Stuff You Missed In History Class

Commercially available sewing patterns have been a cornerstone of home stitching for a century. But well before they existed, there were people trying to share sewing patterns.  Research: Alcega, Joan de. “Libro de geometria, practica y traça.” Madrid.1580. Accessed online:https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_07333/ Aldarondo, Abner. “A Master Tailor’s Manual.” Folger Shakespeare Library. Jan. 10, 2023. https://www.folger.edu/blogs/collation/a-master-tailors-manual/ Bertrand, J.E. “Descriptions des arts et métiers faites ou approuvées.”  l'Imprimerie de la Société Typographique. 1780. Accessed online: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=SAWFeeXzMgYC&rdid=book-SAWFeeXzMgYC&rdot=1 Boullay, Benoit. “Le Tailleur Sincère, Contenant Ce Qu'il Faut Observer Pour Bien Tracer, Couper.” (Reproduction.) Hachette Livre Bnf. 2012. Buckley, Cheryl. “On the Margins: Theorizing the History and

This 2020 episode examines how the U.S. got to the point of having one resource, specifically for poisoning, that’s so reliable and available that it gets printed on the labels of consumer products.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly talk about their favorite pens, and Tracy describes a unique radio she had as a child.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin Howard Armstrong isn’t exactly a well-known inventor, but his work in radio literally changed communications around the globe. But his most famous invention – FM radio – became a source of constant frustration after he developed it. Research: Armstrong, Edwin H. “Frequency Modulation and Its Future Uses.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 213, 1941, pp. 153–61. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1024069 Armstrong, Edwin H. “Personalities in Science.” Scientific American, vol. 154, no. 1, 1936, pp. 3–3. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26144367 “First public radio broadcast.” Guinness World Records. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/381969-first-public-radio-broadcast “FM Inventor Dies in Fall.” The Patriot News. Feb. 2, 1954. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1094174282/?match=1&terms=%22Edwin%20Howard%20Armstrong%22 Lessing, Lawrence P.. "Edwin

Before the ballpoint pen, people used their hands, reeds, bamboo, brushes, quills, and eventually nibs to write or draw. But how did things evolve from there to get to things like the fountain pen, and eventually, a ballpoint? Research: "pen." Britannica Library, Encyclopædia Britannica, 26 Jul. 2021. libraries.state.ma.us/login?eburl=https%3A%2F%2Flibrary.eb.com&ebtarget=%2Flevels%2Freferencecenter%2Farticle%2Fpen%2F59036&ebboatid=9265652. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025. "Pen." UXL Science, UXL, 2008. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CV2646000736/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=52ede570. Accessed 27 May 2025 “Patent of Mr. Frederick Bartholomew Folsch, of Oxford street, for improvements on instruments, and pens, to facilitate writing.” https://archive.org/details/jstor-30072521/mode/2up Bayley, Stephen. “Obituary: Baron Marcel Bich.” The Independent. 6/1/1994. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-baron-marcel-bich-1419867.html Bourq

 This 2022 episode starts with the story of John Bibb, credited with cultivating Bibb lettuce. But his family’s legacy, good and bad, is all tied to having enslaved people build their familial wealth.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly discusses the inscription on the Beachamps' headstone and the court of public opinion. Tracy shares information about Wilfred Owen's brother Harold.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wilfred Owen is considered one of the most important English-language poets of World War I. His work  also part of a shift in how many British poets were writing about war. Research: Bonellie, Janet. “A Portrait of Robert Ross.” Canada’s History. 6/12/2019. https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/arts-culture-society/a-portrait-of-robert-ross British Broadcasting Corporation. “Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale.” 2007. Cannon, Jean. “Censorship in Surprising Places: Uncovering the Letters of Wilfred Owen.” Not Even Past. Ransom Center. 4/21/2014. https://notevenpast.org/censorship/ Crossman, AM. “THE HYDRA, Captain AJ Brock and the Treatment of Shell-shocked in Edinburgh.” J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2003; 33:119–123. Earlam, R. “Shell-shock: A history of the changing attitude to war neurosis.” BMJ (Clinical research ed.) vol. 316,7145 (1998): 1683A. doi:10.1136/bmj.316.7145.1683a Hibberd, Dominic. “Wilfred Owen.” Weidenfeld &

The Beauchamp-Sharpe tragedy of 1825, sometimes called the Kentucky tragedy, involves a politician, a young lawyer, and the lawyer’s wife. It unfolds as a story of sexual scandal and political intrigue that ultimately led to murder. Research: Beauchamp, Jereboam O. “The confession of Jereboam Beauchamp (written by himself) who was executed at Frankfort, Ky., for the murder of Col. Solomon P. Sharp, a member of the legislature, and late attorney-general of Ky. To which is added some poetical pieces written by Mrs. Ann Beauchamp, who voluntarily put a period to her existence on the day of the execution of her husband, and was buried in the same grave with him.” H.T. Goodsell. Kentucky. https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/sat1109 “Beauchamp’s Trial.” The Frankfort Argus. May 10, 1826. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1040984938/?match=1&terms=beauchamp Bruce, Dickson D. “The Kentucky Tragedy: A Story of Conflict and Change in Antebellum America.” Louis

This 2014 episode covers transgender activist Sylvia Rivera. She became famous, in part, for participating in the Stonewall riots, and she spent her life campaigning bravely, stridently and vocally for the rights of gay and transgender people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rosina Bulwer-Lytton week generates discussion of her relationship with Edward, including many people who sided with him over the years despite allegations of abuse and infidelity. Tracy and Holly also discuss the couple’s daughter’s death. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once Rosina Bulwer-Lytton and her husband Edward separated, his life seemed to become more and more successful while she struggled with finances. The estranged couple then spent years battling very publicly until Edward had Rosina committed.  Research: “A Scene at the Hertfordshire Election.” The Tiverton Gazette. 6/29/1858. https://www.newspapers.com/image/803824054/ Blain, Virginia. “Rosina Bulwer Lytton and the Rage of the Unheard.” Huntington Library Quarterly , Summer, 1990, Vol. 53, No. 3. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3817439 Brown, Andrew. "Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer [formerly Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer], first Baron Lytton (1803–1873), writer and politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 23, 2004. Oxford University Press. Date of access 4 Jun. 2025, https://www-oxforddnb-com.proxy.bostonathenaeum.org/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-17314 Bulwer-Lytton, Rosina. “Lady Bulwer

After a difficult childhood, Rosina Bulwer-Lytton landed in a marriage that quickly turned chaotic and stressful, and then became abusive. Part one covers the period of her life up to their separation.  Research: “A Scene at the Hertfordshire Election.” The Tiverton Gazette. 6/29/1858. https://www.newspapers.com/image/803824054/ Blain, Virginia. “Rosina Bulwer Lytton and the Rage of the Unheard.” Huntington Library Quarterly , Summer, 1990, Vol. 53, No. 3. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3817439 Brown, Andrew. "Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer [formerly Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer], first Baron Lytton (1803–1873), writer and politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 23, 2004. Oxford University Press. Date of access 4 Jun. 2025, https://www-oxforddnb-com.proxy.bostonathenaeum.org/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-17314 Bulwer-Lytton, Rosina. “Lady Bulwer Lytton's Appeal to the Justice and Char

This 2017 episode covers Theodosia Burr Alston, Aaron Burr's incredibly smart and well educated daughter. She vanished without a trace as an adult, and her ultimate fate is still a matter of debate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly share experiences of having their hearts monitored using EKG technology. They also talk about whether or not Albert Bierstadt had any natural talent. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Albert Bierstadt’s story runs counter to the romanticized idea of a passionate starving artist. He was strategic in his career, selecting imagery that he knew would appeal to U.S. audiences, and monetizing his art outside of selling paintings. Research: Appman, Sarah Bean. “How One Building Turned Greenwich Village Into an Artists’ Mecca.” Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. August 6, 2019. https://www.villagepreservation.org/2019/08/06/how-one-building-turned-greenwich-village-into-an-artists-mecca/ “Albert Bierstadt Dead.” Indianapolis News. Feb. 19, 1902. https://www.newspapers.com/image/37784929/?match=1&terms=Albert%20Bierstadt Avery, Kevin J. “Hudson River School.” The Met. Oct. 1, 2004. https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/the-hudson-river-school “Bierstadt Painting Surfaces After 100 Years.” Greenville News. June 7, 1990. https://www.newspapers.com/image/192068392/?match=1&terms=Albert%20Bierstadt%20Lucerne “Dealer

The first electrocardiograph was invented in 1895. That device looked a lot different from today’s machines, and there are some other contenders for the title of “first.” Research: AlGhatrif, Majd, and Joseph Lindsay. “A brief review: history to understand fundamentals of electrocardiography.” Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives vol. 2,1 10.3402/jchimp.v2i1.14383. 30 Apr. 2012, doi:10.3402/jchimp.v2i1.14383 Baldassarre, Antonio et al. “The Role of Electrocardiography in Occupational Medicine, from Einthoven's Invention to the Digital Era of Wearable Devices.” International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 17,14 4975. 10 Jul. 2020, doi:10.3390/ijerph17144975 Browne, Sir Thomas. “Chap. IV: Of Bodies Electrical.” From Pseudodoxia Epidemica. 1672. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/pseudodoxia/pseudo24.html Case Western Reserve. “Cambridge Electrocardiograph, 1920.” https://artsci.case.edu/dittrick/onlin

This 2020 episode covers one of the transitional events between the Black Death and the Renaissance. Wat Tyler’s Rebellion was also known as the Uprising of 1381 or the Great Rising.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy talk about Tracy growing up in a mostly Protestant community with little exposure to Catholicism. They also talk about the Gorsuch family's ties to John Wilkes Booth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Christiana Incident offers a snapshot of the U.S. when the country was sorting into states where slavery was upheld and states that had abolished it, and what racist tension looked like at border states in the mid-1850s. Research: “The Christiana Affair Again.” New York Times. Sept. 20, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/09/20/87821677.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “Christiana Resistance 1851.” Christiana Historical Society. https://www.christianahistoricalsociety.com/christiana-resistance “The Christiana Trials.” New York Times. Nov. 4, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/11/04/87823549.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Fugitive Slave Acts". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Fugitive-Slave-Acts “Fatal Fugitive Slave Riot.” Boston Evening Transcript. Sept. 12, 1851. https://www.newspapers.com/image/734734274/ Forbes, David R. “