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Extra History Suggestions are OPEN until 10/16!
🕑 Added 2023-10-09 13:00:04 +0000 UTCHello Historians, our next Extra History theme is The Weird and Unusual!
Feeling weird? We are! As we get into October we're thinking of all the strange things in history—the witch crazes, werewolf trials, dancing plagues, and possessions. But don't feel restricted by spooky stuff, if you want to see something on a particularly weird historical character or unusual event, we're happy to consider that too.
Did you know that the Prussian military titan Marshal von Blucher—hero of Waterloo—thought he was pregnant with a baby elephant? Or that Byron kept a pet bear and had an affair with his sister? That Aleister Crowley had a "wizard duel" with poet and dramatist William Butler Yeats? Or that Spiritualism was not only an accepted religion in the 19th century, but was influential in both the abolition and women's suffrage movements? Or... Caligula... just like... Caligula, y'know?
However, don't think we're being weird for the sake of weird, here. Bizarre belief systems and extreme characters can often tell us much about where past cultures drew the line on acceptable behavior, the social structures around mental illness, or even how power and talent can get odd behavior recast as mere "eccentricity." So let's take a walk on the wild side of history and see what we can learn!
You can enter YOUR suggestions for the topic HERE in this form.
Some notes about suggestions:
- Suggestions should feature content before the 1930s
- If a suggestion we encounter only has enough research material/production scope for a one-off episode instead of a full series, we file it in a separate list to reference later when we are planning to schedule a one-off episode between series (this is true for every survey we do).
- Only one suggestion per person, please! Multiple suggestions from the same person during any given survey period will be manually removed. Extra History Suggestion Survey is OPEN until 10/16.
We can't wait to read all your suggested topics!
Comments
Vivian Griffith
The Habsburg Dynasty. There's enough madness in that family to kill a Mindflayer 3 times overcome
Harp Man
The Bone Wars, the 1877-92 feud between Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope that changed paleontology.
General Luigi
While there's probably not enough information on him for a full series, I suggested Emperor Norton. Should be good for some laughs and could also give a little insight into the politics of the time.
Meattree5
Mercy Brown vampire incident happened in Rhode Island in 1829 is a weird case of people not knowing how diseases worked.
Michael Hoggett
Patrick Mayne and how a murderer influenced the founding of Brisbane Australia
Zal
Salem Witch Trials. One of the more insane cases of mass hysteria that seemed to burn out as quickly as it began, despite how manic it was initially.
The Rogue Chief
Tesla (the man, not the car)… the one who took on Edison to give us the electric world we know today with the support of his pigeon bride (you read that right)
