Without a doubt the closest the planet has come to nuclear war occurred between October 16th-28th 1962. The Cold War was at its peak. Brought there by the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion about 18 months earlier by "Cuban Exiles", with pretty obvious support from the United States. With nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey and Italy the U.S. had a huge advantage over the Soviet Union if it ever came to the first strike in an atomic conflict. Cuba and the Soviet Union decided nuclear strike parody was fair and thus began the process of moving nuclear capable missiles into Cuba and within 100 miles of Florida. Constant surveillance of Cuba by the United States discovered nuclear launch sites being constructed putting John F. Kennedy into a situation with razor thin margins for error. For 13 days the world stood on the brink, with JFK and Nikita Khrushchev playing a game of chess with nuclear annihilation as the stakes. So many things should have gone wrong, so what ended up going right? Join us this week as we get Historically High on The Cuban Missile Crisis. Support the show
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2:21:07
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2:21:07
Sir Isaac Newton
We're gonna go ahead and apologize in advance for any stumbles through this one. Sir Isaac Newton possessed a kind of brilliance that is very hard for the majority of people to really wrapped their heads around, and that includes us. Known as the Father of Modern Physics he didn't just help shape our understanding of the science of the natural world (not nature but the laws that govern nature, gravity, optics, movement, etc) but he deciphered a lot of the mysteries within it. He developed calculus because the math of his time wouldn't help him solve the questions he had. He discovered that light is made of a spectrum of colors that exist at all times even if we can't see them, and he revolutionized the understanding of gravity and planetary rotation. He was also human, who suffered from human flaws, vindictiveness being a pretty evident one. But as with most genius there can be a mania that lies beneath. Join us as we get Historically High on the smartest man we've covered to date.Support the show
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2:49:57
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2:49:57
The Dust Bowl
The scariest part of the Dust Bowl is the very small amount we talk about it historically. The need for wheat during WW1 caused the wheat market to double. There was a lot of new agricultural land in the Southern Great Plains. Once the war was over, the government tried to prop up grain prices as best they could. In order to continue making the money they once did, farmers in the Southern Great Plains doubled down purchasing more land, and tearing more of the natural grasses from the earth. Then the Depression happened and prices for wheat bottomed out. Then drought hit the U.S. THEN the winds came. Without the native grasses holding down the top soil, the Great Plains became a literal dust bowl. Some left for California. Some road it out. Some never learned their lesson. Join us as we get Historically High on The Dust Bowl!Support the show
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2:47:18
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2:47:18
The Stanford Prison Experiment
The Stanford Prison Experiment produced groundbreaking results. The main result was proving the need to create Institutional Review Boards for human experiments. Dr. Philip Zimbardo wanted to test the effect of power and powerlessness in a prison setting. He used a bunch of college age boys to play the part of guards and prisoners. Usually a Doctor oversees their experiment. Not only did Zimbardo oversee his experiment, he made himself the Superintendent of his prison. The Stanford Prison Experiment was supposed to last 2 weeks. It last 6 days. Zimbardo claimed he proved what he set out to prove. But did he? Was his thumb on the scale? Listen in to find out as we get Historically High on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Support the show
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1:55:47
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1:55:47
The Battle of Britain
We're heading back to WW2 for the most pivotal battle of the European Theater. Some of you are already scoffing at that statement but let me lay it out like this. After Germany steamrolled mainland Europe, Great Britain was all that was left. Russia and Germany weren't at war yet. The United States was still over two years away from being at war. It was the British holding the line against total Nazi domination of Europe. If Britain fell that means no where to launch an invasion, no D-Day, no liberation of France. Between July 10 and October 30 of 1939, roughly 3000 pilots, most British and Scottish, but many others from all over including countries already occupied by the Nazis, held the skies above Britain and the English Channel preventing an invasion. For almost 4 months, fighter pilots, crews keeping them airborne, radar technicians, and the WAAF dispatchers, fought a fight for the rest of the world. In the words of Winston Churchill "Never was owed by so many, to so few" This is their story, This is the Battle of Britain. Support the show
A dive into historical topics from an elevated perspective. New episodes will be out every Wednesday. Find us on our socials:@Historicallyhi on Twitter @historicallyhighpod on Instagram. Don't forget to like, rate, subscribe, and let your friends know what they are missing.
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