EP 62: Anna Anderson, the Anastasia Imposter

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the deadliest shipwreck in American history. On April 27, 1865, a commercial steamboat called the Sultana, carrying over 2,000 passengers (though it was legally only allowed to carry 376) burst into flames due to unresolved issues with the boilers. Between the people that died immediately as a result of the explosion, those that died later of burn damage, and those that died in their attempts to swim to shore, the total number of casualties is estimated to be somewhere between about 1,200 and 1,800.This disaster occurred the same month that marked the end of the Civil War (the bloodiest war in American history), it was the month that marked the first presidential assassination in American history with Lincoln’s death, and it was the month that marked the start of the Reconstruction Era.So, like, there was a lot going on…Because of that, much of the disaster was largely overshadowed. Much of the research was extensively  neglected. But this is a really important story to tell. The Titanic (which we have talked about before) is so much more popular than the Sultana and yet the number of casualties is roughly the same. Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!THANKS FOR LISTENING!- Rachel and Leah

22 Apr 36min

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the Lindbergh Kidnapping. In March of 1932, the one-year-old son of Charles Lindbergh (the famous American aviator who is most known for being the first person to complete a solo, nonstop transatlantic flight) went missing. While other people were in the home – including the baby’s parents – Charles Lindbergh, Jr. was taken from his crib from the second-floor of the house…never to be seen again. The kidnapper would leave a ransom note which the desperate Lindberghs complied with, paying $50,000 for information related to their son. This note, however, turned out to be a hoax.The Lindberghs, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the country at large searched for the missing baby furiously, only to discover – ten weeks after the kidnapping – that the little boy had been killed and buried in the woods less than five miles from the Lindbergh home.A man would be arrested, convicted, and eventually sentenced to death for the crime but…to this day, there are still people that profess his innocence (just as he did for the remainder of his life).This case changed history. It is often referred to as one of the “crimes of the century." It was this case that led the US Congress to pass the Federal Kidnapping Act, making it a federal crime to transport a kidnapped victim across state lines. It is this act that gave the FBI jurisdiction to investigate these types of kidnappings (something that they did not have prior to 1932).Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!THANKS FOR LISTENING!- Rachel and Leah

8 Apr 54min

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the Radium Girls. The Radium Girls refers to the female employees of a radium factory that contracted radiation poisoning from painting radium dials and hands on watches. The women were instructed to use their lips to make the bristles of the paintbrush form into a fine point that would then be used to paint radium onto the watch faces. Lip-dip-paint over and over again, each time, ingesting small amounts of radium.This sounds wild…because it is. But in late-1920s when all of this was happening, the common belief was that radium was not only harmless, but that it also had healing properties. Maybe even further than that, radium was also thought to be…fun. The women at this factory became known as “ghost girls” because the radium dust particles would fall off onto their clothing, making them glow in the dark. Some of these women wore their best dresses to work so they could purposefully make their dresses illuminate. Some women even painted their nails and their teeth with the radium, not knowing any better.Now, of course, these poor women would start to show signs of illness. Things like anemia, bone fractures, and something else that would eventually become known as “radium jaw”. Because of the amount of radium these women were ingesting directly into their mouths, their mouths began to decay at a rapid, rapid pace. Toothaches turned into tooth extractions. Tooth extractions turned into ulcers. Multiple ulcers all at once. In perhaps the worst story I read while doing my research, one woman in particular had to have multiple teeth removed but was still in severe pain. When she went to the dentist to have him check her out again, he gently placed his fingers in her mouth…and her jaw literally fell off. It just melted off. The dentist removed her jaw, “Not by an operation, but merely by putting his fingers in her mouth and lifting it out.”This would ultimately lead to a lengthy legal battle between the women and the U.S. Radium Corporation, who denied responsibility, and would – of course – ultimately lead to the untimely and painful deaths of many of the women involved.Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!THANKS FOR LISTENING!- Rachel and Leah

25 Mars 49min

We have a Leah Takeover Episode!This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the mystery of DB Cooper. On November 24, 1971, a then-unidentified man hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, traveling from Portland to Seattle. During the flight, the hijacker informed the crew that he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 in ransom, plus four parachutes upon landing in Seattle. After landing in Seattle, the passengers were released, the money and parachutes were handed over, the plane was refueled, and the crew and the hijacker took off with a destination of Mexico City (and a plan to stop in Reno to refuel again). However, the hijacker never made it to Mexico City, as about thirty minutes into the flight, he opened the door and parachuted into the night over southwestern Washington State forests. The hijacker was never seen or heard from again. He was dubbed "DB Cooper" by the media, but his true identity has not been discovered to this day…or has it? The FBI has recently reopened this case, due to some newly surfaced evidence, and the case may finally be solved. We will get into all of this and more in today's episode.Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!THANKS FOR LISTENING!- Rachel and Leah

11 Mars 40min

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the 1986 Challenger Explosion. This was an absolutely tragic incident in American history in which the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after lift-off, killing all seven of its crew members. This incident was exceptionally devastating because one of the passengers onboard wasn’t a NASA astronaut. Rather, a thirty-seven year old school teacher named Christa McAuliffe was onboard that day as part of NASA’s Teacher in Space Project; an effort to get the American people interested in the NASA Program once again. But of course, the most devastating and most disturbing part of this whole disaster is the fact that NASA knew of a historic problem with the O-ring seals on the solid rocket booster and had received correspondence from the manufacturer that they anticipated that the launch would end in catastrophe. NASA had the ability to halt the launch, and yet, they refused, sending seven people to their deaths in front of millions of people (many of which were children who were tuning in as part of their school day on account of McAuliffe being a member of the crew).A special THANK YOU to our Hashtag History listeners -- Jeff, Christa, and Mike -- who so graciously shared with us their first-hand experiences of watching the Challenger explosion in live time. We cannot tell you what it means to us that you shared these stories with us and with our audience. Thank you so much!Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!THANKS FOR LISTENING!- Rachel and LeahMusic track: Falling by AylexSource: https://freetouse.com/musicCopyright Free Music (Free Download)

25 Feb 1h 1min

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the Newport Sex Scandal. This scandal was revealed when the United States Navy conducted an investigation in 1919 in which they were looking into the gross and deceptive tactics ordered upon a group of Navy personnel to impersonate gay men in order to catch gay men…being gay men, something that was illegal at this time in history. Fifteen members of the Navy would end up being arrested in Newport, Rhode Island, as a result of their “scandalous conduct”. Of particular importance is the fact that the Assistant Secretary of the Navy during this scandal, who would resign during the course of this investigation so that he could – oh, I don’t know, accept the nomination for Vice President of the United States – was none other than Franklin D. Roosevelt. In fact, Roosevelt’s personal conduct in this matter was said by the committee to be deplorable, disgraceful, and reprehensible.This is definitely some little known history but a very important piece of history to discuss.Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!THANKS FOR LISTENING!- Rachel and Leah

11 Feb 29min

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the first French Revolution, a period in time that lasted from 1789 to 1799, in which the French people revolted against the monarchy and feudal system, amongst other things. To keep it brief, the primary reasons were the total social and economic inequality that existed – and had existed for a long time – in France. While the people were struggling to make ends meet, the monarchy was living in mansions and eating cake. And while, of course, a revolution is not necessarily a novel concept (particularly at this time in history when the United States had only just recently ended its own revolution), the French Revolution stands out for…what some might call…its depravity. Because when I say the French revolted, I do mean that they revolted. At the end of this bloody conflict that – at one point would earn the name The Reign of Terror – both King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette would not only be removed from power, but also, would have their heads removed via guillotine.  While I don’t advocate for that – nor do I advocate a revolution (please! I have lived through enough historical events in my lifetime; I do not need any more) – I do think we can find something inspiring from the French Revolution and that is that this was a revolution started by the people and for the people that really created massive change in the modern political structure of France that we see even today. Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode. Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch! You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website! You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers! THANKS FOR LISTENING! - Rachel and Leah

28 Jan 45min

WE ARE BACK FOR SEASON FIFTEEN! This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the Collyer Brothers. Homer and Langley Collyer were two brothers, living a rather interesting life in Harlem, New York City, in the early-1900s. You see, they were the OG HOARDERS. And when I tell you they were hoarders, I do mean that they were HOARDERS. Not only were they hoarders but they also set up traps throughout their house to crush any potential intruders. We’re not just talking about these brothers today because they lived an interesting – and disgusting – lifestyle…though that is certainly a highlight of the story. No, the primary reason we are talking about them is because, in March of 1947, they would both go missing under exceptionally mysterious – and confusing – circumstances. On March 21, 1947, an anonymous caller would reach out to the local police, complaining that they smelled what they believed to be decomposition of a body coming from the Collyer home. When the police arrived, they struggled for FIVE HOURS to get inside the building and find the source of the smell, but once they did, they would realize that it was coming from the body of the older brother, Homer. Based on the condition of his body, it looked as though he had been dead for less than a day at this point. His brother Langley, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. And it was quickly assumed that Langley was actually the killer. This is the story we will be diving into this week and I can guarantee that the answer is not the one you are likely expecting. Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode. Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch! You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website! You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers! THANKS FOR LISTENING! - Rachel and Leah

14 Jan 53min