Historically High

The 1848 discovery of gold in California didn't just change the lives of those that rushed across the country to strike it rich. It also shaped the development of the early United States in a big way. California being the 31st state in the union may seen kinda odd being that's its about as far west as you can get and there's a lotta area in between. Well that's all thanks to the thousands and thou...

When you think of World War 2, France is usually not one of the first countries you think about. That's partly because they spent a good majority of the war under occupation. Moreso the newly formed Vichy Government agreed to an armistice with the Germans putting them under occupation. There was one man who didn't surrender. That man became Free France, Charles De Gaulle. The veteran of World Wars...

In the course of human history wars have been waged primarily over two things, land and religion. Sometimes for both of those reasons at the same time. Sometimes you do it 8 times. The Crusades are the best example of using the "will of god" as an excuse to do what the Europeans did best, conquer and kill. The Church (you know the one) decreed the man up stairs wanted Jerusalem and the Holy Land b...

A major if not the most important key to victory in World War 2 Europe was the Allied Bombing Campaign against Nazi Germany. World War 2 wasn't just a collections of campaigns fought in different theaters but also campaigns specific to the land, sea, and air. After WW1 introduced the concept of air power, the end of the conflict saw every country invest into this new frontier of war to varying deg...

In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the fight against communism was in full swing. The CIA was deep into the politics of Central America, having already assisted some dictator-ish guys staying in power. The U.S. felt like it couldn't lose when it decided to "intervene". America was friendly with the current regime of Cuba, and it probably had nothing to do with all of the American corporations...

When you're considered the world's oldest fraternal order and one of the oldest continuous organizations in history, you're probably gonna develop some secrets or at the very least the suspicion that you're hiding something. Enter the Freemasons. The Freemason origin is kind of like a choose your own adventure book where there's an option for all, depending on what you're into. You can go the bibl...

Mussolini has a general reputation as the bumbling idiot of the axis powers. While he does appear to be at a glance, history should not sleep on Mussolini. The man actually founded Facism. That word that seems to still be prevalent in our world today, yeah he created the Facist Party. The Father of Facism started from humble beginnings and through a combination of radical ideas, his trademark orat...

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world. At only 109 acres, it packs a ton of history in a small space. The Catholic Church is headquartered within their own nation. Vatican City proper was created through a Treaty signed by Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI establishing the sovereign nation in 1929. Some of the world's most beautiful buildings reside inside the walls of the tiny nation....

In December 1944 World War 2 in Europe was at a tipping point. It just so happened the way it was leaning was for the Allies. The Eastern front saw the Russians forcing the Nazis out of Poland and advancing toward the Fatherland itself. In the west the combined Anglo-American forces of the USA, Great Britain, Canada and others had broken out from Normandy, liberated Paris and a good chunk of north...

Is anybody really safe? You see the storyline in every form of entertainment, "Arrested for a crime they didn't commit", but what if it wasn't just a storyline? For Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley it's the story of their lives. The West Memphis Three, as they have come to be known, were convicted of the murders of three 8-year-old boys who were killed on May 5th, 1993. Christop...

"Trouble in the Suez...." Billy Joel sang about it in We Didn't Start the Fire and until researching this episode I had no idea what trouble he was talking about. The Suez Canal is a man-made waterway connecting the Red Sea (that little stretch of sea nestled between Africa and the Middle East) and the Mediterranean Sea. Basically it connects the Indian Ocean to the Med eliminating that lengthy an...

Try putting together a guy's/girl's night when no on has a phone. Where do you meet, when, where? Imagine trying to move thousands of troops and resources around without constant communication. Well that whole thing had been figured out way before WW2. But what do you do when that life line of communication starts to work against you because your enemy is listening in and knows everything you're d...

If you had to compare the ancient Silk Road to something we're all familiar with today, it would be the internet. The Silk Road was a network of travel routes that spanned across Asia through India, the Middle East, Africa, the Mediterranean and all the way to Europe. This route was the main mode of transportation not just for the all the goods (silk being just one of many) being traded 4,000 mile...

We finish off the Big 3 of Ancient Meso/South American civilizations with The Aztecs. Originally hailing from what is now the southern United States, the Mexica would enter the Valley the Mexico to find the place pretty crowded already. The only real spot left was a swampy marshy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Through innovation and engineering they created floating gardens to grow crops an...

The Berlin Wall is, for most, one of those historical topics you're aware of, but probably don't know a ton about. Well don't freak out because that's what we're here for. Post WW2 Germany was divided into zones with the U.S., U.K. and "France" taking stewardship of West Germany and the Soviet Union taking East Germany. Now this was right at the start of the Cold War,  East Berlin and West Berlin,...

Jim Jones....Jim Jones....what can we say about Jim Jones? Early on young James found he had two things going for him, his newfound love of religion and his ability to memorize sermons and scripture. What started out as lil Jimmy preaching to the other kids in town, took a slight detour in dealing monkeys (not a euphemism) before he finally performed enough bullshit faith healing to start a church...

Everyone take your seats because it is time for the sweet story of Milton Hershey and Hershey Chocolate. Milton grew up needing direction in life which he found in candy making. He started with caramel and failed more than once before eventually becoming the Caramel King of Pennsylvania. That wasn't enough for Milt because he had bigger dreams. From building a town to creating his own sugar distri...

April 19th 1995 was a pretty dark day for the United States and to the people of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in particular. Here in The States if you mention terrorism most people tend to think of the International variety, but domestic terrorism seems to be just as prevalent albeit with usually less of a bang, but not in this instance. Timothy McVeigh was a Gulf War Veteran who became disillusioned w...

In 1492 this freakin guy Christopher Columbus took his ass across the ocean blue looking for a western sea route to the lands of Asia and India (which he actually thought were the same place and same people). What transpired saw the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria (Boats and Hoes) sail across the Atlantic, which granted hadn't really been attempted too often, and hit landfall in the Caribbean. No...

We left off with the shot heard round the world and we ate coming back into Lexington and Concord. While it is sorta known as the opening salvo of the Revolutionary War, it really wasn't. We had to have 2 continental congresses before we decides to declare independence. That is what started the Revolutionary War. A strongly worded letter to a pre-crazy King George III known as the Declaration of I...

By the mid 1700's the British in North America had established 13 colonies and a large population some of which were 2nd or 3rd generation British Americans, having never set foot on the home islands. Being separated from Great Britain by 3,000 miles, taking 6-8 weeks to cross the Atlantic, the colonies began to feel isolated or maybe a little independent (see what I did there) from the King and P...

Surprise Surprise Prof Chris is taking us back to the Pacific Theater of World War 2. This week were discussing the IJN, the Imperial Japanese Navy from its formation to it's warm up wars against China, Russia, and then China yet again to it's role in pulling the United States into WW2 at Pearl Harbor. We cover how WW1 shaped what Naval Warfare would become in WW2 and why Japan was so dominant in...

This is Sparta! Spartan Race, Sparty the Spartan, god knows how many CrossFit gyms. The culture of ancient Sparta has inspired a certain amount of worship or at least been idolized by numerous modern civilizations. But how much of their legend is fact and how much fiction. How did they gain the reputation as THE elite warriors of Ancient Greece? Did 300 of them really hold back 1,000,000 Persian s...

The Automobile is one of those inventions that we tend to take for granted. Most people can't explain how an internal combustion engine works let alone design and build one. Well that's where the subjects of our episode come in, Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. Now I know what you're thinking, it's MERCEDES Benz. You're right and there's a pretty cool story behind the name, but what's even more inc...

A more apt title for this should be The Battle for Stalingrad, because that exactly what this was in every sense of the word. After the Nazi invasion of Russia during Operation Barbarossa failed to capture Moscow, Hitler needed a win and decided to pivot and capture Russia's oil fields in the south, fueling his war machine and starving the Russian Army. Stalingrad, named after ol' J Stalin himself...