Footnoting History

(Host: Kristin)

In 1676, the Marquise de Brinvilliers stood trial in Paris for poisoning. It was a shocking revelation – and result – and, as it turned out, only the beginning of a much larger scandal known as the Affair of the Poisons. Learn about the scandal that rocked Paris on this episode of Footnoting History!       

For further reading suggestions and more, please visit: https://www.footn...

(Host: Christine) 

In 1901, a man named Leon Czolgosz decided to attend the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. While there, he attacked United States President William McKinley. This episode of Footnoting History looks at the lives of Czolgosz and McKinley, their fatal encounter, the aftermath of the assassination, and how it came to be depicted in a Stephen Sondheim musical.

For further reading suggesti...

(Host: Samantha)

Taverns are frequently imagined as bleak, rowdy places occupied exclusively by men but for the occasional buxom serving wench. The popular image, however, does not match the depiction of drinking establishments in medieval sources. Learn more about how medieval drinking establishments should be envisioned in this special revisiting episode of Footnoting History.

For further reading suggestions and more, pleas...

(Host: Ted) Before becoming King, the future Edward I of England fulfilled his vow of going on crusade to the Holy Land. Sometimes called the 9th Crusade, this would also be the last crusade to reach the Holy Land before the fall of Acre and the end of the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. Join me on Footnoting History to learn more about Lord Edward's crusade.

For further reading suggestions and more, please visit: https://www.footn...

(Host: Christine)

In the mid-18th century, the illegitimate son of a British noble was born in France. In the mid-19th century, the Smithsonian Institution was founded in the United States. What do these two seemingly unrelated things have to do with each other? Find out in this week’s episode of Footnoting History, as we look at the history of James Smithson–the man behind the creation of the Smithsonian Instituti...

(Host: Jessica) 

On the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis, sugar, slavery, and empire shaped the childhood of future Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and the early married life of naval hero Horatio Nelson. From bustling Charlestown streets to windswept plantation estates, this episode of Footnoting History uncovers how a so‑called “forgotten spot in the Caribbean” became the backdrop for global stories of...

(Host: Lucy)

The life of Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone was a remarkable one. It was also a life surrounded by myths, many of which she created herself. This episode explores the career of a Cherokee-Creek woman who lived through the violence of US expansion, forged a musical career that took her to the Metropolitan Opera and the Hollywood Bowl, and helped to create an enduring center for the study of Native American cultures and h...

(Host: Ben) 

One of the most famous members of the Corps of Discovery Expedition (aka, the Lewis and Clark Expedition) was a four legged 150-pound Newfoundland named Seaman. Join us on this episode of Footnoting History as we take a look at one dog’s remarkable journey, and learn about the lives of working dogs in the early years of the Republic. 

For further reading suggestions and more, please visit: ht...

(Host: Ted) On April 19th, 1775, colonial militia battled the British regulars at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts in what would become the first conflict of the American Revolution. But what if I were to tell you that the first shots were actually fired months before, in December 1774? And not in Massachusetts at all, but in New Hampshire. Join me in this episode of Footnoting History, as we dive into the capture of For...

(Host: Lucy) 

Alexander was heir to a small kingdom, and became ruler of multiple worlds, uniting the Greek archipelago with the territories of Persia, and creating an empire that spanned continents, reaching across the Mediterranean into Egypt as well as to the edge of the Himalayas. Now. How did the eastern Mediterranean – and central Asia – transform from the world of Athens and Persia to the world of Alexander?

(Host: Samantha)

In 1847, the idea that a woman could be a medical doctor was absurd. Some thought it couldn’t be done. Others accepted the premise that a woman could learn to be a physician, but suggested such a woman would need to disguise herself as a man and go study far away where no one would recognize her – France, perhaps. But for Elizabeth Blackwell that defeated the purpose. Her goal was to prove that a woman ...

(Host: Lucy)

Giant turkey legs, fried food, implausible costumes… and counterculture? This episode explores the roots of Renaissance Faires in the US, and how this originally hippie-centric phenomenon was linked to other forms of medievalism in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Communes, folk music, particolored tights, and a reimagined past turn out to be more closely linked than you might imagine. This episode also examines h...

(Host: Kristin) 

In 1612, nine-year-old Jennet Devize accused her mother in court of witchcraft. Her testimony led  to the conviction of 11 people, 10 of whom were sent to the gallows. Find out about the most famous witchcraft event in English history that you may never have heard about in this episode of Footnoting History!  

For further reading suggestions and more, please visit: https://www.footnotinghis...

(Host: Samantha) 

Games are amazing. They teach us how to engage with the world through play. They’ve also been used to train some of the greatest military minds. Chess is notoriously the game of the aristocracy, used to teach strategy and forward thinking. In the 19th century, a Prussian father and son, George Leopold von Reisswitz and Georg Heinrich Rudolf Johann von Reisswitz, brought strategic gaming to a whole new l...