Mystery with a History: Recent Episodes
Anomaly and Katie
Welcome to Mystery with a History. This is a podcast that looks at the who, what, when, where, and tries to find the WHY in a mystery.
Who is the rightful inventor of the motion picture? It's been accepted that Thomas Edison or the Lumière Brothers can lay claim to that honor. But what if the story isn't so simple? In this episode we look at the life and the mysterious end of Louis Le Prince. A man who got on a train ready to unveil his world changing invention only to vanish without a trace. How does someone simply disappear from a non-stop express train? I called Le Prince 'Le Grand' a few times during this episode. I have no idea why. I'm blaming a lack of sleep. My apologies. ~Katie
Sources:
https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/louis-le-prince-created-the-first-ever-moving-pictures/
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-33198686
https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/tragedy-louis-le-prince/
https://www.historyhit.com/culture/louis-le-prince-the-father-of-cinematography-who-vanished/
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/the-unsolved-mystery-of-yorkshires-vanished-film-pioneer-2945313
https://fstoppers.com/originals/mysterious-disappearance-louis-le-prince-father-cinematography-156151
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702108701603
https://www.satnavmag.com/post/louis-le-prince-the-father-of-film-who-disappeared
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2022/0531/Who-invented-motion-pictures-Hint-Not-Edison-nor-the-Lumieres#:~:text=Most%20Americans%20believe%20that%20Thomas,in%20Paris%20in%20December%201895.
https://thecrimewire.com/true-crime/Mystery-Disappearance-of-the-Man-Who-Invented-the-Motion-Picture-Camera-Louis-Le-Prince
https://www.thedailybeast.com/louis-le-prince-shot-the-worlds-first-motion-picture-and-then-disappeared-forever-was-it-murder
In 1849, Edgar Allan Poe died in a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The facts of his death are well-documented, but the cause (or causes) are still unknown to this day and the theories raised by Poe historians and biographers run from murder to alcoholism to rabies. In today’s episode we take a look at the tragic life and untimely death of the “master of the macabre” and explore some of the many theories that have been presented to explain the curious circumstances of his passing.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/still-mysterious-death-edgar-allan-poe-180952936/
https://www.nps.gov/articles/poe-death.htm
https://www.history.com/news/how-did-edgar-allan-poe-die
https://poemuseum.org/poe-biography/
YouTube: Weird History: Bizarre Facts You Didn’t Know About Edgar Allan Poe
BuzzFeed Unsolved Network: The Macabre Death of Edgar Allan Poe
For centuries people have reported mysterious lights around Brown Mountain in Western North Carolina. Where they come from and what causes them is a mystery that has bewildered both scientists and believers in the supernatural. Join us as we discuss the story behind the Brown Mountain lights, the legends, the studies, and the theories. Maybe some things are just better left unknown.
Sources
Video evidence:
https://wlos.com/news/local/asu-scientists-capture-rare-images-of-wncs-brown-mountain-lights
Articles:
https://www.ncblueridge.com/great-little-blue-ridge-towns/morganton-mystery-the-brown-mountain-lights
https://www.romanticasheville.com/brown_mountain_lights.htm
https://www.ourstate.com/brown-mountain-lights/
https://northcarolinaghosts.com/mountains/brown-mountain-lights/
https://www.carolinacountry.com/departments/departments/feature-story/the-mysterious-brown-mountain-lights
https://skepticalinquirer.org/2016/04/the-brown-mountain-lights-solved-again/
https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2010/10/the-brown-mountain-lights.html
https://www.deweyfox.com/alookbackatburke.htm
https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1971/0646/report.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/movies/alien-abduction-a-thriller-directed-by-matty-beckerman.html
The story of the SS Ourang Medan has captured the curiosity of historians and mystery lovers. It’s the tale of a ship with no records or proof of existence, except a few scattered accounts of the fateful day when all aboard were found dead after a cryptic SOS was received. What killed the crew is unknown to this day, and many wonder if the Ourang Medan ever existed at all.
https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/ourang-medan.htm
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/651575/ourang-medan-ghost-ship
https://www.historicmysteries.com/ourang-medan/
https://www.theshipyardblog.com/how-to-sink-a-ghost-ship-the-story-of-the-ourang-medan/
Things That Go Bump “The Ourang Medan: Mysteries, Legends, and Hauntings” on YouTube
"Mysterious SOS From Death Ship." Yorkshire Evening Post. Thursday 21 November 1940
In January 1959, nine accomplished hikers set off to complete an intense Grade III trek through the cold, snowy Ural Mountains in the former Soviet Union. Despite the numerous photographs and journal entries left behind, what happened on that final night remains a mystery 64 years later. What caused the hikers to cut their way out of the safety and warmth of their tent and run into the woods?
Sources:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/dyatlov-pass-incident
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-dyatlov-pass-incident#:~:text=In%20January%20of%201959%2C%2023,all%20nine%20of%20their%20bodies.
https://dyatlovpass.com/1079
https://www.history.co.uk/articles/how-did-nine-russian-hikers-lose-their-lives-during-the-dyatlov-pass-expedition
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-may-have-finally-unraveled-mystery-dyatlov-pass-incident-180976886/
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/03/confirmed-avalanche-is-likeliest-explanation-for-tragic-dyatlov-pass-incident/
Dead Mountain, a book by Donnie Eichar
Discovery+ TV series Expedition Unknown season 7 hosted by Josh Gates did a two episode special following the same route as the Dyatlov group.
On the morning of February 9th 1855 in Devon England, residents woke to find strange hoof prints burned into the snow. The tracks spanned miles of the English countryside and had Britons wondering if perhaps the Devil himself had been roaming the land during the snowy night, looking for souls.
Sources:
https://www.discoveryuk.com/mysteries/the-mystery-of-the-devils-footprints/
A True Relation of those Sad and Lamentable Accidents,which happened in and about the Parish Church of Withycombe in the Dartmoores in Devonshire on Sunday the 21. Of October last 1638
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/night-devils-footprints-were-left-4970856
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/75045/ongoing-mystery-devils-footprints
https://the-terror.fandom.com/wiki/The_Devil%27s_Footprints
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/day-the-devil-visited-dartmoor-571004
https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/devon/churches/widecombe-in-the-moor.htm
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/victorian-era-timeline
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/10/12/the-1855-devils-footprints-mystery-in-devon-england/?safari=1
The holidays are finally here! Anomaly starts us off by discussing the interesting history of the Yule Log. Is it a tree? Is it a cake? Can it be both? Katie put together a Letterman-style top 10 list of curious holiday traditions from around the world. What do fried chicken, flammable objects, and roller skates have in common?https://www.almanac.com/content/what-yule-log-christmas-traditions
https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/yulelog
https://thehistoryjunkie.com/the-yule-log-tradition
https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-christmas/yule-log.htm
https://www.gotquestions.org/Yule-Christmas.html
https://www.italiarail.com/culture/legend-la-befana
https://museum.wales/articles/1187/Christmas-Traditions-The-Mari-Lwyd/
https://www.history.com/news/krampus-christmas-legend-origin
https://www.foreverbarcelona.com/meet-el-caganer-the-figurine-that-rocks-every-christmas-in-barcelona/
https://www.tiodenadal.online/history-caganer-tradition-catalan-pooper/
https://www.fodors.com/world/asia/japan/experiences/news/the-surprising-reason-kfc-is-japans-biggest-christmas-tradition
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20161216-why-japan-celebrates-christmas-with-kfc
https://www.cbc.ca/kids/articles/the-strange-legend-of-the-swedish-yule-goat
https://www.thelocal.se/20221103/swedens-arson-afflicted-christmas-goat-is-moving-after-56-years/
https://metro.co.uk/2017/12/20/christmas-around-the-world-why-venezuelans-roller-skate-to-mass-on-christmas-eve-7018407/
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/11/18/catholic-christmas-venezuela-roller-skating-241863
https://theculturetrip.com/mexico/articles/a-uniquely-oaxacan-festival-night-of-the-radishes/
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20141217-mexicos-whimsical-night-of-the-radishes
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/christmas-pickle-tradition
Additional Sources can be found on our website
**It’s the holiday season and that can only mean one thing: Fruitcake! Either you love it or you regift it, everyone has a strong opinion. The divide over nutty, fruity cakes isn’t the mystery that we are discussing today. What happened when bakery employee Sandy Jenkins had champagne wishes and caviar dreams but only a fruitcake budget? Find out in Episode 8: Fruitcake Mystery. You don’t want to miss the twists and turns of this sweet swindle.
For today’s episode Katie used the following sources:**
Southern Living Japanese Fruitcake Recipe: https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/japanese-fruitcake-recipe
The brilliant reporting of Katy Vine for Texas Monthly in an article entitled ‘Just Desserts’
https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/just-desserts/
An article from the Washington Post entitled ‘A Letter from the Collin Street Bakery’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/12/17/letter-from-the-Collin-street-bakery/d7f96d22-0e01-4884-9ee5-c548d6fff7b5/
An article from the Corsicana Daily Sun
https://www.corsicanadailysun.com/news/sandy-jenkins-gets-10-years-prison-probation-for-wife-kay/article_ae1a73b0-5c9d-11e5-a527-9baff4805c5f.html
An article from the Fort Worth Business Press
https://fortworthbusiness.com/featured/fruitcake-crime-spice-up-a-small-texas-town-in-documentary-with-local-ties/
A press release from the FBI’s US Attorney’s Office
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/dallas/news/press-releases/former-Collin-street-bakery-executive-and-wife-sentenced
An article from Dallas Reports.com
https://www.dallasreports.com/documentary-tells-story-of-fraud-at-fruitcake-bakery-nbc-5-dallas-fort-worth/
You’ve no doubt heard of Krampus, Father Christmas, and Père Noël, the European versions of Santa Claus, but did you know Iceland has 13 Santas and an enormous Black Cat that comes around on Christmas Eve? In this week’s episode, we discuss Icelandic Christmas folklore and take a look at the creatures from ancient legends that lurk amongst the townsfolk at this festive time of year. Hold your children close as we meet Iceland’s Yule Cat and the Yule Lads.
Sources:
https://matadornetwork.com/read/iceland-christmas-traditions/
https://wilderutopia.com/traditions/folklore/the-yule-cat-monster-of-iceland/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/each-christmas-icelands-yule-cat-takes-fashion-policing-extreme-180961420/
https://www.medievalists.net/2019/12/the-yule-cat-of-iceland-a-different-kind-of-christmas-tradition/
https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235514/http://www.iceland.is/iceland-abroad/us/education-and-culture/curiosities/christmas-in-iceland/ The Yule Cat Poem narrated by Bjork. Text by Jóhannes úr Kötlumhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj6skZAHfQE
It was a cold, December day in the North Atlantic just off the coast of Scotland. A lighthouse relief crew went to check on the three men stationed in the remote Flannan Isles Lighthouse. When they arrived they were not prepared for what they found. How could three men simply vanish from their remote island post with no means of escape?
Sources:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/70180/115-year-old-mystery-flannan-lighthouses-missing-keepers
https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-flannan-isle-mystery-the-three-lighthouse-keepers-who-vanished
https://www.nlb.org.uk/history/flannan-isles/
https://www.historyhit.com/the-flannan-isle-mystery-when-three-lighthouse-keepers-vanished-overnight/
https://www.nlb.org.uk/history/flannan-isles/
https://random-times.com/2019/09/17/the-mystery-of-the-missing-keepers-at-the-flannan-isles-lighthouse/
https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/01/the-great-lighthouse-mystery-of-eilean-mor/
https://medium.com/@johnwelford15/three-missing-lighthouse-keepers-110e7092f594
https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4610
Journal of Fortean Studies, an article entitled ‘The Vanishing Lighthousemen of Eilean Mor’ by Mike Dash
**Have you ever sat there, eating your breakfast cereal, looking at the box, and wondered how it was first invented? Yeah, us either. But Anomaly’s story of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes is quite a tale: a family feud that lasted decades, a fanatical doctor, the beginning of the health food movement, and a man who was a marketing genius. This episode is a guaranteed great way to start your day.
Sources:**https://www.invent.org/inductees/john-h-kellogg
https://www.myrecipes.com/extracrispy/the-weird-true-story-of-the-kelloggs-brothers
https://daily.jstor.org/the-strange-backstory-behind-your-breakfast-cereal/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/priceonomics/2016/05/17/the-surprising-reason-why-dr-john-harvey-kellogg-invented-corn-flakes/?sh=4c4445869970
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/history-of-breakfast-in-america/
https://emotionsblog.history.qmul.ac.uk/2017/05/gut-feelings-week-dyspepsia-and-navigating-nineteenth-century-health/
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/battle-cornflakes
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/06/626376018/how-the-battling-kellogg-brothers-revolutionized-american-breakfast
In episode four Katie tells the story of the Honey War. The brand new state of Missouri and the territory of Iowa found themselves in a really sticky situation when some questionable surveying practices led to a border dispute. This story has it all: a sheriff in jail, cranky militiamen, and some honey bees without an official address. Will a civil war break out or will violence be narrowly avoided?
Sources:
An article in the journal Pioneer America entitled The Honey War by Craig Hill
An article on Forgottenhistory.me entitled The Honey War
An article on Atlasobscura.com entitled One Sloppy Land Surveyor Almost Caused a War Between Missouri and Iowa
An article on thegazette.com entitled Time Machine: The Honey War, When Iowa and Missouri Almost Came to Blows Over the Border
In this episode Anomaly tells the sweet and twisty tale of the classic dessert: Baked Alaska. Who knew a state would have its own special birthday cake? Who invented it? It’s hot, it’s cold. How in the heck does it even work? Find out the answer to these questions and more as we explore the origins of our 49th state and this unique dessert.
In this episode Anomaly tells the sweet and twisty tale of the classic dessert: Baked Alaska. Who knew a state would have its own special birthday cake? Who invented it? It’s hot, it’s cold. How in the heck does it even work? Find out the answer to these questions and more as we explore the origins of our 49th state and this unique dessert.
Sources:
Library of Congress
Wikipedia
Smithsonianmag.com: There Are Two Versions of the Story of How the U.S. Purchased Alaska From Russia
Theculturetrip.com: A Brief History of Baked Alaska
Foodicles.com
Mirror.co.uk: August 2014, The GBBO Row and the Physics Behind Baked Alask
Now that Spooky Season has come to a close we are moving on to our next favorite, seasonally appropriate topic: Food! On this episode Katie tells the Story of the Great Molasses Flood. You’d think a giant flood of molasses would be incredibly slow, especially in the winter. After all there is a famous saying, “slower than molasses in January”. You’d think you could outrun it. Or could you? Listen to hear what happened when a neighborhood in city of Boston was suddenly overrun by a sticky tidal wave.
Sources:
history.com:An article on the Spanish Flu
history.com: Why was the great molasses flood so deadly?
boston-discovery-guide.com: The Great Molasses Flood in Boston, Disaster in Boston's North End
scientificamerican.com: The Science of the Great Molasses Flood
npr.org: A Deadly Tsunami of Molasses in Boston’s North End
Census.gov: an archive from January 1919
Theworldwar.org: Red Summer
All of our music in this episode comes from Epidemic Sound
In our premiere episode, we start with introductions. Who are Anomaly and Katie and why are they hosting a podcast?
Anomaly begins with a tale of Lake Lanier in NE Georgia. The the tall tales and urban legends are interesting , but the facts around its creation may be more intriguing.
Then Katie tells a story of a legend she grew up hearing as a child. As she delves deep into the history of the Devil's Tramping Ground in Siler City, NC we start to separate fact from superstitious stories.