Dave Does History

In this episode of Dave Does History on Bill Mick Live , we venture back to a sweltering chamber in colonial Virginia, where a fiery young legislator named Patrick Henry took the floor and lit a spark that would soon roar into revolution. With the Stamp Act threatening colonial autonomy and the Sugar Act deepening imperial control, Henry stood defiant and drew a dangerous comparison—likening King...

Today on Dave Does History , we are digging into a law that did not just ruffle feathers—it rattled rafters. The Quartering Act of 1774, passed by a distant Parliament, gave royal governors the power to house British soldiers in uninhabited buildings across the colonies. To many Americans, it felt like a military boot stomping through the front gate. While it never quite put redcoats in the family...

On this episode of Dave Does History , we set sail into the heart of the Atlantic for one of the bloodiest naval battles you have never heard of—the Glorious First of June. It is 1794, and Revolutionary France is starving. A massive grain convoy from America becomes a lifeline, and the British Royal Navy is determined to cut it off. What follows is a brutal, chaotic clash between two great fleets,...

It is one of the most overlooked inventions in modern science—a simple glass dish with a lid that quietly revolutionized the world. In this episode of Dave Does History , we explore the life of Julius Richard Petri, the man whose name lives on in labs and classrooms everywhere. From his work alongside Robert Koch to the dish that bears his name, Petri’s story is a reminder that sometimes the great...

On this edition of Dave Does History , we revisit one of the most haunting and heroic moments of the medieval world: the execution of Joan of Arc on May 30, 1431 . She was just nineteen years old, a peasant girl who claimed to hear the voices of saints and turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War. She led armies, crowned a king, and frightened the powerful. Then, betrayed by allies and condem...

In this episode of Dave Does History , we revisit one of the most overlooked maritime tragedies of the 20th century—the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland . On May 29, 1914, just weeks before the world would plunge into war, the great liner went down in the frigid waters of the St. Lawrence River, taking 1,012 souls with her. Among the dead were 133 members of The Salvation Army, including many...

On this episode of Dave Does History , we journey back to 585 BCE, when a war between the Medes and the Lydians came to a sudden halt. Not by treaty or triumph, but by an unexpected eclipse of the sun. Ancient sources claim the philosopher Thales of Miletus predicted it. Was it science, sheer luck, or a legend crafted over time? We will explore what really happened during the Battle of the Eclipse...

On this episode of Dave Does History , Dave Bowman joins Bill Mick Live to explore how molasses, monarchs, and mismanagement helped ignite the American Revolution. From a failed cobra bounty in colonial India to the British government’s disastrous molasses tax in the 1700s, Dave draws a straight line from economic blunders to revolutionary fervor. He unpacks the moral rigidity of King George III,...

King Edmund I ruled with courage and clarity during one of England’s most volatile eras. In just seven years, he beat back Viking invasions, secured alliances, and strengthened royal justice—only to die suddenly during mass. Discover the story of Edmund the Magnificent, the king history almost forgot.

On this day, May 25 , back in 1738, the American colonies were not fighting Britain. They were nearly fighting each other. In this episode of Dave Does History , we dig into the wild and often overlooked border war between Pennsylvania and Maryland—Cresap’s War. Fueled by bad maps, stubborn governors, and one fiery frontiersman named Thomas Cresap, the feud saw barns torched, settlers evicted, and...

On today’s episode of Dave Does History , we journey back to 1688 and the quiet revolution that changed how people worshipped and thought about liberty. The Toleration Act may not sound like headline news, but it marked the first legal crack in England’s ironclad religious conformity. It gave dissenting Protestants just enough space to breathe—and sparked ideas that would echo across the Atlantic....

On May 23, 1939 , the brand-new submarine USS Squalus vanished beneath the waves off the New Hampshire coast during a routine test dive. What followed was one of the most daring and dramatic rescues in naval history. Thirty-three men were trapped on the ocean floor, their lives hanging by a thread. In this episode of Dave Does History , we dive into the harrowing story of disaster, heroism, innova...

Today on Dave Does History , we peer into the paradoxical life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—the brilliant mind behind Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most logical detective, and a man who passionately believed in fairies and séances. From the lecture halls of Edinburgh to the foggy streets of Baker Street, from battlefield hospitals to spiritualist temples, Doyle’s journey defied easy labels. He was a d...

Alexander Pope may have been small in stature, but his voice thundered through the English literary world like few others. In this episode of Dave Does History , we explore the remarkable life of the hunchbacked Catholic poet who rose above religious persecution, chronic illness, and literary enemies to become one of the greatest satirists and craftsmen of verse in the English language. From The R...

In this episode of Dave Does History on Bill MIck Live , we head to 1754—before the shot heard 'round the world—to explore the war that truly started America’s march to independence. Dave Bowman joins Bill Mick to explain why the so-called French and Indian War was actually the First World War, fought on five continents with global stakes. From young George Washington’s accidental trigger in t...

On this episode of Dave Does History , we turn the spotlight on a man whose name echoes through hospitals, universities, and research labs—but whose own story is often overlooked. Johns Hopkins was more than a name on a building. He was a hard-nosed Quaker businessman, a visionary philanthropist, and a man full of contradictions. From selling whiskey in wagons to founding America’s first research...

On this episode of Dave Does History , we set sail—so to speak—on a journey from cartoons to quatrains as we explore the life and legacy of Omar Khayyam. You may know his name from the Rubáiyát , or maybe, like me, you first heard it in a Rocky and Bullwinkle pun. But Khayyam was far more than a punchline. Mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and reluctant poet, his ideas reshaped science and m...

On this episode of Dave Does History , we head back to May 17, 1756 —the day Great Britain officially declared war on France and launched what many historians call the first true world war: the Seven Years’ War. From the forests of North America to the battlefields of Europe, and from the trading posts of India to the sugar islands of the Caribbean, this conflict redrew the global map and set the...

On this episode of Dave Does History , we travel back to May 16, 1969 , when the Soviet Union dropped a robot into the blazing heart of Venus. Venera 5 was no ordinary probe—it was built like a tank, wired like a scientist, and plunged into an atmosphere so fierce it would crush a submarine. For 53 minutes, it battled heat, pressure, and gravity, sending back data that shattered old assumptions ab...

On this episode of Dave Does History , we climb aboard Faith 7 with astronaut Gordon Cooper for the final mission of Project Mercury. Launched on May 15, 1963 , Mercury-Atlas 9 pushed the limits of solo spaceflight as Cooper orbited the Earth 22 times over 34 hours. When systems failed, he did not panic—he calculated reentry by hand and brought it home with calm, cowboy confidence. It was a missio...

Today on Dave Does History , we celebrate the life and legacy of Otto Klemperer, born May 14, 1885. From Mahler’s protégé to one of the 20th century’s most revered conductors, Klemperer’s journey wove through exile, illness, rebirth, and artistic triumph. He shaped the sound of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Mahler for generations, all while battling personal demons and political upheaval. And in a curi...

On this episode of Dave Does History , we begin a powerful new series leading up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Dave explores the forgotten difference between freedom and liberty—two words we often confuse, but which meant very different things to our Founding generation. With insights from Captain Levi Preston and a surprising lesson from the Book of Genesis, Dave re...

Today on Dave Does History , we honor the quiet heroes in scrubs by diving into the legacy of Florence Nightingale—the woman who transformed nursing from a thankless task into a global profession. On International Nurses Day, we reflect on her bold defiance of Victorian norms, her relentless pursuit of reform during the Crimean War, and how her spirit still burns bright in every hospital hallway....

In today’s episode of Dave Does History , we delve into the dramatic and tragic Mussel Slough Tragedy of 1880. This shootout between settlers and agents of the Southern Pacific Railroad over disputed land titles left seven men dead and sparked a nationwide conversation about corporate monopolies, land rights, and the battle between the little guy and big business. Join me as we explore the heart o...

Today on Dave Does History , we explore the scandalous story of John Wilkes and his infamous North Briton No. 45. Wilkes, an outspoken journalist and politician, took on the British government with his bold critiques of King George III and his ministers. His defiance sparked legal battles, public outcry, and even a rallying cry for liberty that resonated across the Atlantic. Join us as we dive int...