A Wing and a Prayer: The Flight of Elmer of Malmesbury

Tennis, Planes, Prison Breaks, and Machine Guns: The Life of Roland Garros

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2549963/fan_mail/new] Wait... What? Roland Garros wasn’t a tennis player?! 🤯  If you think the French Open is named after a legendary clay-court champion, prepare to have your mind blown. In this episode, we dive into the wild, daring, and true history of the real Roland Garros.  Before he became a synonymous with the French Open Tennis Tournament, he was a fearless pioneer of early flight, a daredevil French aviator and a World War I fighter pilot who invented a way to shoot machine guns through spinning propeller blades. Join us as we unpack: • Why a massive tennis tournament is named after a guy who preferred planes to rackets (or racquets). • The terrifying reality of early 20th-century aviation (spoiler: lots of crashes). • How he became a war hero, ended up in a German POW camp, and promptly escaped. Hit that follow button, leave us a 5-star review if you like your history with a side of laughs, and let’s find out who this mustachiod icon actually was. Email honourablementionspod@gmail.com  Website honourablementions.buzzsprout.com Facebook Honourable Mentions  Instagram  honourablementionspod TikTok  honourable.mentionspod Discord honourablementions

Attacked by a Shark, then Mauled by Lions: The Unreal Story of John Doyle.

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2549963/fan_mail/new] Imagine surviving a Great White Shark attack, dragging your bleeding body to shore, and thinking the worst is over—only to be intercepted and mauled by a pride of lions on your way to safety.  In this episode, we unpack the jaw-dropping true story of John Doyle, an American surfer who lived through what might be the most unbelievable streak of bad luck and ultimate survival in human history. In April 1993, while surfing entirely alone off the coast of West Africa (Angola), John’s peaceful morning transformed into a living nightmare when a massive shark struck.  Defying the odds, he escaped the water heavily injured and made it back to his Land Rover. But nature wasn't finished with him. Stranded in the territory of apex land predators, John was forced to use a stick to battle a pride of lions that surrounded and battered his vehicle to get to him.  Join us as we break down: • The harrowing, minute-by-minute details of the West Africa shark attack. • How John miraculously fought off multiple lions while severely weakened. • The incredible rescue and his full medical recovery. • Whether John Doyle is truly the unluckiest man alive—or the luckiest. If you love the strange, dark, and mysterious or true survival stories against all odds, this wild double-animal attack episode is a must-listen. Subscribe, rate, and review if you want more  Email honourablementionspod@gmail.com  Website honourablementions.buzzsprout.com Facebook Honourable Mentions  Instagram  honourablementionspod TikTok  honourable.mentionspod Discord honourablementions

Douglas Hegdahl: The Incredibly Stupid Hero of the Vietnam War

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2549963/fan_mail/new] How did a young sailor from South Dakota become the ultimate "secret weapon" in the Hanoi Hilton? In this episode, we dive into the legendary story of Douglas Hegdahl, the U.S. Navy apprentice seaman who fell overboard and ended up a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. While his captors dismissed him as the "Incredibly Stupid One," Hegdahl was actually executing one of the most brilliant intelligence missions in military history. We cover: The "Accident": How a 20-year-old managed to fall off the USS Canberra in the middle of the night. The Master of Deception: How Hegdahl used a persona to gain the trust of his captors and roam the prison freely. The Human Computer: The secret behind how he memorised the names, capture dates, and personal details of 256 fellow POWs to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." The Mission Home: Why his early release became the key to exposing the brutal treatment of American prisoners. Join us as we explore how a man's courage and a catchy nursery rhyme changed the course of the war and saved countless lives. Email honourablementionspod@gmail.com  Website honourablementions.buzzsprout.com Facebook Honourable Mentions  Instagram  honourablementionspod TikTok  honourable.mentionspod Discord honourablementions

Eating The Zoo: William Buckland and the Birth of Dinosaurs

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2549963/fan_mail/new] Did you know the man who named the very first dinosaur also tried to eat every animal in the world? Welcome to the utterly chaotic world of William Buckland—the 19th-century theologian, pioneering geologist, and the official father of paleontology. Long before Jurassic Park, Buckland was rewriting Earth's history. He discovered and named the Megalosaurus (the first scientifically described dinosaur), and pioneered the study of fossilized feces (coprolites). But William wasn't just a genius; he was an eccentric with a great big, neon lit, flashing E. From his infamous "zoophagous" culinary quest to eat his way through the animal kingdom (including bluebottles, panthers, and allegedly the preserved heart of a French king) Buckland's life reads like fiction. In this episode, we cover: The Megalosaurus Discovery: How a jawbone changed science forever. The Eccentric Gourmet: The truth behind his bizarre eating habits and Oxford antics. And Frank. The even madder, even hungrier son! If you love history podcasts, weird science history, dinosaur fossils, and biographies of eccentric geniuses, this is the episode for you! Email honourablementionspod@gmail.com  Website honourablementions.buzzsprout.com Facebook Honourable Mentions  Instagram  honourablementionspod TikTok  honourable.mentionspod Discord honourablementions

The Man Who Saved the World: How Vasily Arkhipov Stopped a Nuclear War

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2549963/fan_mail/new] On October 27, 1962, the world almost ended. While the Cuban Missile Crisis raged on land, a terrifying showdown was happening deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. This is the incredible true story of Vasily Arkhipov, a Soviet Navy officer who single-handedly prevented the outbreak of World War III.    Trapped inside the suffocating, overheated Soviet submarine B-59, the crew was cut off from Moscow and under depth-charge attack by the US Navy. Believing nuclear war had already begun, the captain ordered the launch of a tactical nuclear torpedo. Firing the weapon required unanimous consent from three senior officers. Two said yes. Vasily Arkhipov said no.     In this episode, we dive into: The secret history of the Cold War naval blockade. How close John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev really came to a nuclear apocalypse. And Arkhipov's own harrowing backstory as a survivor of the K-19 radiation disaster.    If you love military history, secret operations, and gripping historical turn-of-events, don't forget to hit follow and leave a review! Email honourablementionspod@gmail.com  Website honourablementions.buzzsprout.com Facebook Honourable Mentions  Instagram  honourablementionspod TikTok  honourable.mentionspod Discord honourablementions