logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2020
33m 15s

Henry VIII and That English Sweat, Part ...

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

Beginning in 1485, a mysterious disease swept in waves across England. No one was sure how it spread, no treatment existed, and the disease took the name of its most memorable symptom. The English sweating sickness seemed to have a taste for the wealthy, and the bulk of fatalities were English. The last widespread outbreak of sweating sickness was reported in 1551 -- after that, the disease vanished. Along the way, it made a king of Henry VIII.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Yesterday
CLASSIC: How Admiral Horatio Nelson Ended Up Dead in a Barrel of Brandy
Naval legend Admiral Nelson died on October 21st, 1805 shortly after being shot by a French sniper while standing on the deck his ship, Victory. Following the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, the survivors of the conflict were left with a dilemma -- how could they pres ... Show More
34m 56s
Jan 15
What makes a word a 'word'?
Words are everywhere -- and we're grateful, because we can't do this show without them. But all words were, at some point, just made up. So how does society decide what counts as a "real" word? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the history of language, and the oddly ... Show More
47m 14s
Jan 13
The Rise (and Crash) of the Concorde Jet
What if you could hop from France to New York in less than four hours? Traveling twice the speed of sound, with caviar, lobster, champagne and cigars? This was the pitch of the Concorde jet -- a revolutionary, utterly ridiculous and brilliant craft that promised to fundamentally ... Show More
44m 4s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2023
Scarlet Fever
<p>Scarlet fever is treatable with antibiotics, but in the middle of the 19th century, it was the leading cause of death in children in some parts of the world. Today, there are several ongoing mysteries about the disease.</p> <p><strong>Research:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Branswell, ... Show More
36m 16s
Mar 2020
The Deadliest Pandemic in Modern History
April 5, 1918. The first mention of a new influenza outbreak in Kansas appears in a public health report. That strain, later called the Spanish Flu, would go on to kill at least 50 million people worldwide. In a time before widespread global travel, how did this disease spread so ... Show More
21m 24s
Feb 2011
How the Black Death Worked
<p>The Black Death was gruesome: Symptoms included tumors, purple splotches, fevers and vomiting. But how did this disease manage to spread from the Gobi desert and kill approximately one-third of the population of 14th-century Europe? Tune in and find out.</p><p> </p> Learn more ... Show More
31m 17s
Feb 2021
Cholera! Public health in mid-19th century Britain
The 1848-1849 cholera epidemic in England and Wales was described by a government report as if a ‘foreign army’ had ‘held possession of the country, and slain 53,293 men, women and children’. In the mid-19th century the country faced an epidemic of filth; poorly drained, overcrow ... Show More
40m 27s
Aug 2019
SYSK Selects: How the Black Death Worked
<p>The Black Death was gruesome: Symptoms included tumors, purple splotches, fevers and vomiting. But how did this disease manage to spread from the Gobi desert and kill approximately one-third of the population of 14th-century Europe? Find out in this classic episode.</p><p> </p ... Show More
32m 25s
Oct 2014
Is there a disease that kills by preventing sleep?
<p>The strange disease of fatal familial insomnia was first recorded in the 18th century. Its victims lose their ability to sleep, slip into coma and die. The more we understand about FFI, the more mysterious it becomes.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="ht ... Show More
33m 37s
May 2019
Sponsored | American Epidemics - The Great Pandemic | 1
<p>This episode is brought to you by Wondery in partnership with National Geographic in anticipation of their new series, <em>The Hot Zone</em>. The three-night limited series is inspired by true events surrounding the origins of the Ebola virus and its arrival on US soil in 1989 ... Show More
50 m
Mar 2022
67 - Fever on the Frontier
In the early 19th century, a strange new illness, seemingly unknown to medicine, ravaged settler communities in the American Middle West. As fierce debates about this new disease, now called milk sickness, raged – was it from toxic swamp gasses? arsenic in the soil? infectious mi ... Show More
48m 51s
Sep 2021
The Eradication of Smallpox
Smallpox is a viral disease that has existed for millennia. But it’s now one of only two diseases that’s been eradicated through human activity, and a global plan was enacted to do it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/list ... Show More
45m 34s