Stuff You Missed in History Class

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Three More Eponymous Diseases: Arthropod Bites Sep 29, 2025

Show notes

These diseases - West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - are named for the places where outbreaks happened. But they're also all things you get from being bitten by mosquitoes or ticks.

Research:

Balasubramanian, Chandana. “Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF): The Deadly Tick-borne Disease That Inspired a Hit Movie.” Gideon. 9/1/2022. https://www.gideononline.com/blogs/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever/
Barbour AG, Benach JL2019.Discovery of the Lyme Disease Agent. mBio10:10.1128/mbio.02166-19.https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02166-19
Bay Area Lyme Foundation. “History of Lyme Disease.” https://www.bayarealyme.org/about-lyme/history-lyme-disease/
Caccone, Adalgisa. “Ancient History of Lyme Disease in North America Revealed with Bacterial Genomes.” Yale School of Medicine. 8/28/2017. https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/ancient-history-of-lyme-disease-in-north-america-revealed-with-bacterial-genomes/
Chowning, William M. “Studies in Pyroplasmosis Hominis.("Spotted Fever" or "Tick Fever" of the Rocky Mountains.).” The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 1/2/1904. https://archive.org/details/jstor-30071629/page/n29/mode/1up
Elbaum-Garfinkle, Shana. “Close to home: a history of Yale and Lyme disease.” The Yale journal of biology and medicine vol. 84,2 (2011): 103-8.
Farris, Debbie. “Lyme disease older than human race.” Oregon State University. 5/29/2014. https://science.oregonstate.edu/IMPACT/2014/05/lyme-disease-older-than-human-race
Galef, Julia. “Iceman Was a Medical Mess.” Science. 2/29/2012. https://www.science.org/content/article/iceman-was-medical-mess
Gould, Carolyn V. “Combating West Nile Virus Disease — Time to Revisit Vaccination.” New England Journal of Medicine. Vol. 388, No. 18. 4/29/2023. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2301816
Harmon, Jim. “Harmon’s Histories: Montana’s Early Tick Fever Research Drew Protests, Violence.” Missoula Current. 7/20/2020. https://missoulacurrent.com/ticks/
Hayes, Curtis G. “West Nile Virus: Uganda, 1937, to New York City, 1999.” From West Nile Virus: Detection, Surveillance, and Control. New York : New York Academy of Sciences. 2001. https://archive.org/details/westnilevirusdet0951unse/
Jannotta, Sepp. “Robert Cooley.” Montana State University. 10/12/2012. https://www.montana.edu/news/mountainsandminds/article.html?id=11471
Johnston, B L, and J M Conly. “West Nile virus - where did it come from and where might it go?.” The Canadian journal of infectious diseases = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses vol. 11,4 (2000): 175-8. doi:10.1155/2000/856598
Lloyd, Douglas S. “Circular Letter #12 -32.” 8/3/1976. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/departments-and-agencies/dph/dph/infectious_diseases/lyme/1976circularletterpdf.pdf
Mahajan, Vikram K. “Lyme Disease: An Overview.” Indian dermatology online journal vol. 14,5 594-604. 23 Feb. 2023, doi:10.4103/idoj.idoj_418_22
MedLine Plus. “West Nile virus infection.” https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007186.htm
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. “History of Rocky Mountain Labs (RML).” 8/16/2023. https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/rocky-mountain-history
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. “Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.” https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever
Rensberger, Boyce. “A New Type of Arthritis Found in Lyme.” New York Times. 7/18/1976. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/18/archives/a-new-type-of-arthritis-found-in-lyme-new-form-of-arthritis-is.html?login=smartlock&auth=login-smartlock
Rucker, William Colby. “Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.” Washington: Government Printing Office. 1912. https://archive.org/details/101688739.nlm.nih.gov/page/
Sejvar, James J. “West Nile virus: an historical overview.” Ochsner journal vol. 5,3 (2003): 6-10. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3111838/
Smithburn, K.C. et al. “A Neurotropic Virus Isolated from the Blood of a Native of Uganda.” The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Volume s1-20: Issue 4. 1940.
Steere, Allen C et al. “The emergence of Lyme disease.” The Journal of clinical investigation vol. 113,8 (2004): 1093-101. doi:10.1172/JCI21681
Steere, Allen C. et al. “Historical Perspectives.” Zbl. Bakt. Hyg. A 263, 3-6 (1986 ). https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/281837/1-s2.0-S0176672486X80912/1-s2.0-S0176672486800931/main.pdf
World Health Organization. “West Nile Virus.” 10/3/2017. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/west-nile-virus
Xiao, Y., Beare, P.A., Best, S.M. et al. Genetic sequencing of a 1944 Rocky Mountain spotted fever vaccine. Sci Rep 13, 4687 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31894-0

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SYMHC Classics: S.S. Arctic Sep 27, 2025

Show notes

This 2014 episode covers the collision of the S.S. Arctic with another ship in a fog in 1854. The resulting panic led to the deaths of most of the passengers.

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Behind the Scenes Minis: The Grisly Shipwreck Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

Holly talks about the many survivor accounts of the Medusa shipwreck, which were questioned regarding bias and intent. There's also a follow-up on what happened to Géricault's son.

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Géricault and the Raft of the Medusa (Part 2) Sep 24, 2025

Show notes

In the aftermath of the shipwreck, France was scandalized by what had happened as the details emerged. And artist Théodore Géricault became obsessed with it.

Research:

Amigo, Ignacio. “How a biologist turned amateur sleuth to solve a century-old art riddle.” The Guardian. Oct. 23, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/oct/27/how-a-biologist-turned-amateur-sleuth-to-solve-a-century-old-art-riddle
Barran, Julian. “Théodore Géricault, Illustrations to Alexandre Corréard’s ‘Le Naufrage de La Méduse.’” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 119, no. 889, 1977, pp. 311–310. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/878824
Baudelaire, Charles. “WHAT IS ROMANTICISM?” The Salon of 1848. https://writing.upenn.edu/library/Baudelaire-Salon-1848.pdf
Burgos, Javier S. “A new portrait by Géricault.” The Lancet Neurology, Volume 20, Issue 2, 90 – 91. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(20)30479-8/fulltext
Burgos, Javier. S. “In search of Théodore Géricault’s lost monomanias.” Metode. June 3, 2024. https://metode.org/issues/article-revistes/in-search-of-theodore-gericaults-lost-monomanias.html
Dard, Charlotte Adelaide Picard. “The sufferings of the Picard family after the shipwreck of the Medusa, in the year 1816.” Constable and Co. Edinburgh, Scotland. 1827. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22792/22792-h/22792-h.htm
Dione, Babacar and Mark Banchereau. “France withdraws from Senegal, ending its permanent military presence in West Africa.” AP. July 17, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/senegal-france-military-withdrawal-57d150687e18cd20ac6a6d7194821208
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Treaties of Paris". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaties-of-Paris-1814-1815
“The Frigate Medusa … “ The Raleigh Minerva. Nov. 4, 1816. https://www.newspapers.com/image/58081420/?match=1&terms=medusa
“Gericault.” The Illustrated Magazine of Art, Vol. 2, No. 11 (1853), pp. 282-283 Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20538136
Géricault, Théodore. “Cuirassier blessé, quittant le feu.” 1814. Louvre. https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010059200
Géricault, Théodore. “Race of the Riderless Horses.” 1817. Getty Museum. https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RH8
Géricault, Théodore. “Race of the Riderless Horses at Rome, Study.” 1817. The Met. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/665793
Huet, Marie-Hélène. “The Face of Disaster.” Yale French Studies, no. 111, 2007, pp. 7–31. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20479368
“Loss of the French Frigate Medusa.” Hartford Courant. Oct. 29, 1816. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1105494685/?match=1&terms=medusa
Miles, Jonathan. “The Wreck of the Medusa.” Atlantic Monthly Press. 2007.
Savigny, Jean Baptiste Henri, and Alexandre Correard. “Narrative of the Voyage to Senegal.” London : Printed for Henry Colburn. 1818. https://archive.org/details/narrativeofvoyag00savirich/page/xiv/mode/2up
Smith, Roberta. “Art Review: Oui, Art Tips From Perfidious Albion.” New York Times. Oct. 10, 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/10/arts/art-review-oui-art-tips-from-perfidious-albion.html

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Medusa Shipwreck (Part 1) Sep 22, 2025

Show notes

The first episode of this two-parter covers the French mission to Senegal that the frigate Medusa led in 1816. Soon, the mission fell disastrously apart.

Research:

Amigo, Ignacio. “How a biologist turned amateur sleuth to solve a century-old art riddle.” The Guardian. Oct. 23, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/oct/27/how-a-biologist-turned-amateur-sleuth-to-solve-a-century-old-art-riddle
Barran, Julian. “Théodore Géricault, Illustrations to Alexandre Corréard’s ‘Le Naufrage de La Méduse.’” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 119, no. 889, 1977, pp. 311–310. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/878824
Baudelaire, Charles. “WHAT IS ROMANTICISM?” The Salon of 1848. https://writing.upenn.edu/library/Baudelaire-Salon-1848.pdf
Burgos, Javier S. “A new portrait by Géricault.” The Lancet Neurology, Volume 20, Issue 2, 90 – 91. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(20)30479-8/fulltext
Burgos, Javier. S. “In search of Théodore Géricault’s lost monomanias.” Metode. June 3, 2024. https://metode.org/issues/article-revistes/in-search-of-theodore-gericaults-lost-monomanias.html
Dard, Charlotte Adelaide Picard. “The sufferings of the Picard family after the shipwreck of the Medusa, in the year 1816.” Constable and Co. Edinburgh, Scotland. 1827. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22792/22792-h/22792-h.htm
Dione, Babacar and Mark Banchereau. “France withdraws from Senegal, ending its permanent military presence in West Africa.” AP. July 17, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/senegal-france-military-withdrawal-57d150687e18cd20ac6a6d7194821208
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Treaties of Paris". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaties-of-Paris-1814-1815
“The Frigate Medusa … “ The Raleigh Minerva. Nov. 4, 1816. https://www.newspapers.com/image/58081420/?match=1&terms=medusa
“Gericault.” The Illustrated Magazine of Art, Vol. 2, No. 11 (1853), pp. 282-283 Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20538136
Géricault, Théodore. “Cuirassier blessé, quittant le feu.” 1814. Louvre. https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010059200
Géricault, Théodore. “Race of the Riderless Horses.” 1817. Getty Museum. https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RH8
Géricault, Théodore. “Race of the Riderless Horses at Rome, Study.” 1817. The Met. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/665793
Huet, Marie-Hélène. “The Face of Disaster.” Yale French Studies, no. 111, 2007, pp. 7–31. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20479368
“Loss of the French Frigate Medusa.” Hartford Courant. Oct. 29, 1816. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1105494685/?match=1&terms=medusa
Miles, Jonathan. “The Wreck of the Medusa.” Atlantic Monthly Press. 2007.
Savigny, Jean Baptiste Henri, and Alexandre Correard. “Narrative of the Voyage to Senegal.” London : Printed for Henry Colburn. 1818. https://archive.org/details/narrativeofvoyag00savirich/page/xiv/mode/2up
Smith, Roberta. “Art Review: Oui, Art Tips From Perfidious Albion.” New York Times. Oct. 10, 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/10/arts/art-review-oui-art-tips-from-perfidious-albion.html

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SYMHC Classics: Chesapeake Bay Oyster Wars Sep 20, 2025

Show notes

This 2013 episode covers the years after the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War when the oyster supply became so scarce that people turned to oyster piracy.

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Behind the Scenes Minis: Math and Falsehoods Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

Holly shares a story about Augustin Fresnel's early career. Tracy discusses an article criticizing the Smithsonian and points out its incorrect contents.

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Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton is known as one of the earliest Mexican-American authors published in English, and her life story is tied closely to the Mexican-American war and the establishment of California as a state.

Research:

Amero, Richard W. “The Mexican-American War in Baja California.” The Journal of San Diego History. Winter 1984, Volume 30, Number 1. https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1984/january/war/
Annenberg Learner. “Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton (c. 1832-1895).” https://www.learner.org/series/american-passages-a-literary-survey/masculine-heroes/maria-amparo-ruiz-de-burton-c-1832-1895/
Brink, Jean R. “María Amparo Ruiz de Burton.” EBSCO Knowledge Advantage. 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/maria-amparo-ruiz-de-burton
Contreras, Alicia . "María Amparo Ruiz de Burton". In Oxford Bibliographies in American Literature. 3 Sep. 2025. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199827251/obo-9780199827251-0191.xml.
Contreras, Alicia. "'I'll publish your cowardice all over California': Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton's the squatter and the don in the age of Howells." American Literary Realism, vol. 49, no. 3, spring 2017, pp. 210+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A491311790/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=97ad48d9. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Crawford, Kathleen. “María Amparo Ruiz Burton.” The Journal of San Diego History. Summer 1984, Volume 30, Number 3. https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1984/july/burton/
Diaz, Ella Maria. "Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton: Critical and Pedagogical Perspectives." Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers, vol. 22, no. 2, June 2005, pp. 202+. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A141999447/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=1c4826f6. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Dietrich, Lucas. “A Sensational Job: Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, J.B. Lippincott Co., and Commission Printing.” Bibliographical Society of America. Via YouTube. 4/19/2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb6sfXdUyR8
Hedrick, Joan D. "Who Would Have Thought It?" The Women's Review of Books, vol. 13, no. 7, Apr. 1996, p. 6. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A19140252/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=c31ab587. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Meylor, Megan. “California Nerves.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language, FALL 2020, Vol. 62, No. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27117136
Quarstein, John V. “Worden and the Californios.” U.S. Naval Institute. October 2023. https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2023/october/worden-and-californios
Raab, Josef. “The Imagined Inter-American Community of María Amparo Ruiz de Burton.” Amerikastudien / American Studies, 2008, Vol. 53, No. 1. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41158358
Sánchez, Rosaura and Beatriz Pita, editors. “Conflicts of Interest: The Letters of María Amparo Ruiz de Burton.” Arte Publico Press. University of Houston. 2001.
Spitzzeri, Paul R. “Article Ten of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848.” Homestead Museum Blog. 5/31/2019. https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2019/05/31/article-ten-of-the-treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo-1848/
“María Amparo Ruiz, a woman of that century.” Issue 30. 3/8/2017. https://tendenciaelartedeviajar.com/en/2017/03/history/maria-amparo-ruiz-a-woman-of-that-century/
University of Texas Press. “María Amparo Ruiz de Burton and the Conquered Californios: An Interview With Meagan Meylor.” 11/15/2021. https://utpress.utexas.edu/blog/2021/11/15/maria-amparo-ruiz-de-burton-and-the-conquered-californios-an-interview-with-meagan-meylor/
Women & The American Story. “Life Story: María Ruiz de Burton (1832–1895).” The New York Historical Society. https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/expansion-and-empire/maria-ruiz-de-burton/

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Augustin Jean Fresnel Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

Augustin Fresnel didn’t live a long life, but he contributed significantly to the understanding of light and to the safety of coastlines. Neither of those had anything to do with his career.

Research:

Anderson, F.L. “Huygens' Principle geometric derivation and elimination of the wake and backward wave.” Sci Rep11, 20257 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99049-7
Aglialoro, Todd. “Jansenism.” Catholic.com. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/jansenism
Garcia-Atutxa, Igor, et al. “The epistemological impact of Augustin-Jean Fresnel and his wave theory of light in the 19th century.” History of Science and Technology. Vol. 14, No. 1. 2024. https://www.hst-journal.com/index.php/hst/article/view/616
Clingan, Ian C.. "lighthouse". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Jan. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/technology/lighthouse
Crew, Henry. “The wave theory of light; memoirs of Huygens, Young and Fresnel.” New York. Cincinnati American Book Company. 1900. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/wavetheoryofligh00crewrich/page/n3/mode/2up
Davidson, Michael W. “Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788-1827).” Molecular Expressions. Florida State University. https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/fresnel.html
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Augustin-Jean Fresnel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Jul. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augustin-Jean-Fresnel
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "François Arago". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francois-Arago
“The Genius of Augustin-Jean Fresnel and his Lens.” Ponce Lighthouse & Museum. July 19, 2023. https://www.ponceinlet.org/the-genius-of-augustin-jean-fresnel-and-his-lens/
Herivel, John. "Christiaan Huygens". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Jul. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christiaan-Huygens.
“July 1816: Fresnel’s Evidence for the Wave Theory of Light.” Advancing Physics. American Physical Society. https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/201607/physicshistory.cfm
Linden, Teri Clark. “A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse.” W.W. Norton. 2013.
“May 1801: Thomas Young and the Nature of Light.” Advancing Physics. American Physical Society. https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/200805/physicshistory.cfm
“Napoleon’s Russian campaign: From the Niemen to Moscow.” Napoleon Foundation. https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/timelines/napoleons-russian-campaign-from-the-niemen-to-moscow/
Rehman, Ayaz Ur, and Muhammad Sabieh Anwar. “Light Is a Transverse Wave.” LUMS Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. August 21, 2018. https://physlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/LightTransverse-v2.pdf
Silliman, Robert H. “Fresnel and the Emergence of Physics as a Discipline.” Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences , 1974, Vol. 4 (1974), pp. 137- University of California Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27757329.pdf
Tag, Thomas. “Lens Use Prior to Fresnel.” United States Lighthouse Society. https://uslhs.org/node/1481

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SYMHC Classics: Max von Pettenkofer Sep 13, 2025

Show notes

This 2020 episode talks about how Pettenkofer's ideas about cholera's spread weren’t exactly right, but they still had really beneficial impacts on the way we live.

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