How Emperor Justinian Changed the World—Robin Pierson from The History of Byzantium Podcast
Justinian I of Byzantium is among the most towering figure of the ancient and medieval periods. His innovations in governance, architecture, law, and welding together religion with imperial power were...
31 Jul 201756min
How Texas Almost Became German
Like much of the United States, Texas has a large popular whose ancestors originated in Germany. But Texas takes it a step further. In the 1840s a massive immigration of Germans arrived when the Adels...
28 Jul 20175min
Did America Switch from Tea to Coffee Due to the Boston Tea Party?
In mid-December 1773 a force of colonists, dressed up as Mohawk Indians, boarded the three boats and dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The protest later became known as the Boston Tea P...
27 Jul 20179min
Did a 6th-Century Irishman Really Reach America?
Archeological evidence proves that Leif Ericsson, the Icelandic Viking, arrived in the New World centuries before Columbus. But what if he was in turn beaten by an Irish monk a full five extra centuri...
26 Jul 20178min
Emperor Norton I of the United States
Emperor Norton is San Francisco's original oddball. In 1859 he proclaimed himself "Norton I, Emperor of the United States." He later expanded his pretense by claiming to be "Protector of Mexico" as w...
25 Jul 201711min
Dorsey Armstrong on the Legend of King Arthur: From Noble Knight to Guy Ritchie’s 'Excalibro'
For a guy that lived 1,500 years ago, King Arthur has remarkable staying power. He became a stock figure in Welsh and Latin chronicles of Britain by the 800s. His story spread to France, Germany, Scan...
24 Jul 201757min
What Can We Learn from the Kurds About Nationalism and Nation Building?
The Kurdish people are arguably the largest stateless people on Earth. An estimated 35 million live in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and elsewhere, but do not have a nation to call their own. Despite thi...
21 Jul 201714min
Had Native Americans Been Resistant to Old World Diseases How Different Would the New World Have Been?
Smallpox is arguably the deadliest weapon in history. Ninety percent of some Native American tribes were wiped out by this disease when they first encountered Western explorers. But what if they hadn'...
20 Jul 20177min
