Podcast
Futility Closet
Hosted by Greg Ross · EN
Forgotten stories from the pages of history. Join us for surprising and curious tales from the past and challenge yourself with our lateral thinking puzzles.
13episodes
Episodes
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289-The Johnstown Flood
Mar 30, 2020Tap to summarizeIn 1889, a dam failed in southwestern Pennsylvania, sending 20 million tons of water down an industrialized valley toward the unsuspecting city of Johnstown. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe some of the dramatic and harrowing personal stories that unfolded on that historic day. We'll also celebrate Christmas with Snoopy and puzzle over a deadly traffic light. Intro: For an 1866 California lecture tour, Mark Twain wrote his own handbills. Raymond Chandler's unused titles include The Diary of a Loud Check Suit. Sources for our feature on the Johnstown flood: David McCullough, Johnstown Flood, 1968. Richard O'Connor, Johnstown the Day the Dam Broke, 1957. Neil M. Coleman, Johnstown's Flood of 1889: Power Over Truth and the Science Behind the Disaster, 2018. Frank Connelly and George C. Jenks, Official History of the Johnstown Flood, 1889. John Stuart Ogilvie, History of the Great Flood in Johnstown, Pa., May 31, 1889, 1889. Willis Fletcher Johnson, History of the Johnstown Flood, 1889. Neil M. Coleman, Uldis Kaktins, and Stephanie Wojno, "Dam-Breach Hydrology of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 -- Challenging the Findings of the 1891 Investigation Report," Heliyon 2:6 (2016), e00120. Christine M. Kreiser, "Wave of Destruction," American History 50:4 (October 2015), 38-41. Uldis Kaktins et al., "Revisiting the Timing and Events Leading to and Causing the Johnstown Flood of 1889," Pennsylvania History 80:3 (2013), 335-363. Sid Perkins, "Johnstown Flood Matched Volume of Mississippi River," Science News, Oct. 20, 2009. Emily Godbey, "Disaster Tourism and the Melodrama of Authenticity: Revisiting the 1889 Johnstown Flood," Pennsylvania History 73:3 (2006), 273-315. Mary P. Lavine, "The Johnstown Floods: Causes and Consequences," in S.K. Majumdar et al., eds., Natural and Technological Disasters: Causes, Effects and Preventative Measures, Pennsylvania Academy of Science, 1992. Robert D. Christie, "The Johnstown Flood," Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 54:2 (April 1971), 198-210. John Bach McMaster, "The Johnstown Flood," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 57:3 (1933), 209-243. John Bach McMaster, "The Johnstown Flood: II," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 57:4 (1933), 316-354. "The Johnstown Disaster," Scientific American 60:26 (June 29, 1889), 406-407. Jason Zweig, "National News, 1889: Club Is Found Culpable in Johnstown Flood," Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2014. David Hurst, "'It's Still Controversial': Debate Rages Over Culpability of Wealthy Club Members," [Johnstown, Pa.] Tribune-Democrat, May 25, 2014. Peter Smith, "Johnstown Flood of 1889: Greatest Disaster in the State Continues to Resonate," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 24, 2014. Henry Fountain, "Research at the Source of a Pennsylvania Flood," New York Times, Oct. 26, 2009. "Town's Ads Say Its Catastrophic Flood 'Is Over,'" [Prescott, Ariz.] Daily Courier, March 31, 2002. "Bones May Be From 1889 Flood," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 8, 1998, B-4. Eric Pace, "Frank Shomo, Infant Survivor of Johnstown Flood, Dies at 108," New York Times, March 24, 1997. D. Byron Yake, "In Johnstown, They Still Talk About the Flood 85 Years Ago," [Washington, Pa.] Observer-Reporter, May 31, 1974, B-6. "Black Day in 1889; Johnstown, Pa., Marks Flood Anniversary," New York Times, May 24, 1964. "Flood Just Part of Little Known Tale Behind Johnstown Woes," [Washington D.C.] Evening Star, May 30, 1939. "A Valley of Death," Three Rivers [Mich.] Tribune, June 7, 1889, 6. Johnstown Area Heritage Association, "Johnstown Flood Museum: Pennsylvania Railroad Interview Transcripts," 2013. Listener mail: Kelly Servick, "Brain Parasite May Strip Away Rodents' Fear of Predators -- Not Just of Cats," Science, Jan. 14, 2020. Madlaina Boillat et al., "Neuroinflammation-Associated Aspecific Manipulation of Mouse Predator Fear by Toxoplasma gondii," Cell Reports 30:2 (2020), 320-334. "Toxoplasma Infection in Mice Reduces Generalized Anxiety, Not Just Feline Fear," Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, Jan. 15, 2020. The Royal Guardsmen, "Snoopy's Christmas," 1967. The Royal Guardsmen, "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron," 1966. Wikipedia, "Snoopy's Christmas" (accessed March 15, 2020). Alistair Hughes, "Snoopy Still Flying at Christmas," Stuff, Dec. 8, 2014. "Snoopy's Christmas 'Worst Christmas Song of All Time,'" New Zealand Herald, Dec. 18, 2007. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was suggested by listeners David and Becky Pruessner. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!
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Jan 22, 2018Tap to summarizeIn January 1888, after a disarming warm spell, a violent storm of blinding snow and bitter cold suddenly struck the American Midwest, trapping farmers in fields, travelers on roads, and hundreds of children in schoolhouses with limited fuel. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the Children's Blizzard, one of the most harrowing winter storms in American history. We'll also play 20 Questions with a computer and puzzle over some vanishing vultures. Intro: In 1835 an assassin shot two good pistols at Andrew Jackson and both misfired. In 1958 Brooklyn College chemistry professor Homer Jacobson built a self-replicating model train. Sources for our feature on the Children's Blizzard: David Laskin, The Children's Blizzard, 2004. Mitchell Newton-Matza, ed., Disasters and Tragic Events, 2014. Steven L. Horstmeyer, The Weather Almanac, 2011. "The Pitiless Blizzard," Aurora Daily Express, Jan. 16, 1888. "Victims of the Storm," Bridgeport Morning News, Jan. 19, 1888. "In the Neighborhood," Deseret News, Jan. 24, 1888. "A Brave Girl," Gettysburg [Pa.] Compiler, Jan. 31, 1888. Edythe H. Dunn, "Not Even an Act of God," Phi Delta Kappan 30:7 (March 1949), 245-249. Jill Callison, "The Children's Blizzard," Argus Leader, Dec. 26, 2004. Maria Houser Conzemius, "That's Why They Call It the Children's Blizzard," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 13, 2007. Steve Tracton, "Freak, Deadly Storm: Children's Blizzard of 1888," Washington Post, Jan. 14, 2011. Jeanie Mebane, "Blizzard!" Cobblestone 33:3 (March 2012). "One-Room Schoolhouse Lives," Argus Leader, Sept. 4, 2012. Beccy Tanner, "213 Schoolchildren Perished in the Great Plains Blizzard of 1888," Wichita Eagle, Dec. 31, 2012. Alyssa Ford, "125 Years Ago, Deadly 'Children's Blizzard' Blasted Minnesota," MinnPost, Jan. 11, 2013. Tom Lawrence, "Children's Blizzard Struck Great Plains 125 Years Ago," McClatchy-Tribune Business News, Jan. 12, 2013. Paula Quam, "Warm Weather Like This Week's Preceded 1888 Deadly Blizzard," Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Dec. 19, 2015. Sean Potter, "Retrospect: January 12, 1888: The Children's Blizzard," Weatherwise (accessed Jan. 6, 2018). Amber Pariona, "The Ten Deadliest Blizzards In History," World Atlas, April 25, 2017. Listener mail: "Hitler's Sunken Secret," NOVA, pbs.org. 20Q. Robin Burgener describes teaching a neural network to play a surprisingly accurate game of 20 Questions. Karen Schrock, "Twenty Questions, Ten Million Synapses," ScienceLine, July 28, 2006. "A Heroic Commando, A Deadly Mission to Sabotage Nazi Bomb -- and the Pregnant Widow He Left Behind," Cork Evening Echo Holly Bough, Christmas 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Eugene Grabowski. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!
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065-The Merchant Prince of Cornville
Jul 13, 2015Tap to summarizeEdmond Rostand's hit play Cyrano de Bergerac met an unexpected obstacle in 1898 -- a Chicago real estate developer who claimed that it plagiarized his own play. In this week's podcast we'll review the strange controversy and the surprising outcome of the lawsuit that followed. We'll also hear an update on the German author who popularized an American West that he had never seen and puzzle over a Civil War private who refuses to fight. Sources for our feature on Cyrano de Bergerac and The Merchant Prince of Cornville: "Gross-Rostand Controversy," in George Childs Kohn, New Encyclopedia of American Scandal, 2001. Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, 1897. Samuel Eberly Gross, The Merchant Prince of Cornville, 1896. Jay Pridmore, "Recalling 'Merchant Prince' of the 1880s," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 28, 1992. "Chronicle and Comment," The Bookman, November 1910. The Critic, February 1899, p. 116. "Samuel Gross's Cyrano," New York Times, June 1, 1902. "Rostand Indignant," The Pittsburgh Press, June 1, 1902. "Rostand's Champion," The Carroll Herald, June 4, 1902. "'Cyrano de Bergerac' a Plagiarism," Boston Evening Transcript, May 21, 1902. "The Law and the Nose," Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 10, 1902. "Dollar Is Spent," The Milwaukee Journal, Sept. 17, 1902. Listener mail: Wikipedia, Hadschi Halef Omar (retrieved July 8, 2015). Dschinghis Khan's disco song "Hadschi Halef Omar" is here. Translated lyrics are <a href="http://lyricstranslate.com/en/Hadschi-Halef-Omar-Hadsch...
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