The Strange History Podcast

Victorians adored decorating their Christmas trees — but many ornaments were crafted from arsenic-rich green paint, mercury-coated glass, and lead-based glitter. Amy explores how a little holiday sparkle occasionally led to dizziness, nausea, or sudden fainting — and why newspapers still called it “the height of elegance.” Forget festive — Victorian trees were basically weaponized foliage. Become...

What do you get when you mix gunpowder, paper hats, and holiday cheer? A Victorian invention that went off — literally. Amy unwraps the story of Christmas crackers, the noisy, spark-filled party favors that occasionally left guests singed but satisfied. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/support . 🎧 The Strange History Podcast...

Step back in time and discover the weird, wonderful, and surprisingly effective world of vintage household hacks. In this two-episode series, we explore the cleaning tips, DIY solutions, beauty tricks, pantry hacks, and bizarre old-school home remedies our great-grandparents swore by. From using vinegar to clean everything, shining furniture with walnuts, polishing shoes with banana peels, deodori...

In Part Two of this nostalgic and entertaining series, we explore the stranger side of vintage household hacks — including beauty rituals, pantry tricks, old medical remedies, DIY fixes, and bizarre home solutions passed down through generations. From freezing sweaters to stop shedding, polishing shoes with banana peels, deodorizing clothes with vodka, clarifying soup with eggshells, and boiling o...

Before Hallmark came horror. Amy dives into the bizarre world of early Victorian Christmas cards — featuring dead robins, frogs with pipes, and insects doing chores. Discover why these creepy images were meant to symbolize renewal, not ruin, and how the Victorians found beauty in the morbid. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/s...

Brandy, flames, and third-degree burns — nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a dessert that doubles as a torch. Amy investigates the fiery ritual of Victorian plum pudding, complete with true accounts of flaming disasters, family pride, and the occasional singed moustache. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/support . 🎧 The Str...

Some Victorians hung silver baubles… others hung Aunt Mildred. Amy unpacks the unsettling custom of placing mourning ornaments — locks of hair, miniature portraits, and memento mori — on Christmas trees. Inspired by Queen Victoria’s lifelong grief, this eerie practice blurred the line between celebration and sorrow. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-h...

The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day - Why Victorian Christmas's Resembled a Tim Burton Movie Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/support . 🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments? Submit your ideas for The Strange History Podcast Follow The Strange Hist...

In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, host Amy uncovers the shocking and little-known life of William Patrick Hitler — the nephew of Adolf Hitler who fled Germany, exposed his infamous uncle, joined the U.S. Navy to fight the Nazis, and eventually built a quiet life on Long Island. From his chaotic childhood in England to his tense encounters with Adolf Hitler in Germany, his controversi...

Step into the unsettling — and often unbelievably strange — world of Nazi Germany in the 1940s. This episode uncovers Hitler’s carefully crafted vegetarian-animal-lover persona, bizarre Nazi environmental laws, stolen children, occult expeditions to Tibet, underground megaprojects, and the creation of terrifying “wonder weapons.” This isn’t just another World War II history lesson — it’s a deep di...

In Part 2 of this series, we explore the even stranger depths of Nazi Germany’s ideology and operations — from the looting of European libraries to the bureaucratic efficiency of genocide, propaganda radio systems, dystopian eugenics programs, and failed architectural mega-dreams like the city of Germania. We also examine the strange legends of Die Glocke, Nazi pseudoscience, facial measurement “r...

Journey back to the Middle Ages as The Strange History Podcast explores the hilarious and bewildering world of medieval bestiaries — where lions symbolize Christ, unicorns flirt with virgins, and beavers make shocking life choices. Host Amy takes you through the myths, morals, and mistakes of history’s weirdest animal encyclopedias, complete with humor, true stories, and fake ads scattered through...

Travel back to 1920 and discover the bizarre, unbelievable, and often hilarious realities of everyday life during the Roaring Twenties. From icebox kitchens and horse-clogged city streets to radium toothpaste, silent movie orchestras, flapper scandals, Prohibition whiskey prescriptions, and cocaine-infused tonics — this episode explores the strange side of history you definitely won’t find in scho...

Journey from ancient tombs and temples to modern tabletops in this witty, story-driven deep dive into board game origins. Host Amy uncovers how Senet, the Royal Game of Ur, Go, Chaturanga (chess), Hnefatafl, Mancala, Mahjong, Tarot, and dominoes evolved into crowd-pleasers like Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk, Clue, Catan, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, and legacy/co-op Eurogames. Expect archaeol...

In this eerie sequel to Unearthing New York’s Secret Speakeasy Tunnels, host Amy of The Strange History Podcast delves deep into the ghostly afterlife of Prohibition’s underground bars. Discover the true haunted stories from beneath Manhattan and Brooklyn — from the restless spirits of McSorley’s and Chumley’s to the phantom jazz of Harlem’s Cotton Club. Featuring real accounts from construction c...

Beneath the bustling streets of New York City lies a hidden world of tunnels, trapdoors, and secret passageways — once filled with jazz, gin, and the ghosts of rebellion. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, host Amy unearths the forgotten speakeasy tunnels that fueled the city’s underground nightlife during Prohibition. From the shadowy corridors beneath McSorley’s Old Ale House to the...

What if Antarctica isn’t just ice and penguins — but the coldest cover-up in human history? In this two-part mega episode of The Strange History Podcast, host Amy takes you on a frozen expedition through the continent’s most unsettling legends and conspiracies. From rumored Nazi bases in Neuschwabenland and Operation Highjump’s flying saucers, to the Hollow Earth entrances, mysterious deaths of sc...

Ever wondered why we say “a stitch in time saves nine” or “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”? In this laugh-out-loud deep dive, The Strange History Podcast explores the true, weird, and wonderfully human origins of our most common old sayings. Host Amy unravels centuries of forgotten wisdom — from Roman horse traders to 18th-century seamstresses, from spilled milk to midnight oil — uncovering...

In Part Two of Old Sayings and Where They Came From, host Amy takes us further down the rabbit hole of everyday phrases with strange beginnings. Discover why we say “let sleeping dogs lie,” why “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and what ancient Romans really meant by “take it with a grain of salt.” From medieval kitchens to Roman streets, from mossy stones to pigs with wings, this episode turns dusty...

In Part Two of Old Superstitions and Where They Came From, host Amy dives even deeper into history’s weirdest omens — from cursed umbrellas and lucky chimney sweeps to haunted birds, poisoned wine toasts, and the mysterious house spirits that still lurk in folklore. Learn why Victorians feared birds in the house, why brides once kissed chimney sweeps for luck, and how a sneeze once required a papa...

Step into the strange world of ancient fears and folk beliefs in this hilariously spooky episode of The Strange History Podcast. Join host Amy as she unpacks humanity’s weirdest superstitions — from spilling salt and breaking mirrors to black cats, bird poop, and Friday the 13th. Discover how the Romans thought mirrors reflected your soul, why medieval peasants blamed cats for the plague, and how...

Step into the mud, madness, and absurdity of the First World War with The Strange History Podcast. Host Amy uncovers 20 of the strangest, funniest, and most unbelievable facts from World War I. From carrier pigeons that saved hundreds of lives to goats who became decorated war heroes, and from glowing wounds to beer pipelines in the trenches, these true stories show just how weird history can be....

Dive into the weird side of World War II with The Strange History Podcast. Host Amy explores 20 of the strangest, funniest, and most unbelievable facts from WWII. From “Mad Jack” Churchill charging Nazis with a sword, to the U.S. Ghost Army of inflatable tanks, Wojtek the beer-drinking bear, Japan’s balloon bombs, and exploding chocolate, this mega-episode proves the war was as strange as it was d...

Before Achilles became the unstoppable warrior of the Trojan War, he was a baby dunked in the River Styx, a student of the centaur Chiron, and a reluctant fighter disguised as a girl on the island of Skyros. In Part One of our two-part epic, Amy takes you through the strange childhood, divine prophecies, and early adventures of Achilles. From doomed weddings to awkward disguises, this is the story...

Follow witchcraft from Enlightenment skepticism to Romantic fairy tales, Wicca, feminist reclamations, and today’s WitchTok revival. See how witches transformed from persecuted outcasts to cultural icons and spiritual innovators. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/support . 🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stori...