History Dispatches

In 1784, 44 Japanese sailors ventured off towards an island in the Pacific in search of a mysterious treasure. They would not be heard of again - until 151 years later when a bottle was found detailing the fate of the crew. This is the story of Chunosuke Matsuyama and the world’s oldest Message in a Bottle. Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/clear-glass-bottle-on-brown-sand-4724049/ History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1909, wealthy Georgia widow Susie Wright Allgood saw a business opportunity. She wanted to create a new stuffed toy that would usurp the popular Teddy Bear. Her new toy was Billy Possum - inspired by President William Howard Taft. For this episode, we are joined by Howard Dorre from the podcast Plodding Through the Presidents. Sources "How a Stuffed Animal Named Billy Possum Tried—and Failed—to Replace the Teddy Bear as America’s National Toy" by Howard Dorre - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-a-stuffed-animal-named-billy-possum-triedand-failedto-replace-the-teddy-bear-as-americas-national-toy-180986072/ Awesome Podcast by Howard and his wife: https://www.ploddingthroughthepresidents.com Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Possum_advertisement.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Feb. 14, 1929, seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang were lured into a garage at Lincoln Park - lined up - and killed in a hail of machine gun fire. The killings were believed to have been orchestrated by Al Capone - and exposed the mob violence that was gripping many of the nation’s big cities. No one would ever be charged in the killings. This is the story of the Valentine’s Day Massacre. Sources "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine's_Day_Massacre https://stvalentinemassacre.org" Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Valentine%27s_Day_Massacre_-_view_from_above.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1935, the first lobotomy was preformed, ushering in the era of one of history's worst medical practices. Over the next 30 years, tens of thousands of them would be preformed, earning its inventor a Nobel Prize. This is the history of the lobotomy. Sources https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4291941/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3640229/ Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chimp_Brain_in_a_jar.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late 1930s, nearly 3000 Americans traveled to Spain to fight in a civil war that would leave upwards of half a million dead. Many of these Americans were socialists and communists - but more than that - virtually all of them were united for the hatred of fascism. This is the story of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Battalion Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives: https://alba-valb.org Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chimp_Brain_in_a_jar.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 60 countries across six continents, millions of people live in constant fear of landmines. There are many tactics to remove these explosives, but the most fascinating is using mine sniffing rats. And one of the greatest of those rats is Magawa. Sources https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59951255 https://apopo.org/latest/in-loving-memory-of-magawa/ APOPO Website: https://apopo.org History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Around 800 AD, monks in Scotland and Ireland created a book containing the four gospels. But the book was more than just the religious texts. It was filled with intricate artwork, including full page illustrations, vivid colors, and elaborate Celtic knotwork. Today it is recognized as a masterpiece of Insular illumination and script. This is the story of the Book of Kells. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/hm50tr726?locale=en Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KellsFol032vChristEnthroned.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the summer of 1979, Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox had a fantastically dumb idea. Sell cheap tickets if fans brought a disco record. The vinyl would then be all blow up. While it sounds dumb, it got far worse as this publicity stunt turned into a riot. Sources https://www.chicagohistory.org/disco-demolition-night/; https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230922-the-night-angry-rock-fans-destroyed-disco-music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From March 13, 1884, to January 26, 1885, the city of Khartoum, Sudan, was surrounded by insurgents bent on establishing an Islamic state. For 10 months, 7,000 Egyptian troops and 30,000 civilians - under the command of Major General Charles Gordon - an Englishman - held out - hoping for relief troops to arrive. This is the story of Charles Gordon and the Siege of Khartoum. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Khartoum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_George_Gordon https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_Gordon%27s_Last_Stand.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In January of 1919, a tank containing millions of gallons of molasses burst in the north end neighborhood of Boston. The resulting flood claimed over 20 lives, millions of dollars in damage, and took months to clean up. This is the story of the Great Molasses Flood of Boston. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood https://www.boston.gov/news/100-years-ago-today-molasses-crashes-through-bostons-north-end Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood#/media/File:BostonMolassesDisaster.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices