Turn on the tv or radio, or scroll any news site online and you’ll no doubt be inundated with stories about crazy weather anomalies happening all around the globe. Volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, earthquakes, tornadoes and so much more. But none of us, thankfully, have ever lived through one of the strangest events in history when something a lot more dense than rain began falling from the skies onto some unsuspecting farmers in the small town of Olympia Springs,...

In our modern age we have lived through natural disasters and floods in various parts of the world, and no matter what, they are always tragic. But tragic floods are not always a cause of nature. In episode 7, we discussed the great molasses flood that occurred in Boston and the ensuing devastation of that event. Well today, we’ll be taking a look at a similar, albeit less gloopy tidal wave of destruction that occurred 100 years before that. And, as much as any of us may love a beer every...

This episode is a look at how in the early to mid 1900’s the abolitionist laws banning the production and consumption of alcohol played a majorly significant role in the creation of what, today, is a veritable institution of the American South, NASCAR. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's...

There are many stories throughout history of individuals with freakish appetites, who seem to be able to consume quantities of food well past what a human stomach should be capable of handling. Today, we’ll be diving into the story of Charles Domery, a Polish-born soldier who tried to eat the whole world. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's...

For most of history, the Dutch have been an almost all-powerful force to be reckoned with. They were the forerunners for a lot of the world's exploration, and for a long time dominated the seas and trade routes through the stranglehold of the Dutch East India Company. In the preceding century, they were still under Spanish rule, with 2 of their kings, Charles the Fifth and his Son Phillip II, simultaneously ruling as the kings of Spain and the so-called Low Countries of The Netherlands. But...

For today's story we will be diving into the life of a truly extraordinary man named William V McKenna, and while he fits the category of “people who eat random things”, those things that he ate can’t really be classified as food. So let's see just how this man, William McKenna first discovered his talented digestive system. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month : patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's...

WW2 was raging onwards, with men fighting and dying each and every day. It was so delicately poised that there seemed to be no end to the fighting in sight. Weeks and months dragged on into years, and with them came more and more plots of how to win the war. Some were impractical, some were impossible, and some were downright insane. But every now and again, one of these plots would be just insane enough to work. And so, out of this think tank came possibly one of military history’s...

Hello and welcome to this very special bonus episode of The Fantastic History Of Food. Today, I'm breaking away from my usual format of pure storytelling to chat with the amazing author Lydia Moland. Lydia is so much more than simply an author, she is also a philosophy lecturer at Colby College in Maine, an institution that has been around for over 200 years. She has written for publications like The Paris Review, the Boston Globe, and the Washington Post to name but a few. We chat about...

There is a spice we use so commonly today that it's hard to believe that at one time, wars were fought, people were killed and entire civilizations almost wiped out, simply so that the strongest force could get their hands on this prized spice. ------------------- Thank you to Four Sigmatic for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Four Sigmatic is offering you 30% off anything in their range when you use promo code: FOODHISTORY at checkout. Check out their range here:...

If ever you’ve doubted food's integral place in history, today’s stories are sure to remind us all, that no matter what life and history in general, wouldn’t and in fact, couldn’t be the same without the daily rituals that food brings. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is...

Many old food-based fortunes were light-hearted party games mainly played around Halloween time, but some of there were deadly serious, and their results were taken as gospel truth. And at the time, all you needed to tell the future, was a full pantry and a little imagination. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with...

Today's stories aren’t just about the small-time pilfering of food here and there from your local grocery stores. No, today we’ll be talking about people stealing truckloads of the stuff at a time, not it seems to quell their stomach's callings, as much as to refill those empty wallets. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel...

There are few things more universally loved than a good sandwich. We as humans love the simplicity and deliciousness of having something to hold all of our favourite fillings together. But there was a time in our history when the venerable sandwich was used not for sustenance, or delight in a tasty meal, but rather as a loophole with which to get around some rather limiting laws. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy,...

As soon as people became wealthy enough not to have to spend every waking hour of their day, working, cleaning, hunting or cooking, they had enough to look in the mirror and decide what they didn’t like about themselves. From the truly horrific and crippling footbinding practices in imperial china to modern day plastic surgery, people have been searching for ways to achieve their body goals. Victorian England, the initial setting for todays story, was possibly one of the craziest times in...

Even the most famous and lauded among us still have a few tasty secrets up their sleeves, and today we’re going to dive into this fascinating side of one of modern cookings most famous gourmands: Julia Child. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit...

Not only were western cultures happily eating raw fish for ages, at one point they were uh, in fact eating it so raw as for it still, in fact, to be alive. That’s right, today we’re talking about the 1939 craze of college students competing to swallow as many as they could of the humble goldfish. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5...

There is nothing quite like pizza. The variety is endless, the experience is magical, the taste is delicious and they can be found in almost every single country on earth with any number of local variations. Which makes todays story all the sadder, when we find out that from their humble italian origins, 30 000 of these delicious delicacies were once condemned to mass burial in Michigan. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it...

There are quite a few stories from historical banquetry that weren’t of the presumed fun and hearty nature. Instead it seems that there was an occasional trend, in wealthy circles specifically, to up the ante so to speak and either trick their guests into believing one thing when in fact an entirely other thing was true, or making them believe that they were about to face actual real death at any given moment. Listen to find out more. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for...

We continue to follow the journey of tea as it makes its way to Europe and the Americas. We’ll see the large role tea tends to play politically amongst rival nations as well as internally in Turkey, and we’ll get to have a look at how this humble beverage has made its way to each and every corner of the globe. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting...

The history of tea is as long and complex as its variety of flavours. It's a history quite literally infused with tales of spirituality and mysticism. It has evolved over the ages to become world renowned for it’s science backed health benefits, but to find out the true origins of tea throughout history, we need to go back almost 5000 years. ------------------- Take the next step in your life by getting in touch with life coach, Dr. Binyamin Klempner. You can find out more on his website:...

The time Kentucky Fried Chicken teamed up with NASA, some space ready chickens, and an 8th Grader FOR SCIENCE. --------------------------- Follow and Subscribe to Melissa's show Bewilderbeasts here: https://bewilderbeastspod.podcastpage.io/podcast/bewilderbeasts ---------------------------

This is the story of Gail Halvorsen, who was known to the children of Berlin as Der Schokoladen Flieger or The Chocolate Flier, Uncle Wiggly Wings or the most widely known of all, The Candy Bomber of Berlin. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/foodhistorypod and get early access to episodes, and bonus content. Find transcripts and sources on the website: www.foodhistorypodcast.com -------------------

In today's society, those who are able to, are always seeking out new and wondrous dining experiences. More than a hundred years ago, men and women with too much time on their hands and more money than they knew what to do with, were hosting equally bizarre and fascinating dinners of their own. But it was a man named C.K.G Billings who would go down in the history books as being the host of one of the strangest of them all. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon:...

Onions have been a part of human history since long before records began. It's played a vital part in our diets, but also in our mythology, representing eternal life to some cultures, as well as playing a part in the origin stories of the stars. Onions are one of natures most versatile products and in this episode we dive deep into the role it's played throughout the ages. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/foodhistorypod and get early access to...