Mary Toft

In 18th century England, Mary Toft defied all medical odds when she started giving birth to rabbits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

When the plague broke out again in the late 19th century, scientists dissected buboes, bodies, and fleas… and found the source of the Black Death. The disease had already killed millions throughout Europe and Asia. In 1900, it reached San Francisco. Learn more about your ad choic ... Show More

It was one of the most lethal pandemics in global history. The bubonic plague’s devastating spread in 6th and 14th century Europe paved the way for how we handle outbreaks today — though patients in medieval times saw no sign of a cure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod ... Show More

Over three decades, Amelia Dyer killed upwards of four hundred infants. She conned desperate mothers while fine-tuning the details of her operation, until a bargeman’s discovery in 1896 forced the baby-farmer to have a reckoning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastcho ... Show More

Gossip spread throughout Scotland that Mary herself had a hand in Lord Darnley’s murder. While accusations flew, the Earl of Bothwell forced Mary into marrying him against her will, and Mary discovered a conspiracy against her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoic ... Show More

On this day in 1873, convicted serial killer Mary Ann Cotton was executed for fatally poisoning her stepson, Charles Edward Cotton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

Despite an auspicious early ruling period, Mary’s reign was upended by an event that triggered deep emotional distress. Her pain manifested in burning her perceived enemies at the stake—a punishment that earned her the nickname that has defined her legacy: Bloody Mary. Learn more ... Show More

After her husband died 1869, nurse Amelia Dyer turned to baby-farming to avoid financial ruin. She took out ads in newspapers, and took in unwanted infants for a fee. But for Amelia, this was a business — and she was willing to do anything to keep the money coming. Learn more abo ... Show More

As the daughter of England’s most famous king, Mary Tudor spent much of her life in Henry VIII’s shadow, forced to navigate his capricious moods and murderous whims. But she played the long game, outlasting nearly everyone around her to assume the throne in 1553 as Britain’s firs ... Show More

In the late 1800s, a dashing young doctor named Thomas Neill Cream used chloroform and strychnine to murder sex workers and women seeking abortions. His crimes spread across fifteen years and two continents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

During the summer of 1901, Nurse Jane Toppan poisoned her way to the picturesque shores of Cape Cod. When pressed for a sizable debt, she embarked on a killing spree that decimated a family. Dr. David Kipper explores how their murders went undetected, and what eventually brought ... Show More