Stuff You Missed in History Class

Credit cards are integral to the way we bank and shop today, but many of the technologies involved in their daily use were invented in the last 65 years. How did we get from written notes to track money owed for purchases to tap-and-go spending? Research: “15 U.S.C. United States Code, 2011 Edition. Title 15 - COMMERCE AND TRADE. CHAPTER 41 - CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION. SUBCHAPTER IV - EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY.” https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2011-title15/html/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapIV.htm Bellamy, Edward. “Looking Backward, 2000-1887.” Boston. Ticknor and Company. 1888. https://archive.org/details/lookingbackward200bell/page/116/mode/2up?q=credit+card “Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009.” Federal Trade Commission. https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/credit-card-accountability-responsibility-disclosure-act-2009-credit-card-act “Diner Club members Don’t Carry Money.” Seattle Post-Intell

Anne of Brittany experienced a lot of loss from the time she was very young. As she aged and became more and more central to political events of her day, she remained dedicated to protecting the autonomy of the duchy of Brittany. Research: Britannica Editors. "Anne of Brittany". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Jan. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-of-Brittany Abernethy, Susan. “Anne of Brittany.” Medievalists.net. https://www.medievalists.net/2016/05/anne-of-brittany-queen-of-france/ The History Blog. “Anne of Brittany’s heart reliquary returns to Blois.” 3/24/2014. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/29750 Colleter R, Bataille CP, Dabernat H, Pichot D, Hamon P, Duchesne S, et al. (2021) The last battle of Anne of Brittany: Solving mass grave through an interdisciplinary approach (paleopathology, biological anthropology, history, multiple isotopes and radiocarbon dating). PLoS ONE 16(5): e0248086. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248086 Francis II, duke of Br

This 2013 episode covers Princess Alexandra Amelie of Bavaria who was frail and she exhibited unusual behavior. She told her parents that she had swallowed a glass piano as a child, and was afraid that she would shatter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy talks about how she came to love onions after disliking them as a child. Holly discusses her fear of heights, and questions evidence in Ludwig II's death.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bernhard von Gudden was renowned as a reformer of asylums in Germany. But that legacy has been eclipsed by his part in getting King Ludwig II of Bavaria deposed. Research: Bhattacharyya, Kalyan B. “Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden and the Mad King of Bavaria.” Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology vol. 20,4 (2017): 348-351. doi:10.4103/aian.AIAN_489_16 Crossland, David. “Suicide of Mad Ludwig was murder, says film‑maker.” The Times of London. June 29, 2018. https://www.thetimes.com/world/article/suicide-of-mad-ludwig-was-murder-says-film-maker-2x9s8hnkl Danek, A et al. “The dream king's psychiatrist Bernhard von Gudden (1824-1886). A life committed to rationality.” Archives of neurology vol. 46,12 (1989): 1349-53. doi:10.1001/archneur.1989.00520480093026 Dalvi, Madhusudan. “The Fairy Tale King and His Royal Psychiatrist: The Contribution to Neuroscience of Dr Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden, Psychiatrist to King Ludwig II – Psychiatry in History.” The Br

In the 1950s, two men tried to corner the market on onions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and manipulate futures contracts. Then Congress took up legislation to expressly forbid contracts for the sale of onion futures.  Research: Butz, Earl L. “VINCENT W KOSUGA, SAM S. SIEGEL, AND NATIONAL PRODUCE DISTRIBUTORS, INC.” Docket 73. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. CEA Cases. 6/18/1956. https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/idc/groups/public/@lrceacases/documents/ceacases/kosuga-jun1956-644.pdf Chicago Tribune. “Chicago Onion Dealer Named for Price Fix.” 6/22/1956. Page 43. Chicago Tribune. “Siegel Denies Manipulating Onion Futures.” 6/22/1956. Page 43. Commodity Exchange Authority. “Futures Trading in Onions.” United States Department of Agriculture. December 1956. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “History of the CFTC.” https://www.cftc.gov/About/HistoryoftheCFTC/history_precftc.html Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “VIN

This 2022 episode covers Helen Duncan, sometimes described inaccurately as Scotland’s last witch, or the last person imprisoned for witchcraft in Britain, or the last person to be tried under the UK’s 1735 Witchcraft Act.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy shares her surprise at discovering some of the details of Montague Summers's life. Holly talks about bickering within the Society for Psychical Research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Major Edward Moor reported strange bell ringing at his home in Great Bealings in 1834. Was it a poltergeist, a hoax, or something else? Research: Briggs, Stacia, and Siofra Connor. “Weird Suffolk: Poltergeist activity at Great Bealings.” East Anglia Daily Times. Feb. 1, 2019. https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/21445662.weird-suffolk-poltergeist-activity-great-bealings/ Britannica Editors. "Mysore Wars". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Mysore-Wars Cohen, Daniel. “In Search of Ghosts.” Dodd, Mead. 1972. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5708323M/In_search_of_ghosts. Hall, Trevor Henry. “New Light on Old Ghosts.” London. Gerald Duckworth & Co. 1965. Moor, Edward. “Hindu Infanticide.” London. J. Johnson. 1811. Accessed online: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=W7YIAAAAQAAJ&rdid=book-W7YIAAAAQAAJ&rdot=1 Moor, Edward. “The Hindu Pantheon.” London. 1810. Accessed online: https://babel.hathitrust.

Montague Summers wrote numerous books on witches, werewolves, vampires, black magic, and ghosts, and he edited and published numerous works and claimed to be a clergyman. But who was he, really? Research: "(Alphonsus) (Joseph-Mary Augustus) Montague Summers." Merriam Webster's Biographical Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1995. Gale OneFile: Fine Arts, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1680086368/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=03e855eb. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026. Babcock, R.W. “The Reverend Montague Summers as Editor of Otway.” PMLA, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Sep., 1933). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/458356 Batley, Rebecca. “A Sacred Order for Sexual Outsiders.” G&LR. March-April 2025. https://glreview.org/article/a-sacred-order-for-sexual-outsiders/ Britannica Editors. "Oxford movement". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Aug. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/event/Oxford-movement. Accessed 8 October 20 Davies, Robertson. "Summers, (Augustus) Montague [name in religion Alphonsus Joseph-

This 2021 episode covers William Palmer, who was convicted in 1855 as a poisoner though there wasn't any hard evidence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy talks about the frequency of news from research institutions getting reported years after the fact. She also clears up a misunderstanding Holly had about a painting that was discussed this week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part two of the autumn 2026 edition of Unearthed! kicks off with the catch-all potpourri category, then covers edibles and potables, shipwrecks, art, and Halloween-appropriate topics. Research: Almeroth-Williams, Thomas. “Henry VIII’s dissolution enforcer stashed Catholic manuscript – its lost pages have just been rediscovered.” EurekAlert. 9/16/2026. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142736 Anderson, Sonja. “Archaeologists Excavating a Roman-Era Cemetery in Poland Were Surprised to Stumble Upon a 5,000-Year-Old Necklace Made of 42 Teeth.” Smithsonian. 9/9/2026. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-excavating-a-roman-era-cemetery-in-poland-were-surprised-to-stumble-upon-a-5000-year-old-necklace-made-of-42-teeth-180989471/ Arnold, Paul. “Human blood may have helped preserve ancient Chinese rock art for 2,000 years.” PhysOrg. 8/14/2026. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-human-blood-ancient-chinese-art.html Arnold, Paul. “Mathematicia

Part one of this autumn edition of Unearthed! covers updates, medical finds, animals, and lots books and letters. Research: Almeroth-Williams, Thomas. “Henry VIII’s dissolution enforcer stashed Catholic manuscript – its lost pages have just been rediscovered.” EurekAlert. 9/16/2026. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142736 Anderson, Sonja. “Archaeologists Excavating a Roman-Era Cemetery in Poland Were Surprised to Stumble Upon a 5,000-Year-Old Necklace Made of 42 Teeth.” Smithsonian. 9/9/2026. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-excavating-a-roman-era-cemetery-in-poland-were-surprised-to-stumble-upon-a-5000-year-old-necklace-made-of-42-teeth-180989471/ Arnold, Paul. “Human blood may have helped preserve ancient Chinese rock art for 2,000 years.” PhysOrg. 8/14/2026. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-human-blood-ancient-chinese-art.html Arnold, Paul. “Mathematician challenges a 2,000-year-old legend about the Parthenon's optical ill

This 2015 kickoff to the Six Impossible Episodes series features Stagecoach Mary, Edward Mordrake, Robert the Haunted Doll, the London Beer Flood, the Lost Army of Cambyses and La Maupin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly shares an odd detail about the red barn murder case. She and Tracy also discuss the way Forrest Mars may have affected the way his father's life is described.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This installment of the eponymous foods series covers candy bars, including Snickers, Mars Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and some side mentions of other candies. Research: “Behind the Bar.” Snickers. https://www.snickers.com/our-story Brenner, Joel Glenn. “Life on Mars: The Mars family saga has all the classic elements.” Independent. July 25, 1992. https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/life-on-mars-the-mars-family-saga-has-all-the-classic-elements-1535722.html “Forrest Mars Sr., Candy Bar Titan Famed for Snickers.” The Plain Dealer. July 3, 1999. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1071308390/?match=1&terms=%22Forrest%20Mars%2C%20sr.%22&search-id=695f29a8-5f65-43f4-8445-637d2758eb9e&search-rank=1 “Frank C. Mars Buys Trotters.” The Lexington Herald. May 30, 1933. https://www.newspapers.com/image/684730957/?match=1&terms=%22Frank%20C.%20Mars%22%20Pulaski&search-id=b3e1ac20-1b03-4d55-8bb0-bf38efd85070&search-rank=7 “Fran

In the spring of 1828, a news story broke in Suffolk, England about the horrific murder of Maria Marten. Her paramour was the only suspect, but he evaded authorities for some time before he was captured and put on trial. Research: Curtis, J. “AN AUTHENTIC AND FAITHFUL HISTORY OF THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF MARIA MARTEN, WITH A FULL DEVELOPMENT OF ALL THE EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF HER BODY IN TO WHICH IS ADDED, THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM CORDER, TAKEN AT LARGE IN SHORT HAND SPECIALLY FOR THIS WORK, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF HIS EXECUTION, DISSECTION, &c. AND MANY INTERESTING PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO THE VILLAGE OF POLSTEAD AND ITS VICINITY; THE PRISON CORRESPONDENCE OF CORDER, AND FIFTY-THREE LETTERS, IN ANSWER TO HIS ADVERTISEMENT FOR A WIFE.” London. Thomas Keity. 1828. https://archive.org/details/b20443237 Devlin, Laura. “Who was the murderer whose skin binds a book?” BBC. April 22, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0wrdleer2o Harding, J. “

This 2022 episode covers Giordano Bruno, a mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, occultist, and according to the Catholic church of 16th-century Italy, a heretic. He met a bad end because of his views, but he started out as a friar.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy ponders how Sara Weiss knew some of the things she knew and whether her husband characterized her as less informed than she was. Holly talks about a possible relative of Theophilus Brome.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.