Episode Overview

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode: Ripley's Believe It Or Not - 1 Minute Episodes (379) "Hot Bath Makes a King"
Date: December 13, 2025

This brief, classic episode of Ripley's Believe It Or Not delivers two remarkable and unusual historical anecdotes, each illustrating the series’ signature motif: truth is stranger than fiction. The focus shifts swiftly from eccentric actions of a Scottish poet to the bizarre circumstances under which a new Byzantine emperor was crowned—by means of an uncomfortable hot bath.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Eccentric Scottish Poet – John Breckenridge

• [00:43] The show opens with the story of John Breckenridge, a poet and singer from Toll Cross, Scotland.
  • Breckenridge was known for fiercely defending his compositions:
    Quote (Ripley's Host, 00:45): “John Breckenridge, a noted singer and poet of Toll Cross, Scotland, fought anybody who ever sang his comp.”
  • In a dramatic gesture at the end of his life, Breckenridge “cast into the flames all his works, poems, songs, and epigrams.”
    • This act highlights his eccentricity and perhaps an intense sense of ownership or protectiveness over his art.

2. The Strange Coronation of General Masisi

• [01:03] The episode pivots to a truly odd historical anecdote—a hot bath that made a king.
  • After the assassination of Emperor Constans II in Syracuse, Sicily, the assassins searched for a new emperor.
  • Their first choice, General Masisi, refused the throne.
  • In an unusual act of persuasion, the army commander “tossed him, fully clothed and armored, into the same hot bath in which Constance had perished.”
    • The extreme discomfort led Masisi to quickly change his mind and accept the throne.
    • Quote (Ripley's Host, 01:14): “The discomfort of the hot bath helped the reluctant Masisi to change his mind, and he accepted the crown. Believe it or not.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On John Breckenridge’s temperament:
  “Fought anybody who ever sang his comp. And shortly before he died, he cast into the flames all his works, poems, songs, and epigrams. Believe it or not.”
  (Ripley's Host, 00:45–00:53)

• On the ‘hot bath’ coronation:
  “To coerce him, the army commander simply tossed him, fully clothed and armored, into the same hot bath in which Constance had perished. The discomfort of the hot bath helped the reluctant Masisi to change his mind, and he accepted the crown. Believe it or not.”
  (Ripley's Host, 01:09–01:19)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:43] – Introduction of John Breckenridge and his eccentric end-of-life act
• [01:03] – The story of Emperor Constans II’s death and Masisi’s forced throne acceptance
• [01:14] – The hot bath as the unusual means of persuasion

Style & Tone

The narration maintains the dramatic, sensational tone classic to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, with a focus on brief, punchy storytelling meant to astonish the listener. The host’s delivery is factual but tinged with the wry amusement that makes the bizarre tales memorable.

Summary

This one-minute episode delivers two quick, peculiar snapshots from history: the fiercely possessive Scottish poet who destroyed his own legacy, and the military general so unwilling to take the throne he had to be ‘coerced’ with a scalding hot bath. Each story is a testament to the unpredictable, odd corners of human behavior—served up in the iconic Ripley’s fashion: “Believe it or not.”