History Uncovered

Again and again, in desperate times throughout history, people have turned to desperate measures and committed what many societies consider to be the worst of all human sins — cannibalism. Members of the Donner Party infamously resorted to cannibalism to survive when they became stranded in the Sierra Nevadas in the 1840s, as did survivors of the Andes Flight Disaster in 1972. At sea, castaway sailors often followed a long-held tradition known as the "custom of the sea," an implicit agreement that, if they were stranded, sailors would draw lots to pick who would be killed — and eaten. But the story of cannibalism involving a 19th-century ship called the Mignonette is a bit different. https://allthatsinteresting.com/history-uncovered/mignonette Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In February 1909, just around one month after the first newspaper reports about the Jersey Devil were published, the Maryland-based Middletown Valley Register published a report about a local who encountered a terrifying creature known as the Snallygaster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite being an amputee, Virginia Hall bolstered the Allied resistance in France so successfully that the Gestapo launched special missions just to find her. They never did. https://allthatsinteresting.com/virginia-hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What really happened to Jimmy Hoffa? On the 50th anniversary of one of America’s greatest unsolved mysteries, we dive into the life, rise, and sudden disappearance of the infamous Teamsters boss. From his meteoric union ascent and shadowy mob ties to wild theories involving landfills, stadiums, and deathbed confessions, we unravel the suspects, the motives—and the myths. Was it a mob hit? A government cover-up? Or something even stranger? Join us as we explore the facts, the fiction, and the lingering legacy of Hoffa’s vanishing act. https://allthatsinteresting.com/jimmy-hoffa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By June of 1968, the United States felt, to many, like a nation teetering on the edge. Every night, Americans watched the carnage of the Vietnam War on their television screens. That April, Martin Luther King Jr. had been killed in cold blood in Memphis, Tennessee, triggering riots in cities across the country. Into this chaos stepped Robert F. Kennedy — the younger brother of slain President John F. Kennedy — as a candidate in the 1968 presidential election. But then, on what should have been a celebratory night for his inspiring campaign in early June, RFK was shot and killed, too. https://allthatsinteresting.com/sirhan-sirhan credits: ⁠⁠⁠https://allthatsinteresting.com/podcast-credits⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, the average American consumes almost 70 pounds of beef per year and almost 100 pounds of chicken. But those numbers could have been quite different. A century ago, American policymakers pushed for a different kind of meat supply in the United States — hippo meat. In 1910, a Louisiana politician introduced a bill to bring hippopotamuses to the country in the hopes that they would both eat invasive plants and alleviate a meat shortage. https://allthatsinteresting.com/cocaine-hippos credits: ⁠https://allthatsinteresting.com/podcast-credits⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dubbed the "Mexican Madonna" and the "Queen Of Tejano Music," Selena Quintanilla was a budding superstar — until she was gunned down in March 1995. https://allthatsinteresting.com/selena-death Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices