I Can't Believe That Happened History Podcast for Kids

Mathew Henson ExplorerI think I am going to do a series of PLEASE SOMEONE IN HOLLYWOOD MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT THIS PERSONTell me at the end if you would not sit and binge an entire series about Mathew Henson one of the first people to go to the NorthPole in our Black History month for I Can’t Believe That Happened.Born August 8 1866 on a farm in MarylandHe was the middle child with an older and a younger sisterHis parents were free sharecroppers who escaped to Georgetown after the KKK made southern Maryland too violent to stay.Mathew was orphaned at a young age and raised by his uncle in Washington DC.He earned money by washing dishes in a restaurant.During the speeches of 1863 Mathew was deeply inspired by Fredrick Douglas.At the age of 12 he became a cabin boy on the Katie Hines traveling to ports in China, Japan, Africa, and the Russian Arctic. During his time on the Hines he was educated by the ship’s captainWhen he returned to land he worked in a clothing store where he met Commander Robert E Peary. Once Robert learned of Mathew’s sea experience eh recruited him for a surveying tour of Nicaragua. Mathew impresses Peary on the voyage and became first man on all upcoming trips.For twenty years the expeditions centered around the arctic where they traded heavily with the Inuit. Mathew learned their language and was said to be the only non Inuit who became skilled in driving the sled dogs and training the dogs in the Inuit way.He was a skilled craftsman who learned to build igloos from snow and other mobile housing.In 1909 Peary mounted an expedition to reach the North Pole. He and Mathew boarded the Roosevelt leaving Greenland along with four Inuit assistants, Four Inuit guides named Egingwah, Ooqueah, Ootah, and Seeglo, and were the first people to set foot on the North Pole.Mathew was one of six chosen to make the final leg of the journey. Reports have it that Henson was no longer able to continue by foot and used the dog sled to scout ahead of the group.Henson was the one to plant the American flag.There was much controversy about the story but their accounts are backed up by the National Geographic association as well as the Naval Affairs Subcommitee of the U.S. House of Representatives.In 1912 he wrote a book about his experiences traveling widely to give speeches about his experiences. Though Henson was a very important part of the expedition it was Peary who received most of the fame and focus. Henson spent years working as a clerk.Long overdue in 1937 Henson was given membership to the New York Explorers Club.Congress awarded him the Peary Polar Expedition Medal in 1944He was honored by President Truman and President Eisenhower before he died in 1955Bibliographyhttps://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/explore/notable-graves/explorers/matthew-hensonhttps://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/may/24/matthew-henson-arctic-explorer-first-man-to-north-pole

Welcome to I Can’t Believe That Happened and our first episode on the History of Cursed Jewels.A quick reminder I always throw in one wrong fact. If you find it send me and email and let me know what the right fact is and what your source is.Let’s start with the Ring of Dwarf Hill that inspired The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien What if I told you that some of his epic fantasy came from actual history?Let’s talk about:The One ring to rule them all. The ring that had all of middle earth in a massive power struggle. 

What is it about minerals and gemstones that we find so amazing even beyond their beauty? We give them a supernatural power from healing crystals, to purifications, to remembering our dead with memento mori, to of course curses of long-dead powerful rulers wishing to keep their riches in to the eternity of the afterlife.  We have told stories about cursed gems. There have been books and movies. You will certainly have heard of a few of the stories before or you might find out your favorite tale comes from one of these histories. When studying history we find often that the most frightening part of the tale is not the supernatural but in the way that people can set aside kindness and treat others in a way that they themselves would not wish to be treated in obtaining a symbol of power and beauty. As you might imagine the history of jewels is full of these tales. While this is meant to be a fun romp through history I want to leave you with this, never forget those in the margins of your history books and whenever you can choose kindness. Now lets go far back into a world where stones are so much more than a decoration.............

Mercy Otis Warren: Revolutionary Playwright, Historian, and Whistleblower July 4 EpisodeIn researching the revolution so many names came up that even with my decades of love of history I had never heard. Mercy Otis is one. Which is surprising given how much she did during and after the revolution and the president’s who held her views in high regard. She not only wrote to presidents )who wrote back) but she published plays, pamphlets, and the first history of the revolution published by and American. Though the presidents admired (or mostly admired) her work she did have some critiques on them. She was anti slavery believing that such horrors were undermining to what the country was based on. She was angry at the treatments of the First Nations people and as you may expect was angered that there was no place for women in the new laws.

A duck, a Rooster, and a sheep wander into a wicker basket. This is not a joke it is the start of our podcast and the beginning of the ability for humans to fly. 19 September 1783 at 1 PM a cannon blasts and our Heroes of the air walk and waddle their way into history in the courtyard of Versailles in front of 130,000 people including the Queen, Marie Antoinette and King Louis.Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier had spent the years earlier experimenting with hot air and in the beginning, laundry to develop their hot air balloon.Take a listen and find out how we began flying.

Beatrix Potter is beloved by so many of us for her darling illustrated children's books but did you know she was a scientist who changed the English landscape? It's time to learn all about this amazing woman, her love for animals, her brilliant scientific mind, and her love of nature.