Stuff You Missed in History Class

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**Stuff You Missed in History Class**

Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.

Latest Episodes:

Behind the Scenes Minis: Bad Laws, Bad Cats May 15, 2026

Show notes

Tracy shares why Bhagat Singh Thind rocketed to the top of her topics list. Holly shares a story of bad cat behavior.

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Carrington Event May 13, 2026

Show notes

The Carrington Event was a massive geomagnetic storm that happened in 1859. It led to expanded understanding of solar phenomena.

Research:

“Great Aurora of 1859. Art. XLII – The Great Auroral Exhibition of August 28th to September 4th, 1859.” American Journal of Science. Ser. 2. Vol. 28. July-November 1859.
Cardenas, Freddy Moreno et al. “The Grand Aurorae Borealis Seen in Colombia in 1859.” Preprint submitted to Advances in Space Research. August 21, 2015.
Cliver, E.W. “The 1859 space weather event: Then and now.” Advances in Space Research. 38 (2006) 119-129.
Cliver, E.W. and L. Svalgaard. “The 1859 Solar-Terrestrial Disturbance and the Current Limits of Extreme Space Weather Activity.” Solar Physics. (2004) 224: 407–422.
Cliver, Edward W. and William F. Dietrich. “The 1859 space weather event revisited: limits of extreme activity.” J. Space Weather Space Clim. 3 (2013) A31 DOI:10.1051/swsc/2013053
Dobrijevic, Daisy and Andrew May. “The Carrington Event: History's greatest solar storm.” Space.com. 5/20/2022. https://www.space.com/the-carrington-event
Giegengack, Robert. “The Carrington Coronal Mass Ejection of 1859.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , DECEMBER 2015, Vol. 159, No. 4. Via JSTOR.https://www.jstor.org/stable/26159195
Green, James L, and Scott Boardsen. “Duration and extent of the great auroral storm of 1859.” Advances in space research : the official journal of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) vol. 38,2 (2006): 130-135. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2005.08.054
Green, James L. et al. “Eyewitness Reports of the Great Auroral Storm of 1859.” Submitted to Advances in Space Research. NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 20050210157. 8/5/2005.
Haeberle, Tom. “The Carrington Affair!” Amateur Astronomers Association Eyepiece. 9/1/2018. https://aaa.org/2018/09/01/the-carrington-affair/
Hayakawa, Hisashi et al. “Temporal and Spatial Evolutions of a Large Sunspot Group and Great Auroral Storms Around the Carrington Event in 1859.” Space Weather. 8/29/2019. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019SW002269
Hodgson, R. “On a Curious Appearance Seen in the Sun.” Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society vol. 19-20 (1858-1860). https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/20/1/15/983497
Hodžić, Jasna. “The Carrington Event of 1859 Disrupted Telegraph Lines. A ‘Miyake Event’ Would Be Far Worse.” JSTOR Daily. 9/7/2023. https://daily.jstor.org/the-carrington-event-of-1859-disrupted-telegraph-lines/
Howard, R.A. (2006). A Historical Perspective on Coronal Mass Ejections. In Solar Eruptions and Energetic Particles (eds N. Gopalswamy, R. Mewaldt and J. Torsti). https://doi.org/10.1029/165GM03
Josefowicz, Diane. “The British Magnetic Scheme (1839-1851): People and Institutions.” Victorian Web. https://victorianweb.org/science/geomagnetism/magneticcrusade.html
Kaminski, Isabella. “'The fate of nations and the fall of kingdoms': History's epic theories of what causes aurora.” BBC. 11/16/2025. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251114-historys-epic-theories-of-what-causes-aurora
Kimball, D.S. “A Study of the Aurora of 1859.” Scientific Report No. 6. NSF Grant No. Y/22.6/327. April 1960.
Klein, Christopher. “A Perfect Solar Superstorm: The 1859 Carrington Event.” History. 1/29/2025. https://www.history.com/articles/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event
Marinus Anthony van der Sluijs, Hisashi Hayakawa. “A candidate auroral report in the Bamboo Annals, indicating a possible extreme space weather event in the early 10th century BCE.” Advances in Space Research. Volume 72, Issue 12. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2022.01.01
Mills, Virginia. “A message from Alexander von Humboldt.” The Royal Society. 9/23/2019. https://royalsociety.org/blog/2019/09/a-message-from-alexander-von-humboldt/
Muller, C. “The Carrington solar flares of 1859: consequences on life.” Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere : the journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life vol. 44,3 (2014): 185-95. doi:10.1007/s11084-014-9368-3
Phillips, Tony. “A Warning from History: The Carrington Event Was Not Unique.” Space Weather Archive. 9/1/2020. https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2020/08/30/a-warning-from-history-the-carrington-event-was-not-unique/
Phillips, Tony. “Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012.” NASA. 12/22/2014. https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/planetary-science/23jul_superstorm/
C. Carrington, Description of a Singular Appearance seen in the Sun on September 1, 1859, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 20, Issue 1, November 1859, Pages 13–15, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/20.1.13
Starmans, Barbara J. “Carrington Solar Flare of 1859.” The Social Historian. 11/27/2016. https://www.thesocialhistorian.com/carrington-solar-flare-of-1859/
Thompson, D. (2009) The Carrington Event and the Electric Telegraph in Victoria in Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2880

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United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind May 11, 2026

Show notes

United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind was a 1923 case that hinged on what it meant to be white.

Research:

“Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922).” https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/260/178/
“United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923).” https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/261/204/
de la Garza, Amanda. “Doctorji: The Life. Teachings, and Legacy of Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind.” David Bhagat Thind. 2010.
Deslippe, Philip. “Bhagat Singh Thind in Jail.” SAADA. https://www.saada.org/tides/article/bhagat-singh-thind-in-jail
Deslippe, Philip. “Doctorji the Divorcé: Understanding Bhagat Singh Thind Through His Marriage to Inez Buelen.” Ethnic Studies Review 1 July 2023; 46 (1-2): 52–68. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2023.46.1-2.52
Kanwar, Joy. “Stories from the Negative Spaces: United States v. Thind and the Narrative of (Non)Whiteness.” Mercer Law Review. Vol. 74, No. 3. 2023. https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3111&context=jour_mlr
Munshi, Sherally. “Remembering Thind.” Ethnic Studies Review, Vol. 46, Issue 1-2, pp. 98–116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2023.46.1-2.98
Ogden, Johanna. “The Telling Case of Doctor Bhagat Singh Thind.” Oregon Historical Quarterly. Vol. 124, No. 1. 2023. https://www.ohs.org/oregon-historical-quarterly/back-issues/upload/Ogden_Baghat-Singh-Thind_OHQ-124_1_Spring-2023_web.pdf
“Bhagat Singh Thind.” Roots in the Sand. 2000. https://www.pbs.org/rootsinthesand/i_bhagat1.html
Pillai, Daksha. “United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind: Dual Legacies of a Forgotten Supreme Court Case.” Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/file_media/38_Pillai.pdf
Qin, Amy. “In the Birthright Citizenship Hearing, a Story of Asians Fighting for Rights.” New York Times. 4/2/2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/us/politics/birthright-citizenship-asian-immigrants.html
Shankar, Arjun. “On Brown Blood Race, Caste, and the Bhagat Singh Thind Case.” Ethnic Studies Review, Vol. 46, Issue 1-2, pp. 135–155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2023.46.1-2.135
Smith, Marian L. “Race, Nationality, and Reality: INS Administration of Racial Provisions in U.S. Immigration and Nationality Law Since 1898.” Prologue. Vol. 34, No. 2. Summer 2002. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2002/summer/immigration-law-1
South Asian American Digital Archive. “The Problem.” https://www.saada.org/explore/exhibits/theproblem
Supreme Court of the United States. “Donald J. Trump, president of the United States et al., petitioners, v. Barbara et al, Respondents.” No. 25-365. Oral arguments. Heritage Reporting Corporation. April 1, 2026. https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25-365_l6gn.pdf
The Pluralism Project. “The Ghadar Party: Freedom for India.” Harvard University. https://pluralism.org/the-ghadar-party-freedom-for-india

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SYMHC Classics: Insular Cases May 09, 2026

Show notes

This 2023 episode covers the Insular Cases, which are SCOTUS cases regarding rights of people in U.S. territories.

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Behind the Scenes Minis: Friends and Bubble Guns May 08, 2026

Show notes

Holly talks about how small the circle of London intellectuals was in John Graunt's time. Then there is discussion of disco balls in bathrooms.

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Modern Inventions That Are Actually Old May 06, 2026

Show notes

There are so many things in our modern world that we presume are fairly recent inventions. But the three things we’re going to talk about in this instance are quite old, but they have close associations with the recent past.

Research:

Abbott, David, PhD., ed. “The Biographical Book of Scientists: Engineers and Inventors.” Peter Bedrick Books. New York. 1985.
“Bad Breath.” Medline Plus. https://medlineplus.gov/badbreath.html#:~:text=Teenagers-,Summary,help%20give%20you%20fresher%20breath.
Berlin, Erika. “‘The Myriad Reflector’: The Early, Forgotten Disco Ball.” Mental Floss. May 21, 2015. https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/myriad-reflector-early-forgotten-disco-ball
Britannica Editors. "aeolipile". Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Jun. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/technology/aeolipile
Britannica Editors. "Heron of Alexandria". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Heron-of-Alexandria
Garber, David. “Meet Me Under the Disco Ball: A History of Nightlife’s Most Enduring Symbol.” Vice. June 4, 2015. https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-me-under-the-disco-ball-a-history-of-nightlifes-most-enduring-symbol/
Handwerk, Brian. “The History and Science Behind Your Terrible Breath.” Smithsonian. Feb. 13, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/halitosis-horrors-how-bad-breath-became-americas-worst-nightmare-180962104/
HØYRUP, JENS. “A NEW EDITION OF THE METRICA OF HERON OF ALEXANDRIA.” Physis. Vol. LIII. 2018. http://akira.ruc.dk/~jensh/Publications/2018%7BR%7D06_A%20New%20Edition%20of%20the%20Metrica%20of%20Heron%20of%20Alexandria_S.pdf
Hughes, J. Donald. “Hero of Alexandria.” Ebsco. 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/hero-alexandria
Mendell, H. “Hero and the tradition of the circle segment.” Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 77, 451–499 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00407-023-00308-y
“Mint! From the Ancient World to Modern Manchester.” Manchester Museum. Aug. 17, 2018. https://storiesfromthemuseumfloor.wordpress.com/2018/08/17/mint-from-the-ancient-world-to-modern-manchester/#:~:text=The%20ancient%20Egyptians%20invented%20breath%20mints%20to,*%20Severely%20worn%20teeth%20*%20Tooth%20loss
“Myriad Reflector Will Feature Annual Fall Opening Odeon Ball.” Great Falls leader. Sept. 4, 1921. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1018804435/?match=1&terms=%22myriad%20reflector%22
“Plant of the Month: Mint.” JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/plant-of-the-month-mint/
Pliny the Elder. “The Natural History.” Translated by John Bostock and Henry T. Riley. Taylor & Francis. London. 1855. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/50041
Rossen, Jake. “All That Glitters: A History of the Disco Ball.” Mental Floss. Dec. 30, 2021. https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/music/disco-ball-facts-history
“Saltair.” Salt Lake Telegram. June 13, 1921. https://www.newspapers.com/image/288643722/?match=1&terms=%22myriad%20reflector%22
Smith, Grafton Elliot, et al. “The Papyrus Ebers.” Ares Publishers. Chicago. 1974. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924073200077&seq=5
“Strike the Banners.” The Kentucky Post. August 31, 1945. https://www.newspapers.com/image/760821309/?match=1&terms=%22L.%20B.Woeste%22
“Wonderful Falls Short of Expressing the Grandeur of the Rotary Charity Ball.” The Piqua Daily Call. Jan. 26, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/935844964/?match=1&terms=%22myriad%20reflector%22
Woeste, L.B. “Myriad Reflector.” U.S. Patent Office. Feb. 6, 1917. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/9e/4c/73/00bfc626d3f664/US1214863.pdf
Woeste, L.B. “Myriad Reflector.” U.S. Patent Office. March 13, 1928. https://ppubs.uspto.gov/api/pdf/downloadPdf/1662554?requestToken=eyJzdWIiOiIyM2QyOTAxNi1iNjVhLTRkNTAtYWEyOS0zZjAyOWMwYmZiMWUiLCJ2ZXIiOiJmZjg4ZmU5Yy1iOTA2LTQxZDUtYTQxMS02MGM5Mzk3NTk0YzYiLCJleHAiOjB9
“Woeste Rites Are Set.” Cincinatti Enquirer. April 11, 1933. https://www.newspapers.com/image/103141821/?article=7dc922a9-f0a9-42b8-a61e-f9e92a7b3557&terms=%22Louis%20B.%20Woeste%22
Woodcroft, Bennet, ed. “The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria.” Taylor Walton and Maberly. London. 1851. Accessed online: https://www.thehopkinthomasproject.com/TheHopkinThomasProject/TimeLine/Wales/Steam/URochesterCollection/Hero/index-2.html

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John Graunt May 04, 2026

Show notes

John Graunt was a shopkeeper in 17th-century London who followed his own curiosity to a rather grand result. His work gave rise to the fields of demography and epidemiology.

Research:

Berke, Olaf, et al. “Celebration day: 400th birthday of John Graunt, citizen scientist of London.” Environmental Health Review. 63(3): 67-69. 2020. https://doi.org/10.5864/d2020-018
Britannica Editors. "John Graunt". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Graunt
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sir William Petty." Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Apr. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/money/William-Petty
Clark, Andrew. “Aubrey’s ‘Brief Lives.’” Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1898. https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/briefliveschiefl01aubruoft/briefliveschiefl01aubruoft.pdf
Connor, Henry. “John Graunt F.R.S. (1620-74): The founding father of human demography, epidemiology and vital statistics.” Journal of medical biography 32,1 (2024): 57-69. doi:10.1177/09677720221079826
Eschner, Kat. “People Have Been Using Big Data Since the 1600s.” Smithsonian. April 24, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/people-have-been-using-big-data-1600s-180962949/
Glass, D.V., et al. “John Graunt and His Natural and Political Observations [and Discussion].” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, Vol. 159, No. 974, A Discussion on Demography (Dec. 10, 1963), pp. 2-37 Published by: The Royal Society Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/90480
Graunt, John. “Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index, and made upon the Bills of mortality.” Oxford : Printed by William Hall, for John Martyn, and James Allestry, printers to the Royal Society MDCLXV [1665]. http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/2356017R
KARGON, ROBERT. “John Graunt, Francis Bacon, and the Royal Society: The Reception of Statistics.” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, vol. 18, no. 4, 1963, pp. 337–48. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24621352
Kelsey, Holly. “Sovereign and the Sick City in 1603.” Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Aug. 23, 2016. https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/blogs/sovereign-and-sick-city-1603/
Lewin, C. G. "Graunt, John (1620–1674), statistician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. August 08, 2024. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-11306
Pepys, Samuel. “The Diary of Samuel Pepys.” GEORGE BELL & SONS. London. 1893. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4200/pg4200.txt
Smith, R.M. (2008). “Graunt, John (1620–1674).” The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_758-2

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SYMHC Classics: Red Summer 1919 May 02, 2026

Show notes

This 2019 episode marked 100 years since a wave of racist violence in the U.S. that became known as Red Summer. In many ways, Red Summer was a response to (but NOT caused by) two earlier events: the Great Migration and the return of black soldiers who had fought in World War I.

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Behind the Scenes Minis: Greetings and Context May 01, 2026

Show notes

Holly and Tracy commiserate about sending greeting cards. Tracy talks about how she shifted away from an episode exclusively about Frances Thompson.

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The Memphis Massacre Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

The Memphis Massacre was a truly horrific wave of destruction and violence, including sexual violence, against the Black community of Memphis just a year after the end of the U.S. Civil War.

Research:

“Memphis Daily Appeal Interviews Frances Thompson (1876),” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed April 9, 2026, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/3717.
“The Outrage Mill.” The North Missouri Register. 9/14/1876.
“The Reports of the Committees of the House of Representatives Made during the First Session Thirty-ninth Congress, 1865-’66.” Washington: Government Printing Office. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-01274_00_00-002-0101-0000/context
Blank, Christopher. “Do The Words 'Race Riot' Belong On A Historic Marker In Memphis?” Code Switch. NPR. 5/2/2016. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/05/02/476450908/in-memphis-a-divide-over-how-to-remember-a-massacre-150-years-later
Britannica Editors. "Memphis massacre of 1866". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Feb. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/Memphis-Race-Riot. Accessed 8 April 2026.
Carriere, Marius. “An Irresponsible Press: Memphis Newspapers and the 1866 Riot.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly , Spring 2001, Vol. 60, No. 1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42628498
Davis, Justin A. “How a disabled Black trans woman left her mark on 19th-century Memphis.” The Emancipator. 6/13/2024. https://theemancipator.org/2024/06/13/topics/histories/how-a-disabled-black-trans-woman-left-her-mark-on-19th-century-memphis/
Donald, Bernice Bouie. “When the Rule of Law Breaks Down: Implications of the 1866 Memphis Massacre for the Passage of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Boston Law Review. Vol. 98. 2018.
Equal Justice Institute. “On this day - Apr 30, 1866: White Police and Mobs Terrorize and Kill Black Residents in Memphis.” https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/apr/30
Harper’s Weekly. “The Memphis Riots.” 5/26/1866.
Johnson, Charles F. and T.W. Gilbreth. “The Freedmen’s Bureau Report on the Memphis Race Riots of 1866.” 5/22/1866. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-freedmens-bureau-report-on-the-memphis-race-riots-of-1866/
Kimberley, Lewis. “’If you kill him, you have got to kill me first’: examining individual and collective loyalties during the Memphis Massacre (1866).” American Nineteenth Century History. Vol. 25, 2024. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14664658.2024.2316465
O’Donovan, Susan and Beverly Bond. “ ‘A History They Can Use’: The Memphis Massacre and Reconstruction’s Public History Terrain.” The Journal of the Civil War Era. 8/15/2016. https://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2016/08/history-can-use-memphis-massacre-reconstructions-public-history-terrain/
Stryker, Susan. “To Appear As We Please.” Aperture, Winter 2017, No. 229, Future Gender. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44898154
Walker, Barrington. “'This is the White Man's Day': The Irish, White Racial Identity, and the 1866 Memphis Riots.” Left History. Vol. 5, No. 2, 1997. https://doi.org/10.25071/1913-9632.5336

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