Honourable Mentions: Hilarious History
Join two brothers for a hilarious dive into the untold stories of history's most obscure figures. Honourable Mentions: Hilarious History unearths the hidden tales your teachers forgot to mention—If you love a good laugh with a bit of sibling rivalry, and learning about remarkable everyday people who did extraordinary things, subscribe for your weekly dose of banter and historical deep dives. It’s the history podcast where the underdogs finally get their due.
Episodes
37 episodes
The S. A. Andrée Hydrogen Balloon Disaster
In 1897, Swedish explorer S.A. Andrée set out to fly a hydrogen balloon over the North Pole. Alongside Knut Frænkel and Nils Strindberg, he launched The Eagle (or the Ornen) into the freezing unknown. Less than three days later, they were fight...
Did a Pope put a corpse on trial?
What happens when the supreme leader of the Catholic Church goes completely mad with power? You get the Cadaver Synod. Join us for the terrifying medieval courtroom drama of 897, when Pope Formosus was put on trial by Pope Stephen VI. The probl...
Hitler’s Jewish Neighbors: The Feuchtwanger Story
What happens when a dictator's fiercest critic lives right in his backyard? Welcome to Honourable Mentions: Hilarious History and the story of Hitler and The Feuchtwanger family. The Jews who lived as his neighbors and who were the ...
Who invented the penalty kick?
Have you ever wondered who invented the football penalty kick? Meet William McCrum, the forgotten Irish goalkeeper from County Armagh who revolutionized soccer history in 1890 by proposing what critics furiously called the "death penalty" rule ...
Who was Sergeant Stubby the American hero of WWI
Meet Sergeant Stubby, the ultimate four-legged hero of the Great War. In this episode, we dive into the incredible true story of a stray pit bull mix who wandered onto a Yale University training camp and ended up on the front lines of World War...
Margorie McCall: Lived Once, Buried Twice
Imagine waking up in the dark, cold, confused, in absolute agony and trapped inside a wooden box at the bottom of a six foot hole - you’ve just been buried alive!In this episode, we dive into one of history’s most chilling and endur...
Roland Garros: The War Hero Who Never Played Tennis
Wait... What? Roland Garros wasn’t a tennis player?! 🤯 If you think the French Open is named after a legendary clay-court champion, prepare to have your mind blown. In this episode, we dive into the wild, daring, and true history o...
Attacked by a Shark, then Mauled by Lions: The Unreal Story of John Doyle.
Imagine surviving a Great White Shark attack, dragging your bleeding body to shore, and thinking the worst is over—only to be intercepted and mauled by a pride of lions on your way to safety. In this episode, we unpack the jaw-drop...
Douglas Hegdahl: The Incredibly Stupid Hero of the Vietnam War
How did a young sailor from South Dakota become the ultimate "secret weapon" in the Hanoi Hilton? In this episode, we dive into the legendary story of Douglas Hegdahl, the U.S. Navy apprentice seaman who fell overboard and ended up a prisoner...
Eating The Zoo: William Buckland and the Birth of Dinosaurs
Did you know the man who named the very first dinosaur also tried to eat every animal in the world?Welcome to the utterly chaotic world of William Buckland—the 19th-century theologian, pioneering geologist, and the official father of paleon...
How close have we been to a Nuclear War?
On October 27, 1962, the world almost ended. While the Cuban Missile Crisis raged on land, a terrifying showdown was happening deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. This is the incredible true story of Vasily Arkhipov, a Soviet Navy officer who sing...
Was Elmer of Malmesbury the first man to fly?
In 1010 AD, a Benedictine monk strapped wings to his hands and feet and leaped from the tower of Malmesbury Abbey. He didn’t just make history; he broke both his legs and became a legend.Join us as we peel back the historical layers...
Admiral Yi Sun-sin: From the Miracle at Myeongnyang to His Final Stand
After being stripped of his rank and tortured, Admiral Yi Sun-sin returned to a decimated navy with only 13 ships remaining.We break down:The Miracle at Myeongnyang: How Yi used the treacherous currents of the Myeongnyang Strai...
Admiral Yi Sun-sin: The Making of a Military Legend
Long before the legendary Turtle Ships and the Imjin War, Admiral Yi Sun-sin was just a young man struggling to pass the Joseon military service examinations. In this episode, we explore the early career of Yi Sun-sin, from a devastating horse-...
Jure Grando: the first Vampire (an Honourable Mentions and Boo Foons Mystery Investigators special episode)
In 1672, deep in the village of Kringa, Istria, a man died... and then things got weird. For 16 years, Jure Grando terrorized his widow and the townspeople, leading to the first official vampire record in European history.In this special...
Eben Byers: The Millionaire Dissolved in Liquid Sunshine
In 1932, a headline in the Wall Street Journal shocked the world: "The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off." This is the gruesome and tragic true story of Eben Byers, a wealthy industrialist, socialite, and golf champion who became ...
Who was Mary Fields - Stagecoach Mary?
Meet Mary Fields—better known as Stagecoach Mary—the first African American woman to work for the U.S. Postal Service, and arguably the toughest person in 1890s Montana.Standing 6 feet tall, packing a revolver under her apron, and never tu...
The creation of the Hawaiian Pizza
In 1962, a Greek immigrant named Sam Panopoulos decided to crack open a can of pineapple at the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario. He wasn't trying to start a global food war; he was just bored.In this episode, we dive into t...
Who invented the rubber bladder ball?
Why is a rugby ball oval? The answer begins with a Victorian tragedy, a massive pile of pig organs, and an inventor the sports world completely forgot.In this episode, we unearth the bizarre and heartbreaking history of Richa...
The Man Who Was Both a Dwarf and a Giant
Imagine spending your early twenties rejected by the army for being too short, only to end your life as a literal giant. This is the unbelievable, tragic, and medically baffling true story of Adam Rainer—the only person in recorded history to b...
How a Maharaja saved 1,000 Polish children
Welcome to an extraordinary story of compassion and kindness amidst the horrors of the Second World War. Maharaja Jam Sahib Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji of Nawanagar—an Indian royal leader whose genorosity of spirit reshaped the lives of...
From Nazi Occupied Poland to the American Dream
WWII survival, the immigrant experience, and the power of adoption. In this deeply moving episode of Honourable Mentions, we welcome our first-ever guest, Rafal, to share the extraordinary life story of his stepfather, Walter....
The Man Who Downed The Red Baron
Manfred von Richthofen’s red triplane skimmed the Somme, and a living legend closed in for another kill. But, down below, Sergeant Cedric Bassett Popkin on a Vickers machine gun is waiting for his moment. Once friendly aircraft had cleare...
Who fired the first shot of the first World War?
On August 22, 1914, just outside Mons, Belgium, a 20-year-old British cavalryman took a deep breath, steadied his aim and pulled his trigger, changing history forever. Meet Edward Thomas, the Drummer of the 4th Dragoon Guards who fir...
Spark Ranger: The Unbelievable True Story of Roy Sullivan
For the 13th episode of Honourable Mentions: Hilarious History, we're visiting the surreal, terrifying, wickedly funny but ultimately tragic true story of Roy Sullivan, the Virginia park ranger known to history as the "Human Lightning Conducto...