2024-04-18 02:24
The Dancing Plague of Strasbourg in 1518
Five hundred years ago, during a hot July in the French city of Strasbourg, a strange mania seized its people. Hundreds of citizens became compell… Read More
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5 Minute Forgotten History Blog
paulwandrews.wordpress.com/blog
5 minute blog posts and podcasts on lost and forgotten history - pivotal events, historic disasters and unforgettable people.
2024-04-13 19:20
Freedom Riders say goodbye as they leave for Alabama in 1961
During the spring of 1961, both African American and white student activists launched the Freedom Rides. Their goal was… Read More
2024-04-09 22:17
Captain Robert Scott’s team on their trek to reach the South Pole first.
There was a time, over a century ago, when there were still amazing feats yet to be achieved on Earth. … Read More
2024-04-08 01:20
Radium Girls hand painting clock faces in a New Jersey factory.
Radium clocks and watches were all the rave during the Roaring Twenties. The watch faces glowed all the time and didn&rsquo&helli…Read More
2024-03-19 19:47
U.S. President Richard M. Nixon at a Watergate press conference, 1973
The Watergate Scandal may seem tepid compared to recent presidential escapades, but in 1973, it shocked America to it… Read More
2024-03-16 14:42
Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant during the 1979 incident.
The Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear incident is the closest the United States ever came to a Chernobyl or Fukushima-level n… Read More
2024-03-07 23:32
Lhasa, the capitol of Tibet in the Himalaya Mountains
Before Communist China existed, for over a 1,000 years, Tibet was a ‘protectorate’ of the Manchu/Qing Dynasty. Tibe… Read More
2024-03-05 02:23
The dry lake bed of Southern California’s Salton Sea
California’s largest lake is the man-made Salton Sea, a shallow, salt water lake in the middle of the southern California… Read More
2024-02-26 04:50
Labor union members on strike in the 1950’s
Labor unions grew over a hundred years ago during the Industrial Revolution out of a relatively simple concept. The idea of protect… Read More
2024-02-18 22:11
Portrait of Maria Eva Duarte de Peron
The beautiful Evita Perón wielded amazing power in a time and country when few women broke the patriarchy barrier. Maria Eva de Perón… Read More
2024-02-16 23:14
American Constitution, flag and handgun
With the never-ending epidemic of mass shootings in the United States, the rest of the world looks at the global super power with both concern &hel&helli…Read More
2024-02-10 20:08
Rwanda Genocide Mass Grave in Kigali, 1994
We rarely think of “Genocide” as a modern event. It’s what happened to the Armenians in World War I at the hands of the… Read More
2024-02-06 02:39
Confederate flags and a modern American rally
A hundred and sixty years after the American Civil War, we are hearing again about the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. W… Read More
2024-02-03 20:01
Starving Irish riot during the Potato Famine, aka THE HUNGER
To the people of Ireland, the Irish Famine is known simply as “THE HUNGER.” The famine began in 1845 when an… Read More
2024-01-25 20:19
The crash scene of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus train wreck in Hammond, Indiana
One of the worst train wrecks in U.S. history happened with, of all things, a Circus Train. It was ca… Read More
2024-01-04 23:52
Senator Joe McCarthy was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1947 as a Wisconsin Republican. During his tenure, the bombastic McCarthy played upon America’s fears of "communist traitors" eve… Read More
2023-12-30 02:57
How did Chile turn from Democracy to Dictatorship in a matter of weeks? Augusto Pinochet led a 1973 coup and took authoritarian control which lasted 7 years.
The post Chile’s Ruthless… Read More
2023-12-09 02:48
What makes certain people seemingly fated to be famous? Is it their wealth, charisma, stamina ... or ruthlessness? Could it perhaps be something in their childhood or up-bringing? It is s… Read More
2023-11-26 20:07
Shays Rebellion of 1786 was a series of violent attacks by rural landowners on county courthouses and armories in Massachusetts. It led to a full-blown military confrontation with the… Read More
2023-11-22 22:28
In late 1941, the crew of the Pan American “Pacific Clipper” (Boeing 314 flying boat) made a historic, emergency flight around the world just to get home.
The post The Pacific Cl… Read More
2023-11-07 22:55
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was without a doubt one of the most brilliant leaders in history. Nevertheless, his Invasion of Russia in 1812 was one of the worst military disasters… Read More
2023-10-20 20:54
Israel as a nation has only existed since 1948, less than a hundred years. It was created by the United Nations in the turbulent aftermath of World War II.
The post The Birth Pains of Israel… Read More
2023-10-16 01:47
We hear a great deal from politicians these days about the growing dangers of Fascism, or even just Socialism. Political leaders throw the terms about as if the two were the same… Read More
2023-10-03 20:36
The Haitian Revolution was the largest, most successful slave rebellion in the Western World. Black slaves initiated a rebellion in 1791 and by 1803, they’d ended not just slavery, but… Read More
2023-09-30 02:40
Not all the major battles in World War II were in Europe or the Pacific. Some involved intense negotiations between the Allied nations - negotiations on what the post-war world would l… Read More
2023-09-11 22:16
The name “Timbuktu” in popular culture usually refers to some remote, far-away place. “Crikey, you live way out in Timbuktu!” For others, it may conjure u… Read More
2023-09-07 13:47
Most people remember Mother Teresa as a tiny, frail, Catholic nun in a white habit; her weathered face lined with deep creases. She was always seen tending to the poor, sick and dying… Read More
2023-08-27 20:58
Most every Christian throughout the world is familiar with the English King James version of the Holy Bible. Most believe, or have been taught, that it is contains the ONLY books of the Old… Read More
2023-08-27 20:58
Most every Christian throughout the world is familiar with the English King James version of the Holy Bible. Most believe, or have been taught, that it is contains the ONLY books of the Old… Read More
2023-08-24 01:49
Who is the Count of Saint Germain? Immortal alchemist or clever charlatan? His true name is a mystery. His place of birth is unknown. His time of death is unconfirmed. He is an enigma. Count… Read More
2023-08-24 01:49
Who is the Count of Saint Germain? Immortal alchemist or clever charlatan? His true name is a mystery. His place of birth is unknown. His time of death is unconfirmed. He is an enigma. Count… Read More
2023-07-29 19:41
Many Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 & 1964, now roughly 59 to 77) are prone to waxing nostalgic about the decade of the Sixties. They see it as a time when America and the w… Read More
2023-07-29 19:41
Many Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 & 1964, now roughly 59 to 77) are prone to waxing nostalgic about the decade of the Sixties. They see it as a time when America and the w… Read More
2023-07-16 17:22
Marguerite Alibert was a very resourceful Frenchwoman who lived many different lives. She had gone from poverty to prostitution to princes - not just one prince, but two, from differen… Read More
2023-07-16 17:22
Marguerite Alibert was a very resourceful Frenchwoman who lived many different lives. She had gone from poverty to prostitution to princes - not just one prince, but two, from differen… Read More
2023-06-29 01:27
Most Americans go about thinking they know their patriotic historical facts, as taught to them when they were in school. But here are FIVE commonly mistaken or unknown facts about American… Read More
2023-06-29 01:27
Most Americans go about thinking they know their patriotic historical facts, as taught to them when they were in school. But here are FIVE commonly mistaken or unknown facts about American… Read More
2023-06-29 01:27
Most Americans go about thinking they know their patriotic historical facts, as taught to them when they were in school. But here are FIVE commonly mistaken or unknown facts about American… Read More
2023-06-16 18:37
Partisan heroine Lepa Radic being lead to her execution in 1943Lepa Radić was just a 17-year-old Yugoslavian girl when she was hanged by the Nazis for being a Partisan in 1943. … Read More
2023-06-03 20:49
The 19th Century “Difference Engine” is hard to describe. One is displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.. Though it rarely dra… Read More
2023-06-03 20:49
Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2The 19th Century “Difference Engine” is hard to describe. One is displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American H… Read More
2023-06-03 20:49
Today’s Artificial Intelligence [AI] owes its very existence to the “Difference Engine.” This 19th century hand-cranked computer is hard to describe. One is displayed at th… Read More
2023-05-25 02:01
A photograph of a young Belle Starr
Belle Starr was an infamous fugitive in the American “Wild West” of the late 1800’s. She was connected with such famous outlaws as Je… Read More
2023-05-06 21:06
The famous macabre writer and poet, Edgar Allan Poe, died under mysterious circumstances at the age of only 40 in Baltimore, Maryland in 1849. Watch this short Mini-Doc to find out why his… Read More
2023-04-30 18:20
The fate of immigrants arriving in New York City’s infamous Ellis Island, around the turn of the century, depended on a quick 2 minute physical and their answers to 29 pivotal question… Read More
2023-04-30 18:20
The fate of immigrants arriving in New York City's infamous Ellis Island, around the turn of the century, depended on a quick 2 minute physical and their answers to 29 pivotal questions Read More
2023-04-19 23:34
Heroes are often born unexpectedly from dire circumstances. Confronted with an intolerable situation, they choose to act with humanity, rather than meekly back down, or join the angry mob.&n&hell…Read More
2023-04-19 23:34
Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara
Heroes are often born unexpectedly from dire circumstances. Confronted with an intolerable situation, they choose to act with humanity, rather than meekly… Read More
2023-04-02 23:07
The commemorative US stamp for the 100th Anniversary of the Pony ExpressThere are few images more American in United States history than of the famous Pony Express. In just 9-10 days… Read More
2023-03-20 00:43
Anyone who has given a talk, made a speech, or simply spoke in public knows how intimidating and challenging it can be. Great speeches are a combination of great writing and great delivery… Read More
2023-03-06 00:38
Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizarro
The Inca Empire was the consolidation of former warring tribes of over 12 million, covering 700,000 square miles. The Empire had built over 15,0… Read More
2023-02-15 13:51
18th century depiction of pirate Anne Bonny
Anne Bonny is one of the most famous female pirates of all time. She was known for her Irish red hair, fierce fighting skills and… Read More
2023-01-23 00:21
August 2020 marked 100 years since women in the U.S. were finally given the right to vote. Though the Declaration of Independence in 1776 declared that all ‘men’ are create… Read More
2023-01-15 03:49
Two of the worst coal mining disasters in history, one in US and one in the UK, took place only six years apart – in West Virginia in 1907 and Wales in 1913. Let’s take a c… Read More
2022-12-31 19:00
The modules of America’s Skylab Space Station – 1973
The International Space Station has been in operation since 2000. But America’s very first space station was in fact… Read More
2022-12-16 21:30
British and German troops together, Christmas Day, 1914
On Christmas Day 1914, in the cold, muddy trenches World War I’s Western Front, a truly miraculous event occurred. For a few… Read More
2022-11-28 02:15
SS Eastland capsized in the Chicago River, 1915
In July of 1915 on the Chicago River, the SS Eastland, carrying over 2,500 passengers and crew headed for a Western Electric company picnic… Read More
2022-11-19 21:54
Edgar Allen Poe was the Stephen King of his day. A master poet and author of mystery and the macabre. To this day, his name alone evokes a chill down ones spine. Amongst his… Read More
2022-11-06 01:22
End of the Spanish Civil War in Madrid, 1939Looking for an example of a modern, western Civil War that led to an authoritarian regime? Look no further than the EU’s Spain in the… Read More
2022-10-22 20:06
For almost 200 years, the famous Knights Templar had considerable power, wealth, and influence across Europe and the Mediterranean. But it all came to an abrupt and bloody end in 1314… Read More
2022-10-09 01:28
White supremacist mob pose in front of Wilmington’s black Daily Record newspaper
On Nov. 10th, 1898, a white supremacist mob massacred African Americans in the city of Wilmington, N… Read More
2022-09-17 20:08
Depiction of starving Irish children during The Hunger
To the people of Ireland, the Irish Famine is known simply as “The Hunger,” because it involved a great deal more than j… Read More
2022-09-10 14:02
Lepa Radic being lead to her execution by the Nazis
Lepa Radić was just a 17-year-old Yugoslavian girl when she was hanged by the Nazis for being a Partisan in 1943. This extra… Read More
2022-08-17 16:51
A map of Port Royal, Jamaica in 1692
During the 17th century, Jamaica’s Port Royal was the richest, busiest, and most nefarious port in the new Americas. It was frequented by… Read More
2022-07-31 00:44
The British ocean liner RMS Lusitania was struck by a German U-boat torpedo in May of 1915, and sunk within sight of the Irish coast in just 18 Minutes! Compare that to t… Read More
2022-07-27 01:26
Bela Kiss – Hungarian military photo, 1914
Romania’s Transylvania may be the birthplace of the fictional vampire, Count Dracula, but Hungary holds the distinction of harboring… Read More
2022-07-16 19:33
Nazi German U-boat submarine during World War II
Everyone knows about the Japanese Bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, which brought America into World War II – and the Allies D-Day In… Read More
2022-07-04 23:22
Many have had a monumental ripple effect, not just on their country, but on the nations across our entire planet over the centuries. For example, the American Revolution inspired the birth o… Read More
2022-06-08 01:40
Members of the Knights of Labor circa 1880
The organized labor movement in the U.S. and Britain grew out of a relatively simple concept. The idea of protecting and advancing the com… Read More
2022-05-29 02:54
Throughout our long history, there have been various books that have been banned and even burned by angry mobs over the centuries – some for religious reasons, some for political motiv… Read More
2022-05-08 03:53
After the death of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, the infamous Josef Stalin became to powerful Premier of the Soviet Union. In the late 1930s, Stalin began a ruthless campa… Read More
2022-04-24 21:11
Arctic Explorers Robert Peary and Matthew HensenMost of us were taught in history class that Commander Robert Peary was the first to reach the North Pole in 1909. But in fact, another… Read More
2022-04-12 18:26
Thomas Edison in his Studebaker electric car
Electric vehicles have been around a lot longer than most people think. Certainly longer than Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors. I… Read More
2022-03-20 01:27
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at the Yalta Conference, 1945
The Yalta (Crimea) Conference was the second World War II meeting by the “Big Three,“ President Franklin D. Roos… Read More
2022-03-01 00:08
In 18th century India, the power of the Mughal Empire lay in the despotic hands of the Nawabs, or provincial princes. At the same time, the British and French East India Companies had built… Read More
2022-02-12 16:59
The first of the modern Olympic games were reborn in April, 1896 in Athens, Greece. It had been 1,500 years since they were banned in 393 AD by a Roman Emperor. Since then, they ha… Read More
2022-01-27 21:42
This is not the first time Crimea has a been in the cross-hairs of conflicts. Why is tiny Crimea yet again a global hotspot? Three words – location, location, location… Read More
2022-01-16 22:23
There have been many heroic rescues in recent years, the Thai youth soccer team in 2018, the Chilean copper miners in 2010, but neither compares to perhaps the most daring rescue in mode… Read More
2021-12-27 20:03
For an entire generation, the name Jacques Cousteau was synonymous with undersea exploration. He was a famous French explorer, inventor, and researcher. He co-invented the Aqua-Lu… Read More
2021-12-04 21:38
From 1959 to 1961, the Chinese people were decimated, not by a coronavirus, but by a devastating famine. The death toll, concealed by the Communist government at the time, is still a matter… Read More
2021-11-29 03:14
The St. Crispin’s Day speech is given by England’s King Henry V in Shakespeare’s play of the same name, Henry V. The king gives the rousing speech on the… Read More
2021-11-22 22:01
Edgar Allen Poe was the Stephen King of his day. A master poet and author of mystery and the macabre. To this day, his name alone evokes a chill down ones spine. Amongst his… Read More
2021-11-11 01:23
After over 100 years of British East India Company and another 90 years of British imperial rule, India had finally achieved its independence. What should have been a moment of joy… Read More
2021-10-17 21:23
Without a doubt, one of the most spectacular gems in the entire world is the so-called Hope Diamond, a haunting blue stone weighing 45.52 carats. About the size of a walnut, the Hope is esti… Read More
2021-10-10 19:31
To listen to an audio Podcast CLICK HERE
Before Coronavirus, before Ebola, the 1918 Flu Pandemic killed more humans than all of World War I combined, over 50 Million people worldwide!… Read More
2021-09-25 17:34
The name Mata Hari is almost synonymous with femme fatale, or any wicked temptress who uses her sexual charms to seduce the hero of the day. In reality, Mata Hari was a professional exot… Read More
2021-09-04 21:33
Simón Bolívar is the most famous political and military hero in Latin American history. He led revolutions against the Spanish Empire in no less than 6 South American… Read More
2021-08-16 02:08
Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (or HPB to her followers) was a controversial 19th century medium, psychic, author and co-founder of the Theosophical Society. She claim… Read More
2021-07-23 00:14
During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, eight terrorists disguised in tracksuits, carrying gym bags filled with assault rifles and hand grenades, breached the Olympic Villag… Read More
2021-07-08 21:19
We used to take vaccines for granted. After all, they’ve been around for decades, some given to our grandparents and even great-grandparents. We all received our child… Read More
2021-06-28 01:37
The Oversteegen sisters were only teenagers when they joined the Dutch resistance during World War II. Together with a young friend, Hannie Schaft, they gathered intelligence for the Resista… Read More
2021-06-08 21:32
Egypt’s Great Library of Alexandria was once the largest of the ancient world, containing the works of Homer, Plato, Euclid, Socrates, Aristotle and hundreds more. Close to one million… Read More
2021-05-28 20:26
After the death of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, the infamous Josef Stalin came to power in the Soviet Union. In the late 1930s, Stalin began a ruthless campaign known as The Gr… Read More
2021-05-02 20:19
California’s largest lake is the infamous Salton Sea, a shallow, salt water lake in the middle of the southern California desert. It sits just south of Palm Springs and just… Read More
2021-04-20 20:33
For decades, the Lakota Sioux watched helplessly as their way of life on the American Great Plains faded away. They’d witnessed a generation of broken treaties by the US government… Read More
2021-04-04 21:49
The deadliest avalanche in history occurred at the worst possible time in the worst possible place. A powerful avalanche killed hundreds of Austrian and Italian soldiers near Italy… Read More
2021-03-21 19:14
Before Communist China, for over a 1,000 years, Tibet was a ‘protectorate’ of China’s Manchu/Qing Dynasty. Tibet maintained its own language, governor, laws, army, an… Read More
2021-02-21 22:40
It is no longer a well-hidden fact, nor even a national embarrassment, that Australia was originally founded as the Botany Bay Penal Colony in the late 18th century. Botany Bay is an i… Read More
2021-02-09 01:02
Here are 9 cases of ideas or theories that were once widely believed, but most definitely are on the Wrong Side of History – some are moral, some technological, and some philosoph… Read More
2021-01-27 02:37
It’s taken nearly a century of research to convince the majority of our earth’s population that we humans are changing the climate of our own planet. A plethora of data no… Read More
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