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:

History of the QWERTY Keyboard Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

Do you ever sit at your computer and look at the keyboard and wonder - how did we get here? Why are the letters laid out in such a jumbled mess? Why is the J easier to type than the E? That’s just one of many questions we tackle as we look at the history of what today we call the QWERTY keyboard.

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFkC3F0lmjA

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

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-qwerty-keyboard-will-never-die-where-did-the-150-year-old-design-come-from-49863249/

Image: By Martin Howard: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Remington_2_typewriter_keyboard.jpg

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

The Colossus of Rhode: The greatest statue of the ancient world Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

Today, the most famous statue that overlooks a harbor is probably the Statue of Liberty. However, over 2,000 years ago a statue almost as large was built in the Greek city of Rhodes. The Colossus of Rhodes so impressive it became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Colossus-of-Rhodes

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

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

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

Flint Water Crisis Jul 17, 2026

Show notes

In 2014, the financially troubled city of Flint, Michigan, began drawing their water from the Flint River - instead of Lake Huron. The move would be a disaster. Over the next decade the city would grapple with water contamination, lead poisoning, Legionnaires disease, and deaths - costing Flint and the State of Michigan more than a billion dollars.

Sources

https://www.cdc.gov/casper/php/publications-links/flint-water-crisis.html

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

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

The Truth Behind Troy Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

With the upcoming "Odyssey" movie, by Christopher Nolan, we wanted to ask, is it true? Well of course not. But the background of the story, the Trojan War and the city of Troy, might just have some basis in reality. Because not only have archeologists discovered what they believe to be the real life Troy, but there is also some evidence of a Trojan War.

Sources

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

https://www.worldhistory.org/troy/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giovanni_Domenico_Tiepolo_-_The_Procession_of_the_Trojan_Horse_in_Troy_-_WGA22382.jpg

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

Battle of Tsushima: the birth of modern naval warfare Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

On May 27, 1905, the Russian and Japanese fleets faced off in the Tsushima Strait during the Russo-Japanese War. It is the first modern naval battle - and described as the greatest and the most important naval event since Trafalgar - a century earlier. It also ushered in Japan as a world power - and helped sow the seeds of the end of Czarist Russia. This is the story of the battle of Tsushima.

Sources

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

https://www.history.navy.mil/get-involved/essay-contest/2020-winners/hageman-cno-essay.html

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Tsushima,_1905_by_Tōjō_Shōtarō.jpg

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

The Land Lobster: The world's rarest insect Jul 10, 2026

Show notes

For untold years the tropical paradise of Lord Howe Island was home to the enormous insect called the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect, or Land Lobster - an 8-inch long bug endemic to the island. But they went extinct shortly around 1918 - at least until 2001, when just a few dozen were found on a virtually uninhabitable rock a dozen miles away.

Sources

"Rediscovery of the ‘extinct’ Lord Howe Island stick-insect (Dryococelus australis (Montrouzier)) (Phasmatodea) and recommendations for its conservation" by David Priddel et al.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-15/lord-howe-island-stick-insect-discovery-balls-pyramid/106381564

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

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lord_Howe_Island_stick_insect_Dryococelus_australis_10June2011_PalmNursery.jpg

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

Navajo Code Talkers Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

In World War II the United States took a unique turn in their quest for delivering fast, secret communications in combat situations. This was by using Native American language speakers and translators to deliver simple, yet unbreakable coded messages on the front lines. This is the story of the Navajo Code Talkers.

Sources

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/code-talkers.html

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers

https://www.intelligence.gov/publics-daily-brief/publics-daily-brief-articles/navajo-nation-inventors-of-the-unbreakable-code

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

File:Navajo_Indian_communication_men_with_the_Marines_on_Saipan_landed_with_the_first_assault_waves_to_his_the_beach._-_NARA_-_532526.tif?page=1

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

The Paraguayan War: South America's Deadliest War Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

When Paraguay invaded its much larger neighbors in 1864, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay responded in force. For the next five years these nations waged the deadliest war ever seen on the continent. It was a war that saw 20 percent of Paraguay's entire population die. This is the story of the Paraguayan War.

Sources

https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/3585/1/B28_-_The_Paraguayan_War_%281864-1870%29.pdf

https://read.uolpress.co.uk/read/brazil/section/0c2155f3-0885-42c3-afda-319d122d8b63

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Batalha_de_Campo_Grande_-_1871.jpg

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

Jonathan the Tortoise: The world's oldest living land animal Jul 03, 2026

Show notes

In 1882 a 50-year old tortoise from the Seychelles was brought to the tiny island of St. Helena as a gift to the governor. That tortoise, who was later dubbed Jonathan, is still alive and well today, making him over 190 years old, and the world's oldest living land animal.

Sources

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/at-190-jonathan-the-tortoise-is-the-worlds-oldest-living-land-animal-180979514/

https://sainthelenaisland.info/jonathan.htm

Image by Luke McKernan - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jonathan_(27242406408).jpg

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

Alexis St. Martin and the gunshot that changed science Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

In 1822, a young man, Alexis St. Martin, was accidentally shot in the stomach. Miraculously, he survived, and even more amazing was the hole between his chest and stomach became permanent. This allowed a US Army surgeon - William Beaumont - to spend a decade studying St. Martin’s digestive system, making Beaumont the "Father of Gastric Physiology". This is the very weird story of the gunshot that changed medicine.

Sources

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/grisly-story-human-guinea-pig-alexis-st-martin-180963520/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_St._Martin

https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/probing-the-mysteries-of-human-digestion/

Images:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Beaumont_painting.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Alexis_St._Martin,_aged_81_Wellcome_L0011057.jpg

Sponsor

Go to factormeals.com/dispatchespod50off to get 50 percent off and free daily greens per box. New subscribers only. While supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).

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

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

History Dispatches

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected