History Dispatches

30 miles south of Washington DC, in a small part of the Potomac River, lies an area called Mallows Bay. This bay is not home to a handful of shipwrecks or even a dozen. Or even 30 or 40 wrecks. Mallows Bay has over 200 wrecked vessels dating back to the 1920s. This is the story of the Ghost Fleet of the Potomac. Sources https://savingplaces.org/places/ghost-fleet https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/press/mallows-potomac/ https://projects.wamu.org/the-ghost-fleet/ Image: By Amaury Laporte - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_Fleet_of_Mallows_Bay_009_-_Accomac_Shipwreck_Close-Up.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people probably know that Winnie the Pooh was based upon the stuffed toy bear of Christopher Robin Milne - the son of author A.A. Milne. But there is another tale behind the famed bear - which involves a Canadian veterinarian, a black bear cub, and World War 1. This is the story of Harry Colebourn and a bear named Winnie. Sources https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/nov/24/winnie-the-pooh-inspired-by-a-real-bear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Colebourn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_(bear) Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harry_Colebourne_and_Winnie.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the discovery of Radium in 1898 it began to be used in numerous applications. The most famous was a glow in the dark paint. Thousands of women applied for jobs painting watch dials and other instruments, and to keep their paint brush extra fine, they were instructed to lick the brush. This would all be fine, if a bit unsanitary, except that radium is radioactive, and dozens of these women started to die. This is the story of the Radium Girls. Sources https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2018/01/04/the-radium-girls-at-the-national-archives/ https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/03/radium-girls-living-dead-women/ https://www.britannica.com/story/radium-girls-the-women-who-fought-for-their-lives-in-a-killer-workplace Images: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1928-05-13/ed-1/?sp=58 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All_women_or_girls_using_radium_paint_with_no_protection_or_warnings_in_1922,_from-_USRadiumGirls-Argonne1,ca1922-23-150dpi_(cropped).jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The French Revolution would bring about many, many changes in Europe. One of the most radical was the dechristianization of France - including the banning of religious holidays. Will Clark, the host and creator of Grey History - a French Revolution Podcast - joins us to tell the story of How the French Stole Christmas. Sources Learn more about Will Clark and his podcast, Grey History, at https://greyhistory.com History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the outset of World War II, the United States faced a shortage of pilots. As a result, a plan was launched to help ease the situation. This was the creation of a unit of women to fly non-combat duties - such as delivering airplanes to bases. More than 1,000 female pilots would go on to deliver over half of newly made military aircraft during the war to bases all over the nation. This is the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots - better known as the WASPs. Sources https://www.afhistory.af.mil/FAQs/Fact-Sheets/Article/458964/womens-airforce-service-pilots-wasp/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_Airforce_Service_Pilots https://www.npr.org/2010/03/09/123773525/female-wwii-pilots-the-original-fly-girls https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/wasp-women-airforce-service-pilots Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_L._Remba_Gardner,_Women%27s_Airforce_Service_Pilots,_NARA-542191.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices