Curious World History

Ep 13, The Edmund Fitzgerald

Albert and Colleen share the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship on the Great Lakes until its sinking in a terrible storm in November of 1975. All 29 souls on board were lost. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", a song written and performed by Gordon Lightfoot, made this deadly event even more famous. Unfortunately, for copyright reasons, we could not play the song on our podcast. You can listen to it here. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzTkGyxkYI] We want to thank Mike Barry (Albert's grandfather) for his portrayal of the Captain's final transmission. We asked AI to generate an image of the ship battling the storm and are sharing it on our podcast website: curiousworldhistory.com

Ep 12, The Titanic

Did you know that there were only enough lifeboats for half of the people on the Titanic? Have you heard that some newspapers printed mistaken stories about all of the passengers surviving? Albert and Colleen learn a lot about the Titanic -- the boat, the captain, the collision with the iceberg and more. And, they do a segment on Myth vs Fact! Within this episode, you will hear snippets of songs that we found on the Library of Congress website [https://www.loc.gov/]. We also share parts of an amazing interview that Pony Horton did in 1982-3 with one of the Titanic survivors [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuJ7Lk4Bp0].  Learn more and access links to the resources on our website: https://www.curiousworldhistory.com/

Ep 11, The Statue of Liberty

Have you ever wondered how the Statue of Liberty was built or what it symbolizes? Did you know that she is clad in 31 tons of copper? Or that there are broken chains at her feet? Join Albert and Colleen as they dig into the history of the Mother of Exiles, herself, along with the poem emblazoned on the statue. Here are several images to show you more about the statue -- all from the Library of Congress. Also from the LOC, we feature the song, "For Your Country and My Country" by Irving Berlin. We have now had listeners in 21 countries and 35 states, plus Washington DC! If you have an idea for an episode or just want to contact us, you can do so by emailing us at ideas@curiousworldhistory.com [ideas@curiousworldhistory.com]. Don't forget our merch shop on our website, too! We now have cold weather gear.

Ep 10, The Dixon Bridge Collapse

In this episode, Albert and Colleen talk about the terrifying Dixon Bridge collapse over the Rock River in Dixon, Illinois. This deadly disaster took place in 1873 and wasn’t the only bridge by L. E. Truesdell that caused deaths. Below is one picture from Lee County Historical & Genealogical Society and the Loveland Community House (public domain) and the other from the Associated Press story linked beneath it. You can read more about it here. [https://apnews.com/article/bridge-collapse-drowning-death-river-illinois-a24a97dd9479f1b3e4fe73aedc0846fc] There is now a Curious World History merch store! Browse our shirts, bags, and water bottles. [https://www.curiousworldhistory.com/p/new-we-have-merch/]

Ep 9, Alfred Nobel

Join Albert and Colleen as they discuss the curious life of Alfred Nobel. You might know his name from the Nobel Peace Prize. But, peace is not what he was known for during his lifetime.