Honourable Mentions: Hilarious History

Send us Fan Mail After being stripped of his rank and tortured, Admiral Yi Sun-sin returned to a decimated navy with only 13 ships remaining. ​We break down: ​The Miracle at Myeongnyang : How Yi used the treacherous currents of the Myeongnyang Strait to defeat a Japanese fleet of over 130 ships. ​ Naval Genius : The psychology and strategy behind the world's greatest naval commander. ​ The Fi...

Send us Fan Mail Long before the legendary Turtle Ships and the Imjin War, Admiral Yi Sun-sin was just a young man struggling to pass the Joseon military service examinations. In this episode, we explore the early career of Yi Sun-sin, from a devastating horse-riding accident during his finals to his brutal early deployments fighting Jurchen marauders on the Northern Frontier. Discover the origin...

Send us Fan Mail In 1672, deep in the village of Kringa, Istria, a man died... and then things got weird. For 16 years, Jure Grando terrorized his widow and the townspeople, leading to the first official vampire record in European history. In this special crossover event, the history buffs from Honourable Mentions: Hilarious History, team up with the supernatural sleuths from Boo Foons Mystery Inv...

Send us Fan Mail In 1932, a headline in the Wall Street Journal shocked the world: "The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off." This is the gruesome and tragic true story of Eben Byers, a wealthy industrialist, socialite, and golf champion who became the most famous victim of radium poisoning. ​In this episode, we peel back the lead-lined curtain on the Radithor craze—the &quot...

Send us Fan Mail Meet Mary Fields—better known as Stagecoach Mary—the first African American woman to work for the U.S. Postal Service, and arguably the toughest person in 1890s Montana. ​Standing 6 feet tall, packing a revolver under her apron, and never turning down a saloon fight, Mary didn't just deliver the mail; she survived wolf attacks, bandits, and sub-zero blizzards to ensure the jo...

Send us Fan Mail In 1962, a Greek immigrant named Sam Panopoulos decided to crack open a can of pineapple at the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario. He wasn't trying to start a global food war; he was just bored. ​In this episode, we dive into the sticky, sweet, and salty history of how a simple experiment in the kitchen of a small restaurant in a small Canadian town, created the most p...

Send us Fan Mail ​ Why is a rugby ball oval? The answer begins with a Victorian tragedy, a massive pile of pig organs, and an inventor the sports world completely forgot. ​In this episode, we unearth the bizarre and heartbreaking history of Richard Lindon —the 19th-century English cordwainer (shoemaker) who quite literally shaped modern sports. Long before billion-dollar stadiums and synthetic gea...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine spending your early twenties rejected by the army for being too short, only to end your life as a literal giant. This is the unbelievable, tragic, and medically baffling true story of Adam Rainer—the only person in recorded history to be diagnosed with both dwarfism and gigantism. ​In this episode, we dive deep into the medical anomaly that stunned the 20th century. How do...

Send us Fan Mail ​Welcome to an extraordinary story of compassion and kindness amidst the horrors of the Second World War. Maharaja Jam Sahib Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji of Nawanagar —an Indian royal leader whose genorosity of spirit reshaped the lives of more than 1,000 Polish refugee children .  At the height of the war, when borders were closing and hope was scarce, the Jam Sahib opened up his...

Send us Fan Mail WWII survival, the immigrant experience, and the power of adoption. In this deeply moving episode of Honourable Mentions, we welcome our first-ever guest, Rafal, to share the extraordinary life story of his stepfather, Walter. ​In 1939, fifteen-year-old Walter’s world in Poland shattered when Nazi soldiers dragged his father away. Decades later, after surviving the horrors of Worl...

Send us Fan Mail  Manfred von Richthofen’s red triplane skimmed the Somme, and a living legend closed in for another kill. But, down below, Sergeant Cedric Bassett Popkin on a Vickers machine gun is waiting for his moment. Once friendly aircraft had cleared his line of fire, Cedric squeezed his trigger and what happened next reshaped world history. We chart Richthofen’s path from young cavalry cad...

Send us Fan Mail On August 22, 1914, just outside Mons, Belgium, a 20-year-old British cavalryman took a deep breath, steadied his aim and pulled his trigger, changing history forever. Meet Edward Thomas, the Drummer of the 4th Dragoon Guards who fired the very first shot of World War 1 on the Western Front.   ​In this episode, we dive into the chaotic opening days of the Great War. We trace how a...

Send us Fan Mail ​For the 13th episode of Honourable Mentions: Hilarious History, we're visiting the surreal, terrifying, wickedly funny but ultimately tragic true story of Roy Sullivan, the Virginia park ranger known to history as the "Human Lightning Conductor" and the "Spark Ranger." ​From 1942 to 1977, lightning didn't just find Roy—it seemed to hunt him down. We...

Send us Fan Mail Caroline Kennedy is the last surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Often described as the most famous woman you know the least about, Caroline's life is a story of resilience, diplomacy, and the weight of a monumental heritage. ​Follow her journey from being the celebrated "First Child" of the White House to her career as the U...

Send us Fan Mail Henrietta Lacks was a young mother whose premature death by cancer changed the world forever. We explore the complex legacy of the woman who left behind immortal cells that fueled decades of scientific breakthroughs. ​From the development of the polio vaccine to gene mapping, Henrietta’s cells have saved millions of lives—yet her story is also one of deep racial injustice in 1951...

Send us Fan Mail What would you do if the bridge beneath your wheels suddenly started opening? ​In December 1952, London bus driver Albert Gunter faced that exact nightmare. Driving the iconic Number 78 double-decker across Tower Bridge, a watchman's error caused the bridge to split open. With seconds to decide between a fatal plunge or hitting the gas, Gunter made a legendary choice. ​In thi...

Send us Fan Mail Merry Christmas and welcome to a special episode of Honourable Mentions where, to celebrate the season, we are looking into the lives of Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr, whose 1818 collaboration in the parish church of Oberndorf, Austria, gave the us the world's favourite Christmas Carol - Silent Night or Stille Nacht if you want to show off.  But we're not stopping there -...

Send us Fan Mail Discover the incredible true story of Fred Kroll , the visionary behind some of the most iconic board games in history. In this episode of Honourable Mentions , we dive deep into the 1970s toy market to explore how Kroll and the Pressman Toy Corporation revolutionised the way we play. ​From the chaotic clicking of Hungry Hungry Hippos to the rhythmic popping of the Trouble game (a...

Send us Fan Mail As codename Ivan, Duško Popov was the top spy for the German Military Intelligence (Abwehr) in the Second World War, but, under the codename Tricycle, he was also leading dangerous espionage missions for MI6 and the British.  He played a key role in D-Day. Warned the USA about Pearl Harbor, and crossed paths with J. Edgar Hoover, a glamorous film star, and a future novelist. Join...

Send us Fan Mail What would you do if you had seconds to save 5,000 lives? This is the jaw-dropping history of Jesús García, "El Héroe de Nacozari," and the day a train loaded with mining explosives caught fire in the heart of a bustling Sonoran copper mining town.  Instead of running, 25-year-old engineer Jesús García Corona put Locomotive 501 into full-steam reverse, driving the tickin...

Send us Fan Mail Join us as we dive into the wild, witty, and wonderfully bizarre world of Jack Karlson, the man behind the greatest viral video in internet history. But what is the true story behind the "Succulent Chinese Meal" guy? From the steps of a Brisbane Chinese restaurant to the global stage of meme royalty, Karlson’s life was far more than just a 1991 arrest video.  Was he a da...

Send us Fan Mail 1872. New York: A handsome, young Master Mariner named Benjamin Briggs, his wife Sarah, and small daughter Sophia Briggs are about to set sail to Genoa, Italy, with a cargo of alcohol. What could possibly go wrong? Join us and learn about the cursed background of the Briggs family, the tragic history of their ship, and how Benjamin and his crew sailed into legend and infamy aboard...

Send us Fan Mail Before there was Sherlock Holmes, there was Kate Warne. In 1856, a 23-year-old widow walked into the Pinkerton National Detective Agency and demanded a job—becoming America’s first female private detective. ​In this episode of Honourabl Mentions: Hilarious History, we dive into the incredible true story and hidden history of the woman who broke up the mid-19th-century boys' c...

Send us Fan Mail In 1591, an illiterate puritan named William Hacket convinced a following that he was the literal Messiah, sent by God to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. It did not go well. ​In this episode, we dive into the wild, blasphemous, and deeply strange story of the Hacket Conspiracy. How did a man known for brawling and swallowing a rival's nose, end up declaring himself King of Europ...

Send us Fan Mail Step into the shadows of Elizabethan England and meet Gamaliel Ratsey, the original gentleman highwayman who terrorized the roads with a hideously deformed mask, a sharp wit, and a flair for the theatrical. Long before Dick Turpin captured the public imagination, "Gamaliel Hobgoblin" was kick-starting the world's very first true crime phenomenon. Following his retur...