well, before I share somefamous horse stories, let me
share something that totallysurprised me, because here's
what I thought.
Yeah, that's right, but I'llexplain that in a minute.
(11:38):
First, Let's go back to thebeginning of horse time.
About 5,000 years ago peoplestopped hunting horses and began
trying to tame them and ridethem.
And once mankind figured outthat a horse was friend, not
food, everything changed.
Horses enabled people to travelgreat distances now.
(11:59):
Horses allowed them to carryheavy loads and bring things
with them.
Horses allowed them to fight inbigger and bolder battles than
they could on feet.
It's true.
Horses changed everything.
They improved transportation.
They sped up communications.
They made heavy, difficultmanual tasks more efficient.
The horse has been the mostamazing animal to improve our
(12:21):
lives on this planet.
And so it's great that we havea day to celebrate them.
All right, so now let's getback to my Mustangs in the wild,
wild west.
If they weren't there already,where did they come from?
How did they get there?
Well, it turns out thatChristopher Columbus and the
other explorers after himbrought Spanish horses with them
(12:43):
on the ships across theAtlantic to help them explore
and conquer the New World.
And as you know from yourhistory classes, a number of the
attempted settlements andcolonies from Europe failed when
they got into the New World,and all the humans either died
or went back home.
But the animals, in particularthe horses they brought, they
(13:03):
figured out how to survive inthe wild.
Yeah.
So that's how those wild horsesgot there.
(13:35):
And now they can't even becounted as wild.
Instead, they have to bereferred to as feral, which
means an animal that's returnedto being untamed.
Yeah, but DNA proved that theywere Spanish lineage.
How about that?
All right, so now that I'vedashed your romanticized view of
the wild horses of America, letme try to rebuild your
(13:57):
admiration and appreciation ofhorses.
It is I Love Horses Day, afterall.
So I'm going to pluck a fewhorses from the annals of time
and share some stories with you.
The first one is from theancient days of Alexander the
Great.
His famous horse was namedBucephalus.
And the stories claim that thishorse refused to allow anyone
(14:20):
else to ride him exceptAlexander.
In fact, the story goes that noone could even tame Bucephalus.
The horse was a huge blackstallion, and he desperately
fought any rider who attemptedto get on his back.
And it was actually decidedthat he was going to be cast
off.
They couldn't tame him.
He was worthless.
But at the time, Alexander, whowas 13, stepped in and
(14:45):
suggested that he could tame thehorse.
And naturally, there waslaughter and skepticism because
all the skilled riders of thecity couldn't do so.
But Alexander wasn't daunted.
Instead, He walked up to thehorse and slowly spun the
stallion towards the sun, facingthe sun, so that it couldn't
see its shadow on the ground.
(15:06):
And he calmly and lightly petthe horse and then suddenly
leapt up onto its back andtightly grabbed the reins.
Little by little, he releasedthe reins and the horse began to
walk and eventually trot.
And then eventually they gotinto a full gallop.
And the two of them formed abond that lasted the rest of
Bucephalus' life.
Sounds like the scene from themovie Avatar, right?
(15:30):
Maybe that's where they got theidea.
But at the time, Alexander'sfather proclaimed, you must find
a kingdom that will do justiceto your dimension, as Macedonia
is too small for you.
And Alexander, together withhis great war horse, did go on
to conquer most of the knownworld.
All right, now let's try to the1950s and look in on the Roy
(15:54):
Rogers show.
So this was basically a Westerntelevision show about the
adventures of Roy and his horse,Trigger, and it aired 100
episodes over a span of sixyears.
Now, of course, I want to talkabout the co-star, Trigger.
He was a Palomino, which meansthat he had a golden coat with a
starkly contrasted, flowingwhite mane and tail.
(16:16):
Beautiful.
Now, this was a prettyincredible horse.
He was able to learn over 150trick cues.
Of course, a lot of those werefor the actions that he took in
the TV show.
But some of his tricks are veryimpressive.
The most impressive of which,the horse could rear up on its
hind legs and then walkbackwards 50 feet on just its
(16:39):
hind legs.
That's pretty crazy, right?
It's hard enough for you and Ito walk backwards 50 feet.
And there's more.
He could also sit in a chair.
He could bow.
He could lie down and coverhimself with a blanket and
pretend to take a nap.
And another impressive trick,he could sign his name in an X
with a pencil if you put it inhis mouth.
(16:59):
What?
Yeah.
Apparently, Trigger was such aham that if people were to start
clapping and cheering for him,even when he was in the middle
of a trick, he would stop doingwhat he was doing and take a
bow.
I love it.
I love it.
All right.
The last horse we're going tomeet today, Racehorse
(17:19):
Secretariat.
Now, he actually only raced fortwo years, but during that run,
he won 16 of the 21 races hewas in.
And those other five, he gotsome seconds and some thirds and
one fourth.
And of course, three of thoseraces were the 1973 Triple Crown
events.
And in each of those TripleCrown races, he set track
(17:42):
records for the fastest time.
And I actually went back andlooked.
As of 2024, he still holds allthe records for those three
races.
And the most amazing thing isin the third leg called the
Belmont Stakes, he actually wonthat race by 31 lengths, which
means he was so far ahead of thenext horse that that second
(18:03):
place horse thought it waswinning.
31 lengths actually means thatthe length of a horse.
So he was 31 horses ahead ofthe second place horse.
That's a huge margin ofvictory, isn't it?
All right.
A couple of quick notes aboutSecretariat.
He liked to horse around.
Yeah.
If you were standing too closeand drinking a beer, the
secretary would stalk you, andthen he would grab the bottle of
(18:25):
beer out of your hands andstart gulping it down.
I'm telling you, that was morethan one said that.
He also once grabbed WilliamKnack's notepad.
It's a writer for SportsIllustrated, and he refused to
give it back.
He wouldn't let it go.
And then another time, hegrabbed a rake with his teeth
and went back and forth draggingthe rake in his stall like his
(18:46):
groomers had done.
That's funny.
All right.
So that was probably too quickof a gallop through some of the
notable horses from history.
And for those of you who lovehorses, you probably wish that I
did a whole bonus episodetalking about them.
Maybe we will do that.
My youngest daughter, she loveshorses for sure.
And she and my wife truly enjoyevery chance they get to bond
(19:07):
with these amazing creatures atthe local farm where my daughter
rides.
And I'll tell you also, peoplewho interact with horses will
all agree that The bonds theyshare with their equine friends
is a wonderful blessing.
It's amazing.
One thing's for sure, horseshave left an indelible hoofprint
on history.
Happy trails, everybody.
(19:29):
A time traveler's delight, westep back in time to moments and
stories both grand and sublime.
If these tales have warmed yourheart and your mind, please
share with your friends.
Be thoughtful and kind.
If you watch movies, perhapsyou've seen The Night at the
(19:51):
Museum, Secret of the Tomb.
Or perhaps you've seen TheMummy Returns.
How about if you're a reader,perhaps you've enjoyed the
fast-paced stories by CliveCussler or Dan Brown.
Well, if you have, you've beenintroduced to the Rosetta Stone.
And even if you aren't intothese adventures, you've surely
heard of this massive stonetablet that weighs in at almost
(20:13):
two tons and stands about threeand a half feet tall and and is
filled with ancient hieroglyphs?
Well, here's your chance to getup close and personal with this
amazing artifact and itsdiscovery, and the secrets it
has unlocked.
Even better, you get to hearall of this from one of the
world's experts on the RosettaStone, Egyptologist Ilona
(20:35):
Rogalski.
She and I spent almost an hourtalking about the discovery of
the Rosetta Stone, itssignificance to unlocking the
meaning of ancient hieroglyphsfrom Egypt, and more.
And so up next are thehighlights of that conversation.
Ilona?
Take it away.
Ilona (20:51):
Yeah.
Hello, everyone.
I'm Ilona Regulski.
I'm an Egyptologist currentlyworking as a curator in the
Egyptian Museum in Berlin.
I like to spend my days amongstancient Egyptian objects.
And yeah, I've worked and livedin many different countries,
many different institutions.
And that is, I guess, also verytypical for the field of
(21:15):
Egyptology, where it's veryglobal, it's very international.
So you have to move around alittle bit.
I'm originally from fromBelgium and I studied
Egyptology, of course.
Truman (21:25):
So how did you get into Egyptology?
Like what about Egypt attractedyou?
Ilona (21:31):
I guess.
I've always been attracted tovery ancient cultures, so I'd
like to go back to the beginningof things.
There is, of course, Rome,there is Greece, but you can
always go back.
I wouldn't go back as far asprehistory, because I like
writing systems, and there werenot yet writing in most
(21:51):
prehistoric civilizations.
But I think I came into...
Yeah, I came to be interestedin ancient Egyptian culture
through art history.
So I did art school my wholelife since I was little.
And I guess the visual aspectof hieroglyphs is also
definitely something thatintrigued me when I was 17 or 18
(22:14):
years old.
And then once I startedstudying Egyptology, of course,
I got interested in many otheraspects of the field.
But I guess it was the visualarts...
aspect that initiallyinterested me together with the
fact that it's very old,basically.
Truman (22:32):
Yep.
Yep.
So hieroglyphs obviously havebeen around for thousands of
years, right?
How far back do hieroglyphs go?
Have you been able to determinethat?
Ilona (22:42):
Yes, I actually wrote my PhD on the origins of writing in
Egypt.
So I know the early hieroglyphsvery well.
There's a lot of discussionstill going on, as it has to be,
with these kind of things.
But we now more or less datethe earliest writing in Egypt to
3,250 BC.
Wow, okay.
That's more or less when westart to have...
(23:05):
a writing system that we canalso read.
Truman (23:09):
So we're talking over 5,000 years, right?
Yes.
Okay.
And it wasn't until roughly1799 or sometime after that that
people didn't know whathieroglyphs meant, right?
So a lot of people who wereyour predecessors in the 1700s
would see the hieroglyphs andnot know what they mean at all,
Ilona (23:31):
right?
Yes.
So it's the knowledge that'swent that lost yeah it was lost
for some time um lost and indeedthat starts in 1799 with the
discovery of the rosetta stonebut it actually it actually
doesn't start there it startedearlier but it's the discovery
of the rosetta stone acceleratedthe process we could say
Truman (23:49):
yeah so Since you brought that up, can you share
the story?
Do you know the story of thatdiscovery?
Give me the details.
What was it like that day?
What was going on in
Ilona (24:00):
Egypt?
I'm not sure I know what it waslike that day.
Egypt was going through aturbulent period.
As we know, Napoleon invadedEgypt in 1798.
Initially, the Egyptians askedthe British forces to help them
defeat the French, basically.
And during that politicalupheaval, you could say,
(24:25):
Napoleon, of course, felt theheat.
And he was reinforcing some ofthe fortresses that were located
on the north coast of Egypt.
And one of them was FortJulien, as his army called it.
And during the works on thefoundations of that fort in what
was later called Rosetta, theydiscovered this stone.
(24:45):
And it was called the Stone ofRosetta because...
The town was called Rosette bythe French, Little Rose.
Okay.
And so when they discovered it,it became the Pierre de Rosette
and then it became the RosettaStone.
The city is actuallypresent-day Rashid.
It's known
Truman (25:04):
as Rashid.
Okay, different name now.
Ilona (25:06):
Yeah.
Well, it always had a differentname for the Egyptians.
Truman (25:09):
The Rashid Stone.
Yeah.
Okay.
Ilona (25:12):
And yeah, so it was discovered upside down.
It was turned around andthen...
the people who were working onthis suddenly saw all these
scripts and some of them, thelieutenant who was in charge of
the of the works immediatelyrecognized the importance, which
is quite astonishing.
So you have to imagine that abit before, well, the decades
(25:35):
and centuries beforehand, peoplewere working on hieroglyphs and
more and more scholars startedto be interested in hieroglyphs.
And what we see towards the endof the 18th century is that
scholars who are communicatingwith each other say in their
letters, well, we've We've comeas far as we can with the
(25:57):
information we have, with thesources we have for the moment.
We really need a bilingualinscription where hieroglyphs
are juxtaposed with a script anda language that is known to
people, known to us, that we canread so that we know what the
hieroglyphs are saying.
And so this was a veryconscious problem that there was
a lack of bilingualinscriptions.
(26:19):
So this was known to people.
So when they found the stone,there was immediately, it was
said this may be this bilingualinscription that we've been
waiting for.
Truman (26:27):
So you're using bilingual descriptions.
So talk to me about what's onthe stone itself.
What do you see when you lookat the stone?
Ilona (26:33):
So at the top, we have hieroglyphs, which is the
ancient script of Egypt.
It's the script that was usedfor temples.
They were carved on templewalls or written in tombs on
stone, basically.
Any kind of monumentalarchitecture, but sometimes also
on smaller objects.
And then you have a middlescript that was not correctly
(26:57):
identified initially.
It's a cursive.
writing system.
It's basically the handwrittenversion of hieroglyphs.
Truman (27:06):
So you say handwritten version, so you're saying the
hieroglyphs are like artisticpictures, and then the next
script is the cursive version ofthe pictures.
Ilona (27:17):
Yes, so hieroglyphs are a script.
They represent the samelanguage as is represented by
the cursive writing.
We call it, in the time of theRosetta Stone, we call the
script demotic.
And they refer to the script asthe script of the people,
demos, and that's why we callthis
Truman (27:36):
demotic, as
Ilona (27:37):
opposed to the hieroglyphs that are carved on
temple walls.
So those are the two scripts wehave representing the same
Egyptian language.
The hieroglyphs are a littlebit more archaic because they
try to sound a little bit moreancient.
That's...
what the priests wanted to do.
But essentially, it's the samelanguage.
(27:59):
And then below that, you havethe third script that is Greek.
Okay.
So they hoped that through theGreek, which they knew, of
course, they could translate thetwo other scripts.
Truman (28:11):
And eventually they did,
Ilona (28:12):
right?
Eventually they did, yes.
It took a long time.
It took 22 years, 23 years, infact, until that first
breakthrough happened.
But even that was a very slowprocess, and it's not like in
1822 we could suddenly write allthe texts that we have.
Definitely not.
It was a first step.
Truman (28:33):
So if we go back in time to the time that he's still
trying to figure this out, thetranslations...
What were people thinking aboutthe Rosetta Stone?
Were they amazed?
Were they alarmed?
Were they not caring at all?
What was the vibe back then?
Ilona (28:48):
Yeah, so we have to imagine, of course, this is all
going on in very select circles.
I don't know if the man in thestreet really realized what was
happening.
Truman (28:57):
Okay.
Ilona (28:58):
In the Egyptian newspaper of the day, it did say we have
perhaps discovered the tool thatwill lead us to decipherment.
So some travelers report thatpeople flocked to the harbor in
Cairo to see that wonderfulstone and you may know that
there is a piece missing at thetop and it was then also said
(29:19):
that that missing piece heartwould be worth its weight in
diamonds or something like that.
So definitely it did engage thepublic.
Truman (29:29):
And you're really into hieroglyphs, right?
What's your favoritehieroglyphic symbol?
Ilona (29:36):
Well, we have about 800 that are very common.
800?
Yes, that are very common.
We have more, but 800 are verycommon to us, at least.
So it's a bit difficult tochoose between all of them, but
I really like the bee, thehoneybee.
because I like honeybees.
Truman (29:52):
The honeybee.
Ilona (29:53):
I think honeybees are great.
And it's usually carved in avery beautiful way.
They spend a lot of timewriting the honeybee.
Truman (30:02):
When you were talking about the top of the stone, now
we know what it looks likebecause there is more than one
of these stones around that youfound, right?
Ilona (30:10):
Correct.
This is a very important partof the story.
So the Rosetta Stone was thefirst that was discovered.
Almost immediately afterwards,another such stone was found.
Meanwhile, we have about 27 orsomething.
Truman (30:25):
27.
Yeah,
Ilona (30:27):
stones that are better preserved or worse preserved.
Sometimes we only have one ofthe scripts preserved.
but it was a template that wascopied over and over again.
So it's a text that wasprobably introduced to Egypt by
Ptolemies, so by the Greekrulers of Egypt, because it's
the kind of text that speaksabout the deification of the
(30:49):
king.
So basically the whole text isabout treating the king as a
god.
Truman (30:55):
All right, who had some fun there?
I sure enjoyed spending sometime with Alona.
Hopefully you did too.
You can definitely tell She'svery much into Egyptology.
If you enjoyed hearing Ilona'sstories and want more of the
same, please check out the bonusepisode called Unlocking
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphswith Ilona Rogalski.
(31:15):
There, you'll hear the fullinterview.
I was able to come up with acouple questions that no one has
ever asked her before.
So please go check those out.
And until next time, may yourcuriosity continue to unlock the
secrets of the past.
We'll do our best to help youdo that with each Daystrider
episode.
And there you have it.
(31:41):
Some great stories to sharewith your someone special to
celebrate July 15th.
Once again, those are Today Sawan End to the Worst Oil Spill
in Human History.
We got to hear some cutestories about some famous horses
from history to celebrate ILove Horses Day.
and the discovery of theRosetta Stone, and why it was so
(32:02):
significant.
Now, if you were glad to hearthat life finds a way, even
after when facing disaster, youwere going to love the April
26th episode about nature'srecovery from the Chernobyl
nuclear accident.
Of course, that episode isn'tpublished yet, so stay tuned.
If you loved hearing aboutanimals, December 9th features
(32:23):
llamas, and then you can learnmore about some famous
groundhogs on the February 2ndepisode.
If ancient things get you alljazzed up, the story of Remus
and Romulus on April 21st mightbe right up your alley.
And of course, if you enjoyhearing from guests about their
favorite subjects, there arelots of great bonus episode
options for you.
(32:43):
To find them, just scrollthrough the feed and look for
the words bonus episode.
Enjoy.
Now for my reflection moment ofthe day, you might think that
I'm a little crazy.
Because it's not about howamazing it is that life found a
way to survive that massive oilspill.
Instead, I was thinking thatmaybe we are lucky that BP was
(33:07):
the company that caused this tohappen.
Now, of course, no one wants anenvironmental disaster, so I'm
not saying that.
But if it's going to happen,I'm suggesting that a company
with insanely deep pockets thatcould pay out the more than $60
billion in fines and expensesthat were needed to clean up the
mess...
Maybe it's good that BP was theone that happened to because
(33:29):
they had the cash to do it.
And so much of that money wasput to good use to support the
environmental recovery.
Think about it.
If this happened to a smallercompany, and it easily could
have, maybe there simplywouldn't have been enough money
available to write that hugecheck.
Insurance?
Maybe they'd step in.
Maybe they wouldn't.
Maybe they wouldn't have paid.
Who knows?
(33:49):
And so we, the taxpayers, wouldhave been on the hook in that
scenario.
So maybe it's okay that BP wasthe company.
And by the way, BP still is inbusiness.
Even after all that, in Marchof 24, I looked at their balance
sheet.
They have $32 billion in cash.
That's hard to believe, isn'tit?
(34:09):
All right.
Well, let's move on.
So after you share thesespecial stories, you can also
mention the following famouspeople who celebrate their
birthdays today.
Ariana Huffington turns 39again this year.
She's had over 30 of these 39thbirthdays.
If you don't recognize thatlast name, then perhaps you need
(34:31):
to just Google it.
Although she no longer runs theHuffington Post, now called
HuffPost, she stays involved andleads a few philanthropic
businesses, so good for her.
Forrest Whitaker adds a candleto his cake today.
He's an actor who's had manyroles.
He's got an Academy Award and aGolden Globe.
He did Platoon and Good MorningVietnam in the 80s, Blown Away
(34:55):
in the 90s, Panic Room and TheLast King of Scotland in the
2000s, Rogue One and BlackPanther in the 20-teens, and
surely he'll be up to somethinggood here in the 2020s.
Ian Armitage turns 16 today.
He's the actor who plays youngSheldon.
He also played Ziggy Chapman inBig Little Lies, and I suppose
(35:17):
he's going to be around actingfor quite some time, right?
And another famous birthdaytoday, Rembrandt the Artist.
He was born on this day in1606.
His paintings are famous fortheir drama as well as the use
of contrasts between light anddark.
His most famous work is TheNight Watch, which is a
(35:39):
mega-sized painting that's 11feet by 14 feet.
But I like The Anatomy Lessonof Dr.
Nicholas Tulp.
You'll have to look that oneup.
It's pretty creepy.
And as you've come to learn, Ialso like to feature the 50th
most famous person showing up onfamousbirthdays.com.
Well, here on July 15th, thathonor goes to Yoko Shimizu.
(36:01):
She's a famous illustrator fromJapan who has collaborated on
branding projects with Gap,Pepsi, Apple, and Nike.
And in 2009, she was selectedby Newsweek Japan for being one
of 100 Japanese people the worldrespects.
That's pretty neat.
And yes, people, I looked uphow to say her name correctly,
(36:22):
Yuko Shimizu.
When I looked at Wikipedia'scentenarians list, I found that
Brenda Milner turns 106 todayhere in 2024.
She is Canada's preeminentneuropsychologist.
Many consider her a founder ofthe field of clinical
neuropsychology and cognitiveneuroscience.
(36:43):
I find that those words arevery hard to say.
Okay.
So we already knew that July15th is I Love Horses Day.
Well, it's also Tapioca PuddingDay.
Have you ever heard of thisdessert?
If not, it's similar in flavorto a vanilla pudding, but man,
the texture is very different.
The tapioca part comes inlittle pearls that are starchy
(37:06):
and not really flavorful, butthey're there to give the
pudding its texture.
And then you can flavor ithowever you'd like.
So tapioca pudding.
It's also Orange Chicken Day.
This is the Chinese meal wherethe chicken is cut up into
bite-sized pieces and flavoredwith orange sauce that is made
in so many different ways.
If you like orange chicken, youshould try it out at all the
(37:30):
different Chinese carry-outplaces in your area.
I guarantee you they'll all beslightly different.
Some have just orange juiceflavoring, some have orange
peels zested in there, and someactually leave the slices of the
orange peel right in the sauce.
Seriously, go do a study.
You'll see.
And speaking of studies, todayis also National Be a Dork Day.
(37:52):
I think someone's trying tolighten this derogatory term.
To help you see the light, anerd is an intelligent person
who's got a deep knowledge of aparticular subject, but can also
be socially awkward.
A geek, on the other hand, issomeone who's deeply passionate
about a very specific topic.
(38:13):
And they are deep experts aboutthat topic and can be regarded
favorably or awkwardly about it.
Now, a dork, on the other hand,this is a socially awkward
person who behaves in a silly orfoolish manner.
And they may or may not be alsoa nerd or a geek.
So, do you see the difference?
Try not to be a dork, eventhough it's National Dork Day.
(38:36):
Alright, do you need a greatgift idea for your loved one?
Well, after you share theseawesome stories, you can have
them open up a gift that iscustomized to their birthday.
I have several great ideas foryou and, as always, you can find
links to those in the gift ideasection of the show notes.
And often I mention that youcan get a unique gift for the
(38:58):
person who has everything.
Well, today is no exception.
I normally feature gifts thatcelebrate each of the segments
we cover.
But who wants to celebrate theBP oil spill?
But if your loved one is intothe Gulf of Mexico, there are
some great books about the Gulfyou can get for them.
If your loved one is intohorses, there are tons of gifts
(39:20):
available for you.
Decor, stuffed animals, books,movies, and on and on.
And I've got a number of linksin the show notes you can check
out.
And then there are also somegreat books about the Rosetta
Stone.
Both adult versions and kidversions.
And also, here's why my giftideas are so intriguing.
Who do you know that has booksabout hieroglyphics?
(39:43):
Well, you can surprise yourloved one with just such an
option.
Check out the link in the shownotes.
We also mentioned tapiocapudding and Orange Chicken Day.
There are some great giftsrelated to those as well.
Yep, so actually lots ofcustomized gifts for July 15th
as great options.
And of course, if those ideasaren't cool enough, you can give
(40:06):
them a personalized shout outright here on the podcast.
If you want to do it the oldfashioned way, email me their
name and some interestingtidbits that you want mentioned
and I'll do some shout outs foryou.
Or if you want to try the speakby feature that we've added,
you can record your own shoutout that might sound something
like this.
I
Guest (40:25):
want to wish Stephanie a happy birthday to one of my
oldest and longest and dearestfriends.
I hope you have an amazing day.
Hi, Steffers.
I wish I could be there tocelebrate with you.
I hope you have an amazing dayfull of everything you love
most.
Maybe a shot of butterynipples?
Love, Britters.
Truman (40:47):
Buttery nipples, huh?
All right.
Well, you can find the link todo that in the show notes.
And as always, if you have astory that just needs to be
shared about any day in thepast, send me an email and let's
connect.
Now while you're thinking aboutall that, how about clicking
the follow button on yourpodcast app so that you get
(41:08):
notifications when the nextepisode is released.
And if you're still listeningat this point, I'm repeating the
challenge I've issued forseveral episodes now.
It's really easy.
I'm going to ask you to thinkof your favorite time travel
movie, and then I'm going to askyou to try out the new
Buzzsprout feature to text me.
There's a link in the shownotes that says, text me your
favorite time travel movie.
(41:28):
I've actually had somebody elsestep up to the challenge and
send me an entry, the movie 13going on 30.
So thanks, Anonymous Poster.
As I've said, I have my ownlist, but I'll be featuring the
time travel movies on December8th of 2024.
So I'll leave you with this.
I hope you had half as much funlistening as I did creating
(41:51):
this episode.
because I had a lot of fun.
Sharing it with a friend orfamily member would be
incredible and sincerelyappreciated.
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
(42:12):
goodies for you.
Now get out there and make yourown great story today.
Welcome, Seeker.
Your portal is all warmed upand ready to stride through
history with me.
Together, we'll discover whyJuly 15th is so unique.
Surprising events, intriguingdiscoveries, and many fun
stories in between.
Today, we start off in the Gulfof Mexico, traveling back only
a decade or so to hear about oneof the worst disasters in
(00:24):
maritime history.
Thank goodness nature finds away to recover from man's
mistakes.
After that, we'll journeyacross many points in time to
experience the awesomeness of aparticular animal that literally
improved life as we know it onthis planet.
And then, strap in for a tripto ancient Egypt and dive into
(00:44):
the secrets of hieroglyphics andlearn how we unlock their
truths.
Curator Ilona Rogolsky will beour amazing tour guide.
After striding through July15th, you'll have a greater
appreciation for our planet'sresilience, the incredible bond
we make with animals, and theenduring legacy of ancient
civilizations.
Get ready for a journey throughthe past that will inspire your
(01:07):
vision for the future.
Time's a-tickin', so let's getto 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
(01:30):
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
(01:51):
happened on this day.
Alrighty then, let's get to it.
Have you ever tried to imaginea number so large that it seems
unreal?
For example, if I asked you toimagine 200 million gallons of
liquid, how would you thinkabout that?
(02:11):
Or how would you even describethat to others?
Well, an Olympic-sized swimmingpool holds a lot of water,
right?
But guess what?
You'd need over 300 pools tohold that much water.
Can you actually picture inyour head 300 Olympic-sized
swimming pools all next to eachother?
I can't imagine that.
(02:31):
How about this?
How about one of those oiltanker train cars?
You know, the ones I mean thatpass by on the train?
All right, so guess what?
You'd need almost 6,700 ofthose to hold 200 million
gallons of oil.
So probably, again, hard toimagine.
But hey, let me help.
If you hooked up those cars allin one long train, it would
(02:56):
stretch on and on for 62 miles.
So basically, if the traintracks were running alongside a
highway and it was sittingstill, it would take you an hour
to drive from the caboose allthe way up to the engine.
That's how many train tankercars you'd pass.
Well, guess what?
That is how much oil gushedinto the Gulf of Mexico in the
(03:19):
spring of 2010 making it thelargest oil spill ever and one
of the worst environmentaldisasters in the history of
human existence.
Yes, 200 million gallons ofoil, 62 miles worth of oil
tanker train cars.
That's horrible.
This oil killed thousands andthousands of marine plants and
(03:42):
animals in the Gulf andthousands more along the shores
of Florida, Louisiana, Texas,and Mexico.
Oil damaged a total of 16,000miles of coastline.
It's crazy, right?
And what's worse, based on allthe investigations and reports
that came out afterwards, theaccident was preventable.
There was a bunch of mistakesmade that didn't have to be and
(04:05):
a lot of warnings that weresimply ignored.
Yeah, and probably that doesn'tsurprise you.
And yes, it's very frustrating.
So how and why did somethinglike this happen?
Well...
Let's get some perspectivehere.
There are many, many oil fieldsdeep in the Earth's crust under
the Gulf of Mexico.
And it is a big, huge businessto get that oil out of the
(04:28):
ground.
About one-seventh of all oilproduced in the U.S.
comes from under the Gulf.
And there are over 50 differentcompanies out there with over
120 oil rigs in production rightnow drilling and pumping oil
out of the ground.
And BP happens to be one ofthose companies.
So here's their story.
(04:49):
In February 2010, BP'scontractors positioned their
drilling rig, called theDeepwater Horizon, in the Gulf
about 40 miles off the coast ofLouisiana.
And this thing is huge.
And it's pretty much like howthe movie Armageddon showed it,
where people live in barracks onthe rigs and they eat there and
they work their shifts there.
(05:09):
And then helicopters fly inevery two weeks.
They bring supplies and a freshcrew of workers to replace the
team that was there those pasttwo weeks.
And these crews have dozens ofworkers who have such a dirty,
messy job.
And not only that, they'reunder a lot of pressure and
stress to get the job done ontime and on budget.
(05:29):
Running a rig like this cost BPa million dollars a day,
roughly.
Okay, so the Deepwater Horizonwas situated a mile above the
seafloor.
And then the oil well that itwas drilling went another three
miles into the Earth's crust.
So that's a long way down, fourtotal miles, right?
(05:51):
A mile of sea, three miles ofEarth.
And of course, there were somehiccups in this drilling
project, and they were actuallysix weeks behind schedule.
But it should have been longer,people.
But due to some tough guybosses who have this I'm smarter
than you syndrome, severalquestionable decisions were made
(06:12):
about warning signs that thingswere wrong.
And several crew membersthought that the blowout
preventer was damaged.
A blowout preventer is exactlywhat it sounds like.
A device that's supposed toshut the pipes off.
If the oil begins forcing itsway backwards out of the well
and blowing out of the pipes.
(06:32):
So it's supposed to preventthat.
And it's a critical component.
And every drilling operationhas one of these.
And they test them regularly tomake sure they're going to work
if the oil decides to blow out.
Anyway...
In early April, just when theythought the project was finished
and the big cheeses at BP werehelicoptered onto the rig, my
(06:53):
friend Shannon calls the highestlevel people and companies the
big cheeses.
So anyway, that night, aftertheir celebrations were over,
bad things started to happen.
Oil burst through the faultyblowout preventer and forcefully
squirted up the four-mile pipeonto the rig, spraying
everything and everyone with oiland muck.
(07:15):
And of course, oil isflammable, right?
So once a spark happened, theentire rig exploded, caught
fire, and became engulfed inflames.
Even though it's made mostlyout of metal.
11 people died in thisexplosion.
17 were injured.
And the other 90, they made itoff the rig safely with no
issues.
But the same can't be said forthe marine plants and animals
(07:36):
that lived in this once peacefulsection of the Gulf.
But more on that in a minute.
So then the rig sank.
and that mile of piping in thewater all broke up, and down at
the bottom of the well, the oiljust began gushing, unchecked,
into the Gulf from the seafloor.
Remember when you pictured that200 million gallons of oil a
(07:58):
few minutes ago?
Well, for the 87 days that ittook officials to figure out how
to cap this well, that's howmuch oil was gushing all through
the Gulf, spreading around,killing marine plants and
animals, Yeah, so 87 days wentby before they could finally get
a cap that weighed 75 tons downto the well opening and then
(08:20):
plug it up so that no more oilwould gush out.
And I remember watching this onthe news every day, wondering
each day how much damage isbeing done to the marine life.
Every day thinking, why haven'tthey fixed this yet?
They finally did.
On this day, July 15, 2010.
Thank goodness.
Finally.
(08:40):
But man, such a lot of damagehad already been done.
Goodness.
So how bad was it?
Well, we know thousands ofanimals died and who knows how
many plants were destroyed.
BP ended up paying out billionsof dollars in fines and cleanup
costs.
And at least $20 billion ofthose dollars were set aside to
(09:02):
study the impact of the disasterafterwards on the marine life
in the Gulf and along thecoastline for the years after
the accident.
And what's good is there havebeen lots of 10 years later
studies in 2020, and I'm suresoon we're going to have the 15
year later studies as well in2025.
Surprisingly, from what I'mreading, all signs are
(09:26):
indicating marine life, plantsand animals are recovering.
They have found a way tosurvive this mess.
They adapted and overcame.
Of course, it's still notnearly back to the pre-spill
levels.
But it is promising that therecovery is better than what
researchers have expected.
So even so, this disastershould remind us of the
(09:50):
importance of safeguarding theenvironment.
So drillers, please run yourtests and then please don't
ignore the warning signs.
Think about it.
What's worse?
A million dollars a day for afew extra weeks to fix whatever
was broken?
Or $60 billion in fines andcleanup costs?
along with a huge negativeimpact to your reputation.
(10:12):
Yeah, my goodness.
But what's amazing is lifefound a way.
That is what's most inspiring.
Roses are red and oil is black.
Writing a review will keep uson track.
Can't think of the words?
Don't stress or fret.
(10:33):
Type, this pod's a gem.
The best one yet.
Today is I Love Horses Day, andso I figured what better way to
celebrate than to regale youwith stories about some of the
most famous horses in all ofhistory.
And when I suggest that, whathorse comes to your mind as
(10:53):
famous?
Did you jump straight to TV orthe movies?
Did you immediately think aboutracehorses?
Well, before I share somefamous horse stories, let me
share something that totallysurprised me, because here's
what I thought.
Yeah, that's right, but I'llexplain that in a minute.
(11:38):
First, Let's go back to thebeginning of horse time.
About 5,000 years ago peoplestopped hunting horses and began
trying to tame them and ridethem.
And once mankind figured outthat a horse was friend, not
food, everything changed.
Horses enabled people to travelgreat distances now.
(11:59):
Horses allowed them to carryheavy loads and bring things
with them.
Horses allowed them to fight inbigger and bolder battles than
they could on feet.
It's true.
Horses changed everything.
They improved transportation.
They sped up communications.
They made heavy, difficultmanual tasks more efficient.
The horse has been the mostamazing animal to improve our
(12:21):
lives on this planet.
And so it's great that we havea day to celebrate them.
All right, so now let's getback to my Mustangs in the wild,
wild west.
If they weren't there already,where did they come from?
How did they get there?
Well, it turns out thatChristopher Columbus and the
other explorers after himbrought Spanish horses with them
(12:43):
on the ships across theAtlantic to help them explore
and conquer the New World.
And as you know from yourhistory classes, a number of the
attempted settlements andcolonies from Europe failed when
they got into the New World,and all the humans either died
or went back home.
But the animals, in particularthe horses they brought, they
(13:03):
figured out how to survive inthe wild.
Yeah.
So that's how those wild horsesgot there.
(13:35):
And now they can't even becounted as wild.
Instead, they have to bereferred to as feral, which
means an animal that's returnedto being untamed.
Yeah, but DNA proved that theywere Spanish lineage.
How about that?
All right, so now that I'vedashed your romanticized view of
the wild horses of America, letme try to rebuild your
(13:57):
admiration and appreciation ofhorses.
It is I Love Horses Day, afterall.
So I'm going to pluck a fewhorses from the annals of time
and share some stories with you.
The first one is from theancient days of Alexander the
Great.
His famous horse was namedBucephalus.
And the stories claim that thishorse refused to allow anyone
(14:20):
else to ride him exceptAlexander.
In fact, the story goes that noone could even tame Bucephalus.
The horse was a huge blackstallion, and he desperately
fought any rider who attemptedto get on his back.
And it was actually decidedthat he was going to be cast
off.
They couldn't tame him.
He was worthless.
But at the time, Alexander, whowas 13, stepped in and
(14:45):
suggested that he could tame thehorse.
And naturally, there waslaughter and skepticism because
all the skilled riders of thecity couldn't do so.
But Alexander wasn't daunted.
Instead, He walked up to thehorse and slowly spun the
stallion towards the sun, facingthe sun, so that it couldn't
see its shadow on the ground.
(15:06):
And he calmly and lightly petthe horse and then suddenly
leapt up onto its back andtightly grabbed the reins.
Little by little, he releasedthe reins and the horse began to
walk and eventually trot.
And then eventually they gotinto a full gallop.
And the two of them formed abond that lasted the rest of
Bucephalus' life.
Sounds like the scene from themovie Avatar, right?
(15:30):
Maybe that's where they got theidea.
But at the time, Alexander'sfather proclaimed, you must find
a kingdom that will do justiceto your dimension, as Macedonia
is too small for you.
And Alexander, together withhis great war horse, did go on
to conquer most of the knownworld.
All right, now let's try to the1950s and look in on the Roy
(15:54):
Rogers show.
So this was basically a Westerntelevision show about the
adventures of Roy and his horse,Trigger, and it aired 100
episodes over a span of sixyears.
Now, of course, I want to talkabout the co-star, Trigger.
He was a Palomino, which meansthat he had a golden coat with a
starkly contrasted, flowingwhite mane and tail.
(16:16):
Beautiful.
Now, this was a prettyincredible horse.
He was able to learn over 150trick cues.
Of course, a lot of those werefor the actions that he took in
the TV show.
But some of his tricks are veryimpressive.
The most impressive of which,the horse could rear up on its
hind legs and then walkbackwards 50 feet on just its
(16:39):
hind legs.
That's pretty crazy, right?
It's hard enough for you and Ito walk backwards 50 feet.
And there's more.
He could also sit in a chair.
He could bow.
He could lie down and coverhimself with a blanket and
pretend to take a nap.
And another impressive trick,he could sign his name in an X
with a pencil if you put it inhis mouth.
(16:59):
What?
Yeah.
Apparently, Trigger was such aham that if people were to start
clapping and cheering for him,even when he was in the middle
of a trick, he would stop doingwhat he was doing and take a
bow.
I love it.
I love it.
All right.
The last horse we're going tomeet today, Racehorse
(17:19):
Secretariat.
Now, he actually only raced fortwo years, but during that run,
he won 16 of the 21 races hewas in.
And those other five, he gotsome seconds and some thirds and
one fourth.
And of course, three of thoseraces were the 1973 Triple Crown
events.
And in each of those TripleCrown races, he set track
(17:42):
records for the fastest time.
And I actually went back andlooked.
As of 2024, he still holds allthe records for those three
races.
And the most amazing thing isin the third leg called the
Belmont Stakes, he actually wonthat race by 31 lengths, which
means he was so far ahead of thenext horse that that second
(18:03):
place horse thought it waswinning.
31 lengths actually means thatthe length of a horse.
So he was 31 horses ahead ofthe second place horse.
That's a huge margin ofvictory, isn't it?
All right.
A couple of quick notes aboutSecretariat.
He liked to horse around.
Yeah.
If you were standing too closeand drinking a beer, the
secretary would stalk you, andthen he would grab the bottle of
(18:25):
beer out of your hands andstart gulping it down.
I'm telling you, that was morethan one said that.
He also once grabbed WilliamKnack's notepad.
It's a writer for SportsIllustrated, and he refused to
give it back.
He wouldn't let it go.
And then another time, hegrabbed a rake with his teeth
and went back and forth draggingthe rake in his stall like his
(18:46):
groomers had done.
That's funny.
All right.
So that was probably too quickof a gallop through some of the
notable horses from history.
And for those of you who lovehorses, you probably wish that I
did a whole bonus episodetalking about them.
Maybe we will do that.
My youngest daughter, she loveshorses for sure.
And she and my wife truly enjoyevery chance they get to bond
(19:07):
with these amazing creatures atthe local farm where my daughter
rides.
And I'll tell you also, peoplewho interact with horses will
all agree that The bonds theyshare with their equine friends
is a wonderful blessing.
It's amazing.
One thing's for sure, horseshave left an indelible hoofprint
on history.
Happy trails, everybody.
(19:29):
A time traveler's delight, westep back in time to moments and
stories both grand and sublime.
If these tales have warmed yourheart and your mind, please
share with your friends.
Be thoughtful and kind.
If you watch movies, perhapsyou've seen The Night at the
(19:51):
Museum, Secret of the Tomb.
Or perhaps you've seen TheMummy Returns.
How about if you're a reader,perhaps you've enjoyed the
fast-paced stories by CliveCussler or Dan Brown.
Well, if you have, you've beenintroduced to the Rosetta Stone.
And even if you aren't intothese adventures, you've surely
heard of this massive stonetablet that weighs in at almost
(20:13):
two tons and stands about threeand a half feet tall and and is
filled with ancient hieroglyphs?
Well, here's your chance to getup close and personal with this
amazing artifact and itsdiscovery, and the secrets it
has unlocked.
Even better, you get to hearall of this from one of the
world's experts on the RosettaStone, Egyptologist Ilona
(20:35):
Rogalski.
She and I spent almost an hourtalking about the discovery of
the Rosetta Stone, itssignificance to unlocking the
meaning of ancient hieroglyphsfrom Egypt, and more.
And so up next are thehighlights of that conversation.
Ilona?
Take it away.
Ilona (20:51):
Yeah.
Hello, everyone.
I'm Ilona Regulski.
I'm an Egyptologist currentlyworking as a curator in the
Egyptian Museum in Berlin.
I like to spend my days amongstancient Egyptian objects.
And yeah, I've worked and livedin many different countries,
many different institutions.
And that is, I guess, also verytypical for the field of
(21:15):
Egyptology, where it's veryglobal, it's very international.
So you have to move around alittle bit.
I'm originally from fromBelgium and I studied
Egyptology, of course.
Truman (21:25):
So how did you get into Egyptology?
Like what about Egypt attractedyou?
Ilona (21:31):
I guess.
I've always been attracted tovery ancient cultures, so I'd
like to go back to the beginningof things.
There is, of course, Rome,there is Greece, but you can
always go back.
I wouldn't go back as far asprehistory, because I like
writing systems, and there werenot yet writing in most
(21:51):
prehistoric civilizations.
But I think I came into...
Yeah, I came to be interestedin ancient Egyptian culture
through art history.
So I did art school my wholelife since I was little.
And I guess the visual aspectof hieroglyphs is also
definitely something thatintrigued me when I was 17 or 18
(22:14):
years old.
And then once I startedstudying Egyptology, of course,
I got interested in many otheraspects of the field.
But I guess it was the visualarts...
aspect that initiallyinterested me together with the
fact that it's very old,basically.
Truman (22:32):
Yep.
Yep.
So hieroglyphs obviously havebeen around for thousands of
years, right?
How far back do hieroglyphs go?
Have you been able to determinethat?
Ilona (22:42):
Yes, I actually wrote my PhD on the origins of writing in
Egypt.
So I know the early hieroglyphsvery well.
There's a lot of discussionstill going on, as it has to be,
with these kind of things.
But we now more or less datethe earliest writing in Egypt to
3,250 BC.
Wow, okay.
That's more or less when westart to have...
(23:05):
a writing system that we canalso read.
Truman (23:09):
So we're talking over 5,000 years, right?
Yes.
Okay.
And it wasn't until roughly1799 or sometime after that that
people didn't know whathieroglyphs meant, right?
So a lot of people who wereyour predecessors in the 1700s
would see the hieroglyphs andnot know what they mean at all,
Ilona (23:31):
right?
Yes.
So it's the knowledge that'swent that lost yeah it was lost
for some time um lost and indeedthat starts in 1799 with the
discovery of the rosetta stonebut it actually it actually
doesn't start there it startedearlier but it's the discovery
of the rosetta stone acceleratedthe process we could say
Truman (23:49):
yeah so Since you brought that up, can you share
the story?
Do you know the story of thatdiscovery?
Give me the details.
What was it like that day?
What was going on in
Ilona (24:00):
Egypt?
I'm not sure I know what it waslike that day.
Egypt was going through aturbulent period.
As we know, Napoleon invadedEgypt in 1798.
Initially, the Egyptians askedthe British forces to help them
defeat the French, basically.
And during that politicalupheaval, you could say,
(24:25):
Napoleon, of course, felt theheat.
And he was reinforcing some ofthe fortresses that were located
on the north coast of Egypt.
And one of them was FortJulien, as his army called it.
And during the works on thefoundations of that fort in what
was later called Rosetta, theydiscovered this stone.
(24:45):
And it was called the Stone ofRosetta because...
The town was called Rosette bythe French, Little Rose.
Okay.
And so when they discovered it,it became the Pierre de Rosette
and then it became the RosettaStone.
The city is actuallypresent-day Rashid.
It's known
Truman (25:04):
as Rashid.
Okay, different name now.
Ilona (25:06):
Yeah.
Well, it always had a differentname for the Egyptians.
Truman (25:09):
The Rashid Stone.
Yeah.
Okay.
Ilona (25:12):
And yeah, so it was discovered upside down.
It was turned around andthen...
the people who were working onthis suddenly saw all these
scripts and some of them, thelieutenant who was in charge of
the of the works immediatelyrecognized the importance, which
is quite astonishing.
So you have to imagine that abit before, well, the decades
(25:35):
and centuries beforehand, peoplewere working on hieroglyphs and
more and more scholars startedto be interested in hieroglyphs.
And what we see towards the endof the 18th century is that
scholars who are communicatingwith each other say in their
letters, well, we've We've comeas far as we can with the
(25:57):
information we have, with thesources we have for the moment.
We really need a bilingualinscription where hieroglyphs
are juxtaposed with a script anda language that is known to
people, known to us, that we canread so that we know what the
hieroglyphs are saying.
And so this was a veryconscious problem that there was
a lack of bilingualinscriptions.
(26:19):
So this was known to people.
So when they found the stone,there was immediately, it was
said this may be this bilingualinscription that we've been
waiting for.
Truman (26:27):
So you're using bilingual descriptions.
So talk to me about what's onthe stone itself.
What do you see when you lookat the stone?
Ilona (26:33):
So at the top, we have hieroglyphs, which is the
ancient script of Egypt.
It's the script that was usedfor temples.
They were carved on templewalls or written in tombs on
stone, basically.
Any kind of monumentalarchitecture, but sometimes also
on smaller objects.
And then you have a middlescript that was not correctly
(26:57):
identified initially.
It's a cursive.
writing system.
It's basically the handwrittenversion of hieroglyphs.
Truman (27:06):
So you say handwritten version, so you're saying the
hieroglyphs are like artisticpictures, and then the next
script is the cursive version ofthe pictures.
Ilona (27:17):
Yes, so hieroglyphs are a script.
They represent the samelanguage as is represented by
the cursive writing.
We call it, in the time of theRosetta Stone, we call the
script demotic.
And they refer to the script asthe script of the people,
demos, and that's why we callthis
Truman (27:36):
demotic, as
Ilona (27:37):
opposed to the hieroglyphs that are carved on
temple walls.
So those are the two scripts wehave representing the same
Egyptian language.
The hieroglyphs are a littlebit more archaic because they
try to sound a little bit moreancient.
That's...
what the priests wanted to do.
But essentially, it's the samelanguage.
(27:59):
And then below that, you havethe third script that is Greek.
Okay.
So they hoped that through theGreek, which they knew, of
course, they could translate thetwo other scripts.
Truman (28:11):
And eventually they did,
Ilona (28:12):
right?
Eventually they did, yes.
It took a long time.
It took 22 years, 23 years, infact, until that first
breakthrough happened.
But even that was a very slowprocess, and it's not like in
1822 we could suddenly write allthe texts that we have.
Definitely not.
It was a first step.
Truman (28:33):
So if we go back in time to the time that he's still
trying to figure this out, thetranslations...
What were people thinking aboutthe Rosetta Stone?
Were they amazed?
Were they alarmed?
Were they not caring at all?
What was the vibe back then?
Ilona (28:48):
Yeah, so we have to imagine, of course, this is all
going on in very select circles.
I don't know if the man in thestreet really realized what was
happening.
Truman (28:57):
Okay.
Ilona (28:58):
In the Egyptian newspaper of the day, it did say we have
perhaps discovered the tool thatwill lead us to decipherment.
So some travelers report thatpeople flocked to the harbor in
Cairo to see that wonderfulstone and you may know that
there is a piece missing at thetop and it was then also said
(29:19):
that that missing piece heartwould be worth its weight in
diamonds or something like that.
So definitely it did engage thepublic.
Truman (29:29):
And you're really into hieroglyphs, right?
What's your favoritehieroglyphic symbol?
Ilona (29:36):
Well, we have about 800 that are very common.
800?
Yes, that are very common.
We have more, but 800 are verycommon to us, at least.
So it's a bit difficult tochoose between all of them, but
I really like the bee, thehoneybee.
because I like honeybees.
Truman (29:52):
The honeybee.
Ilona (29:53):
I think honeybees are great.
And it's usually carved in avery beautiful way.
They spend a lot of timewriting the honeybee.
Truman (30:02):
When you were talking about the top of the stone, now
we know what it looks likebecause there is more than one
of these stones around that youfound, right?
Ilona (30:10):
Correct.
This is a very important partof the story.
So the Rosetta Stone was thefirst that was discovered.
Almost immediately afterwards,another such stone was found.
Meanwhile, we have about 27 orsomething.
Truman (30:25):
27.
Yeah,
Ilona (30:27):
stones that are better preserved or worse preserved.
Sometimes we only have one ofthe scripts preserved.
but it was a template that wascopied over and over again.
So it's a text that wasprobably introduced to Egypt by
Ptolemies, so by the Greekrulers of Egypt, because it's
the kind of text that speaksabout the deification of the
(30:49):
king.
So basically the whole text isabout treating the king as a
god.
Truman (30:55):
All right, who had some fun there?
I sure enjoyed spending sometime with Alona.
Hopefully you did too.
You can definitely tell She'svery much into Egyptology.
If you enjoyed hearing Ilona'sstories and want more of the
same, please check out the bonusepisode called Unlocking
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphswith Ilona Rogalski.
(31:15):
There, you'll hear the fullinterview.
I was able to come up with acouple questions that no one has
ever asked her before.
So please go check those out.
And until next time, may yourcuriosity continue to unlock the
secrets of the past.
We'll do our best to help youdo that with each Daystrider
episode.
And there you have it.
(31:41):
Some great stories to sharewith your someone special to
celebrate July 15th.
Once again, those are Today Sawan End to the Worst Oil Spill
in Human History.
We got to hear some cutestories about some famous horses
from history to celebrate ILove Horses Day.
and the discovery of theRosetta Stone, and why it was so
(32:02):
significant.
Now, if you were glad to hearthat life finds a way, even
after when facing disaster, youwere going to love the April
26th episode about nature'srecovery from the Chernobyl
nuclear accident.
Of course, that episode isn'tpublished yet, so stay tuned.
If you loved hearing aboutanimals, December 9th features
(32:23):
llamas, and then you can learnmore about some famous
groundhogs on the February 2ndepisode.
If ancient things get you alljazzed up, the story of Remus
and Romulus on April 21st mightbe right up your alley.
And of course, if you enjoyhearing from guests about their
favorite subjects, there arelots of great bonus episode
options for you.
(32:43):
To find them, just scrollthrough the feed and look for
the words bonus episode.
Enjoy.
Now for my reflection moment ofthe day, you might think that
I'm a little crazy.
Because it's not about howamazing it is that life found a
way to survive that massive oilspill.
Instead, I was thinking thatmaybe we are lucky that BP was
(33:07):
the company that caused this tohappen.
Now, of course, no one wants anenvironmental disaster, so I'm
not saying that.
But if it's going to happen,I'm suggesting that a company
with insanely deep pockets thatcould pay out the more than $60
billion in fines and expensesthat were needed to clean up the
mess...
Maybe it's good that BP was theone that happened to because
(33:29):
they had the cash to do it.
And so much of that money wasput to good use to support the
environmental recovery.
Think about it.
If this happened to a smallercompany, and it easily could
have, maybe there simplywouldn't have been enough money
available to write that hugecheck.
Insurance?
Maybe they'd step in.
Maybe they wouldn't.
Maybe they wouldn't have paid.
Who knows?
(33:49):
And so we, the taxpayers, wouldhave been on the hook in that
scenario.
So maybe it's okay that BP wasthe company.
And by the way, BP still is inbusiness.
Even after all that, in Marchof 24, I looked at their balance
sheet.
They have $32 billion in cash.
That's hard to believe, isn'tit?
(34:09):
All right.
Well, let's move on.
So after you share thesespecial stories, you can also
mention the following famouspeople who celebrate their
birthdays today.
Ariana Huffington turns 39again this year.
She's had over 30 of these 39thbirthdays.
If you don't recognize thatlast name, then perhaps you need
(34:31):
to just Google it.
Although she no longer runs theHuffington Post, now called
HuffPost, she stays involved andleads a few philanthropic
businesses, so good for her.
Forrest Whitaker adds a candleto his cake today.
He's an actor who's had manyroles.
He's got an Academy Award and aGolden Globe.
He did Platoon and Good MorningVietnam in the 80s, Blown Away
(34:55):
in the 90s, Panic Room and TheLast King of Scotland in the
2000s, Rogue One and BlackPanther in the 20-teens, and
surely he'll be up to somethinggood here in the 2020s.
Ian Armitage turns 16 today.
He's the actor who plays youngSheldon.
He also played Ziggy Chapman inBig Little Lies, and I suppose
(35:17):
he's going to be around actingfor quite some time, right?
And another famous birthdaytoday, Rembrandt the Artist.
He was born on this day in1606.
His paintings are famous fortheir drama as well as the use
of contrasts between light anddark.
His most famous work is TheNight Watch, which is a
(35:39):
mega-sized painting that's 11feet by 14 feet.
But I like The Anatomy Lessonof Dr.
Nicholas Tulp.
You'll have to look that oneup.
It's pretty creepy.
And as you've come to learn, Ialso like to feature the 50th
most famous person showing up onfamousbirthdays.com.
Well, here on July 15th, thathonor goes to Yoko Shimizu.
(36:01):
She's a famous illustrator fromJapan who has collaborated on
branding projects with Gap,Pepsi, Apple, and Nike.
And in 2009, she was selectedby Newsweek Japan for being one
of 100 Japanese people the worldrespects.
That's pretty neat.
And yes, people, I looked uphow to say her name correctly,
(36:22):
Yuko Shimizu.
When I looked at Wikipedia'scentenarians list, I found that
Brenda Milner turns 106 todayhere in 2024.
She is Canada's preeminentneuropsychologist.
Many consider her a founder ofthe field of clinical
neuropsychology and cognitiveneuroscience.
(36:43):
I find that those words arevery hard to say.
Okay.
So we already knew that July15th is I Love Horses Day.
Well, it's also Tapioca PuddingDay.
Have you ever heard of thisdessert?
If not, it's similar in flavorto a vanilla pudding, but man,
the texture is very different.
The tapioca part comes inlittle pearls that are starchy
(37:06):
and not really flavorful, butthey're there to give the
pudding its texture.
And then you can flavor ithowever you'd like.
So tapioca pudding.
It's also Orange Chicken Day.
This is the Chinese meal wherethe chicken is cut up into
bite-sized pieces and flavoredwith orange sauce that is made
in so many different ways.
If you like orange chicken, youshould try it out at all the
(37:30):
different Chinese carry-outplaces in your area.
I guarantee you they'll all beslightly different.
Some have just orange juiceflavoring, some have orange
peels zested in there, and someactually leave the slices of the
orange peel right in the sauce.
Seriously, go do a study.
You'll see.
And speaking of studies, todayis also National Be a Dork Day.
(37:52):
I think someone's trying tolighten this derogatory term.
To help you see the light, anerd is an intelligent person
who's got a deep knowledge of aparticular subject, but can also
be socially awkward.
A geek, on the other hand, issomeone who's deeply passionate
about a very specific topic.
(38:13):
And they are deep experts aboutthat topic and can be regarded
favorably or awkwardly about it.
Now, a dork, on the other hand,this is a socially awkward
person who behaves in a silly orfoolish manner.
And they may or may not be alsoa nerd or a geek.
So, do you see the difference?
Try not to be a dork, eventhough it's National Dork Day.
(38:36):
Alright, do you need a greatgift idea for your loved one?
Well, after you share theseawesome stories, you can have
them open up a gift that iscustomized to their birthday.
I have several great ideas foryou and, as always, you can find
links to those in the gift ideasection of the show notes.
And often I mention that youcan get a unique gift for the
(38:58):
person who has everything.
Well, today is no exception.
I normally feature gifts thatcelebrate each of the segments
we cover.
But who wants to celebrate theBP oil spill?
But if your loved one is intothe Gulf of Mexico, there are
some great books about the Gulfyou can get for them.
If your loved one is intohorses, there are tons of gifts
(39:20):
available for you.
Decor, stuffed animals, books,movies, and on and on.
And I've got a number of linksin the show notes you can check
out.
And then there are also somegreat books about the Rosetta
Stone.
Both adult versions and kidversions.
And also, here's why my giftideas are so intriguing.
Who do you know that has booksabout hieroglyphics?
(39:43):
Well, you can surprise yourloved one with just such an
option.
Check out the link in the shownotes.
We also mentioned tapiocapudding and Orange Chicken Day.
There are some great giftsrelated to those as well.
Yep, so actually lots ofcustomized gifts for July 15th
as great options.
And of course, if those ideasaren't cool enough, you can give
(40:06):
them a personalized shout outright here on the podcast.
If you want to do it the oldfashioned way, email me their
name and some interestingtidbits that you want mentioned
and I'll do some shout outs foryou.
Or if you want to try the speakby feature that we've added,
you can record your own shoutout that might sound something
like this.
I
Guest (40:25):
want to wish Stephanie a happy birthday to one of my
oldest and longest and dearestfriends.
I hope you have an amazing day.
Hi, Steffers.
I wish I could be there tocelebrate with you.
I hope you have an amazing dayfull of everything you love
most.
Maybe a shot of butterynipples?
Love, Britters.
Truman (40:47):
Buttery nipples, huh?
All right.
Well, you can find the link todo that in the show notes.
And as always, if you have astory that just needs to be
shared about any day in thepast, send me an email and let's
connect.
Now while you're thinking aboutall that, how about clicking
the follow button on yourpodcast app so that you get
(41:08):
notifications when the nextepisode is released.
And if you're still listeningat this point, I'm repeating the
challenge I've issued forseveral episodes now.
It's really easy.
I'm going to ask you to thinkof your favorite time travel
movie, and then I'm going to askyou to try out the new
Buzzsprout feature to text me.
There's a link in the shownotes that says, text me your
favorite time travel movie.
(41:28):
I've actually had somebody elsestep up to the challenge and
send me an entry, the movie 13going on 30.
So thanks, Anonymous Poster.
As I've said, I have my ownlist, but I'll be featuring the
time travel movies on December8th of 2024.
So I'll leave you with this.
I hope you had half as much funlistening as I did creating
(41:51):
this episode.
because I had a lot of fun.
Sharing it with a friend orfamily member would be
incredible and sincerelyappreciated.
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
(42:12):
goodies for you.
Now get out there and make yourown great story today.
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