Podcast Transcript Humans have probably had the desire to fly ever since they saw the first bird fly in the air. Flying, as it turned out, was a very challenging problem for creatures without wings. Throughout the 19th century, many people tackled the problem without success. It wasn’t until the first years of the 20th …
Podcast Transcript After the US Civil War, the French historian Edouard de Laboulaye floated the idea of creating a large monument to honor the success of the United States in creating and maintaining a democracy. Almost 20 years later, after significant time in fundraising, design, and construction, the new statue was unveiled to the public …
Podcast Transcript In 1781, after six years of fighting, the American Revolution came to a dramatic conclusion. One of the two major British armies in the conflict found themselves trapped on a peninsula near Yorktown, Virginia. A combination of American and French forces laid siege to the British at Yorktown in what turned out to …
Podcast Transcript There is nothing faster in the entire universe than the speed of light. Not only is light the fastest thing, but nothing can ever be faster than light. For the longest time, humans didn’t even know that light had a speed, and once they figured out that light wasn’t instantaneous, it took several …
Podcast Transcript In the early 19th century, the most abundant bird in North America, and perhaps the entire world, was the passenger pigeon. An estimated three billion of them would fly in flocks so large that they could blot out the sun. However, within a century, the entire species had gone extinct. It was one …
Podcast Transcript In 1688, a palace coup took place in England. The King of England and Scotland was usurped and was replaced by his daughter and her husband from the Netherlands. The act forever changed the British Monarchy and created an alternative line of succession to the throne, which still exists today. Learn more about …
Podcast Transcript On December 21, 1891, a physical education teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts, looking to keep athletes occupied during the winter, hung some peach baskets on the balcony of the gymnasium. With these peach baskets and an old soccer ball, he created something that revolutionized sports and became one of the most popular games in …
Podcast Transcript For thousands of years, one of the most terrifying and destructive diseases which afflicted humanity has been leprosy. Leprosy is a condition that affects the nerves and skin, and in extreme cases, it can result in the loss of appendages. Those who were diagnosed with leprosy would often be consigned to a lifetime …
Podcast Transcript About 2,500 years ago, a Greek philosopher by the name of Zeno of Elea proposed several paradoxes about the natural word. His ideas were actually really simple, but they were incredibly difficult to explain away. For the last two millennia, philosophers have been trying to resolve his paradoxes, and they are still trying …