Podcast
Questions and Answers
Which of the following events involved a deal between Pepsi and the Soviet Union?
Which of the following events involved a deal between Pepsi and the Soviet Union?
What was NOT one of the outcomes of the Great Molasses Flood?
What was NOT one of the outcomes of the Great Molasses Flood?
Which of the following did NOT involve violence?
Which of the following did NOT involve violence?
What was unique about the tree-cutting event in Operation Paul Bunyan?
What was unique about the tree-cutting event in Operation Paul Bunyan?
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What was the reported phenomenon in Yoro, Honduras?
What was the reported phenomenon in Yoro, Honduras?
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What was the outcome of the Tulip Mania?
What was the outcome of the Tulip Mania?
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Who was put on trial in the Cadaver Synod?
Who was put on trial in the Cadaver Synod?
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What was the result of the London Beer Flood?
What was the result of the London Beer Flood?
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What is the claim of the Phantom Time Hypothesis?
What is the claim of the Phantom Time Hypothesis?
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What was the purpose of the Australian military's operation in 1932?
What was the purpose of the Australian military's operation in 1932?
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What was Operation Catapult?
What was Operation Catapult?
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What was the main reason for the U.S. military intervention in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars?
What was the main reason for the U.S. military intervention in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars?
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What was the Carrington Event?
What was the Carrington Event?
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What is the Zone of Death?
What is the Zone of Death?
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What was the Great Stink?
What was the Great Stink?
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What was Project Pigeon?
What was Project Pigeon?
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What was Lincoln's Phantom Train?
What was Lincoln's Phantom Train?
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What was the Great Leap Forward?
What was the Great Leap Forward?
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What was Fordlandia?
What was Fordlandia?
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What has been burning beneath the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania since 1962?
What has been burning beneath the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania since 1962?
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Study Notes
Bizarre Historical Events
- The Australian military declared war on emus in 1932 to control their population and protect farmland, but the emus largely evaded defeat despite the use of machine guns.
Mysterious Phenomena
- In Yoro, Honduras, fish reportedly rain from the sky once or twice a year, a mystery that has occurred annually for over a century.
Economic Disasters
- During the Tulip Mania of 1637, tulip bulbs became so expensive in the Netherlands that they were worth more than most houses, but the market eventually crashed.
Historical Conspiracies
- The Phantom Time Hypothesis suggests that the years 614-911 AD were fabricated, meaning we might be living in the 18th century.
Unusual Trials
- In 897, Pope Stephen VI had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed and put on trial, with the corpse propped up in court to defend itself.
Disastrous Events
- In 1814, a vat of beer ruptured in a London brewery, releasing a wave that destroyed two homes and killed at least eight people.
Military Conflicts
- In 1940, the British Royal Navy attacked the fleet of their WWII ally, France, to prevent it from falling into Nazi hands after France had capitulated to Germany.
- The Banana Wars (1898-1934) involved the U.S. military intervening in Central American and Caribbean countries to maintain control over banana plantations.
Natural Disasters
- The Carrington Event of 1859 was a massive solar storm that hit Earth, frying telegraph systems and causing auroras bright enough to read newspapers by their light at night.
Ongoing Disasters
- A coal mine fire started beneath Centralia, Pennsylvania in 1962 and is still burning, leading to the eventual evacuation of almost the entire population.
Legal Loopholes
- The Zone of Death in Yellowstone National Park is a 50-square-mile area where one might technically be able to commit crimes without being prosecuted due to a loophole in American law.
Environmental Disasters
- The Great Stink of 1858 was a period when the River Thames smelled so bad that it disrupted the work of the British Parliament, leading to the creation of London’s modern sewer system.
Military Experiments
- Project Pigeon (1940s) involved the U.S. military experimenting with training pigeons to guide bombs via a system devised by behaviorist B.F. Skinner.
Paranormal Phenomena
- After President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, his funeral train route became the subject of numerous ghostly sightings along the tracks.
Humanitarian Disasters
- The Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) was a policy aimed at transforming China’s economy, but it led to one of the worst famines in human history, causing the death of millions.
Failed Business Ventures
- Fordlandia (1928-1934) was a failed attempt by Henry Ford to create a slice of American suburbia in the Amazon rainforest to secure a supply of rubber for his car tires, but the project failed due to social and environmental reasons.
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Description
Explore some of the most unusual events in history, from the Great Emu War to the Dancing Plague of 1518 and the Great Molasses Flood.
