SYMHC Classics: Year Without a Summer

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 Ac ... Show More

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, ... Show More

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. 

On April 10, 1815 the most powerful volcanic eruption in human history was recorded on an island in Indonesia. The ash cloud that formed by its explosion was as large and the entire United States and hovered 12 miles above the earth, reaching the stratosphere. The results were ca ... Show More

After the first eruption of Krakatoa on August 26th, 1883, the citizens of the Sunda Strait may have assumed the worst was over. But they were about to experience a tsunami that would be the first of many over the next 24 hours. On top of this, pyroclastic flows were on their way ... Show More

When Mount Tambora erupted it spewed ash across the globe; blotting out the sun; poisoning crops; and bringing starvation, illness and death to millions. It may also have helped inspire great scientific and cultural advances - including the horror masterpiece Frankenstein. How we ... Show More

In 1883 between the south-Asian islands of Java and Sumatra, a deadly force was brewing. The volcano Krakatoa had been waiting to erupt for over a thousand years. Dutch colonizers ignored the warning signs, and Islanders had little mobility. It was a recipe for disaster. Soon, th ... Show More

The story behind one of the most deadly volcanic events in recorded history. 

CIA agents in Havana complaining of mental fog, dizziness and ear pain in 2016. Children in Miami in 1974, hyperventilating and wracked with abdominal pain. A medieval outbreak of the “dancing plague”. A chorus of meowing nuns. These mysterious and seemingly disparate events may ... Show More

What must be one of the most famous natural disasters in history took place when Mt Vesuvius buried Pompeii in 79 CE. But when the town was resurrected 1700 years later, a new chapter in its history was written. Learn all about it in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listen ... Show More

What happens when teenagers are shipwrecked on a deserted island? Can you find the fingerprint of God in warzones? Why was the concept of zero so revolutionary for humanity? A year into a pandemic that has completely upended the lives of people around the world, we look at how we ... Show More

Steam and fire put history under a lot of pressure today on our tour through the Cabinet.Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes!: https://www.patreon.com/grimandmildSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.