History

History Dispatches

History Dispatches is a daily history show hosted by father and son duo Matt and McKinley Breen. The show covers people, places, events and even objects from throughout history. While any topic is fair game, Matt and McKinley hold a soft spot for the offbeat and wacky stories that most people don’t know about.

Latest Episodes:

Pyramids of Meroë Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

The nation with the most pyramids is not Egypt but its neighbor to the south, Sudan, with over 250. However, these were not built by the ancient Egyptians, but by the Kingdom of Kush, from 800 BC to the 4th century AD went on a pyramid building boom. And the crown jewel of these sites is the Pyramids of Meroë - a cemetery with 147 pyramids and the final resting place to dozens of Kushite kings. This is the story of the Pyramids of Meroë.

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Sources

https://artsexperiments.withgoogle.com/meroe/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramids_of_Meroë

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1336/

Image: by Chubbyrump - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Pyramids_of_Meroe.jpg

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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Greensboro Sit-ins Mar 12, 2026

Show notes

On Feb. 1, 1960, in Greensboro, NC, four young black students went into a Woolworth’s department store, sat at the lunch counter and ordered food. They were denied service. But instead of going home and not returning - the men came back the next day. And the next. And the next - until thousands of people were staging sit-ins all over the south in protest of segregated seating at restaurants. This is the story of the Greensboro sit-ins.

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Sources

https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/greensboro-sit-in/

https://www.history.com/articles/the-greensboro-sit-in

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greensboro_Four.jpg

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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War of the Worlds Broadcast Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

For the Halloween special of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre on the Air, in 1938, they performed a radio adaptation of HG Wells’ landmark science fiction novel 'War of the Worlds.' The only problem is that it was so realistic, it caused panic amongst listeners, who thought a Martian invasion was imminent. At least, allegedly. This is the story of the 'War of the Worlds' broadcast.

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Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q7tN7MhQ4I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(1938_radio_drama)

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/infamous-war-worlds-radio-broadcast-was-magnificent-fluke-180955180/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orson-Welles-Studio-1938.jpg

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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Dolly the Sheep Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

On July 5, 1996, a Finn-Dorset sheep was born at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. The sheep’s name was Dolly - and she was the first mammal ever cloned from an adult somatic cell. This is the story of Dolly - the sheep that made history.

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Sources

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-scientists-kept-the-birth-of-dolly-the-worlds-first-cloned-mammal-a-secret-for-seven-months-180986009/

https://www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/the-story-of-dolly-the-sheep

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep)

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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Destruction of Melos Mar 09, 2026

Show notes

Being a democracy we often think of Athens as the good guys of ancient Greece. And in some ways they were - if such a label can be applied to a two and a half thousand year old civilization. But in other ways they were absolutely evil. Such as when they decided that their voluntary organization to help defend Greece now had mandatory membership, and defiance meant total destruction. This is the story of the Siege of Melos and the Melian Dialogue.

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Sources

https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/readings/thucydides8.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Melos

Image: By ZDE - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abandoned_sulfur_mines,_Milos,_153059.jpg

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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Whisky War Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

In the far north the Kennedy Channel - which is the border between Greenland and Canada - lies tiny Hans Island. The island was claimed by the two neighbors - but it was so inconsequential - no one really bothered with the specifics of who owned what. That was until 1984, when Canadian soldiers landed on the island - raised their flag - and - to help cement their claim - left a bottle of whisky. This is the story of the Whisky War.

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Sources

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/denmark-canadian-deal-hans-island-ends-49-year-old-feud-arctic-isle-rcna33644

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisky_War

https://unric.org/en/the-whiskey-war-how-denmark-and-canada-used-diplomacy-to-solve-a-territorial-conflict/

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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Pride Flag Mar 05, 2026

Show notes

One of the most internationally recognized symbols is the pride flag. While today it is synonymous with gay rights, it did not come from nowhere. It is the brainchild of the San Francisco based Gilbert Baker, whom many have declared the gay Betsy Ross. This is the story of Gilbert Baker, and the pride flag.

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Sources

https://gilbertbaker.com/history/

https://www.glbthistory.org/gilbert-baker

Image: by Ludovic Bertron - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rainbow_flag_and_blue_skies.jpg

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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History of the Oreo Mar 04, 2026

Show notes

One of the most beloved and tasty sweet treats all over the world is the Oreo cookie. More than 40 billion Oreos are consumed each year - making it the most popular cookie in the world. This is the story of the Oreo.

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Sources

https://www.seriouseats.com/history-of-oreos-bravetart-cookbook

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-oreo-cookie-1779206

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreo

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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Did Shakespeare Write Shakespeare? Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

One of greatest authors in history is William Shakespeare. Renowned for numerous plays, poems, and more, he has produced some of the greatest contributions to the English literary canon. But that begs the question - did he write his plays? Yes he did. But that doesn’t mean the theory doesn’t have a fascinating history. This is the story of the Shakespeare authorship question.

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Sources

https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/shakespeare-authorship-question/

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/shakespeare-authorship-question

https://shakespeareauthorship.com/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Title_page_William_Shakespeare%27s_First_Folio_1623.jpg

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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Mansa Musa - the Richest Man in History Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

In the 14th century - Mansa Musa - the ruler of the kingdom of Mali in West Africa - went on a Hadj to Mecca. To impress all that he met he had a retinue of as many as 60,000 - and brought with him 20 tons of gold. This has made many dub Mansa Musa the richest person in history.

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Sources

https://magazine.northwestern.edu/features/caravans-of-gold-fragments-in-time/a-golden-age-king-mansa-musas-reign

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansa_Musa

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47379458

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catalan_Atlas_BNF_Sheet_6_Mansa_Musa_(cropped).jpg

History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com

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