Amazingly True Episodes

Learn how Robert Fortune, a classic figure of his age—a man whose scientific passions and professional ambitions aligned perfectly with imperial interests, enabling activities that would change not just gardens and botanical ...

Learn how Leo Yoshimura walked into an interview for a job on a show he’d never heard of and took a chance. Sometimes, seizing an unexpected opportunity—despite not knowing exactly where it will lead—can launch a long and ful...

The L.L.Bean Bootmobile, a giant replica of the iconic Maine Hunting Shoe, offers key lessons in branding. 1. Driver Stories Show the Bootmobile [website] 2. Making of the L.L.Bean Bootmobile | L.L.Bean [YouTube] 3. Bootmobil...

Learn how a long-overlooked "copy" of the Magna Carta turned out to be the real deal. This is one of only seven known to survive from the year 1300. Supporting links 1. Magna Carta [History] 2. The impact of Magna Carta in the 13th century [YouTube] 3. Making a key piece of history available to the…

This is the story of a very old violin that stored a secret—one that lay hidden for 80 years. This instrument was crafted behind barbed wire in the Dachau prison camp, by a prisoner fighting to survive. Supporting links 1. Fr...

Show notes Learn how a library was deliberately built on the borders of Canada and U.S.A, as a symbol of shared community, showing how physical lines on a map can foster unity rather than division. Supporting links 1. Haskell Free Library and Opera House [YouTube] 2. Haskell Free Library and Opera …

Learn how one man sought to keep typewriters alive. Not as museum pieces, but as living, breathing conduits of human creativity. Supporting links 1. Typewriter [Wikipedia] 2. Who Invented the Typewriter? [History Cooperative]...

The propulsive story of the women who sought, and gained, a piece of the action on Wall Street. 1. The Paulina Bren [Blog site] 2. Bernadette Bartels Murphy, Pioneering Wall Street Trader, Dies at 86 [New York Times] 3. Traci...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast DNA analysis of human remains found at the site of a church built in 1608 in the colonial settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, suggest the men are kinsmen of the colony’s first governor, Tho...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast Julia Hawkins, the centenarian sprinter known as “Hurricane” and “The Flower Lady,” died in Baton Rouge, La., this week at the age of 108 in October of 2024. Supporting links 1. It’s Been ...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast Imagine traveling 32,000 miles just to deliver 50 postcards! Meet Jonny Beardmore, a modern-day adventurer inspired by a 200-year-old tradition. 1. The Galápagos Islands: Post Office [Whal...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast It was a secret message hidden for over a century. By chance, engineers inspecting a Scottish lighthouse stumbled upon a 132-year-old message in a bottle. Support Links 1. Northern Lightho...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast New prime minister or not, meet Larry, the cat. The chief mouser to the Cabinet Office who lives at 10 Downing Street. 1. Larry (cat) [Wikipedia] 2. Feline pushed out? [BBC] 3. Larry the C...

For three individuals, a Höfner expert and two journalists, finding Paul McCartney's lost guitar of 50 years became a mission. They were determined to find the guitar. supporting links 1. The Cavern Club [Wikipedia] 2. Please...

There are baseball collectors and then there is Geddy Lee. He was the singer and bassist for the band, Rush. He’s pulling together about 300 items from his baseball memorabilia collection to set up for auction. His collectio...

An Irish postal clerk, played a very key role in helping save General Eisenhower’s, D-Day invasion from potential disaster. supporting links 1. Maureen Flavin Sweeney [Wikipedia] 2. Operation Overlord [Wikipedia] 3. Dwight D....

Jack ReVelle, a US Air Force officer, played a critical role in preventing a catastrophic nuclear disaster during the Cold War. Unfortunately, his efforts to save the day would haunt him for the next 50 years, not to mention ...

Seventy-nine years later, the Wiltz Christmas celebration remains a powerful symbol of hope and humanity. The soldiers are gone, but their legacy lives on. The children still vividly recall the joy of that special day. Each y...

Theodore Hall, graduated from Harvard as a physicist and was hired to work developing the first-ever atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project that helped end World War II. He was but 18 years of age. He soon became a reluctan...

A young couple’s journey to Woodstock that became music history. supporting links 1. Wookstock [Wikipedia] 2. Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More [Wikipedia] 3. Bobbi Ercoline [RollingStone] 4. Iconic Woods...

The game of Monopoly is one of the most well-known board games in the world. It’s a game of strategy, luck, and skill that’s been entertaining people for over a century. supporting links 1. History of Monopoly [Wikipedia] 2. ...

On January 15, 1919, Boston was hit with a massive flood. The flood rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 miles per hour, killing 21 people and injuring over 150. By the way, the flood wasn’t water, it was molasses. s...

Since February of 2022, I’ve been watching the ongoing war with Ukraine and Russia. When Putin’s army stormed in, they looked so polish and ready to conquer Ukraine in a manner of hours. Today the Russin army looks like a rag...

Tom Turcich, from New Jersey, sets a Guinness World Record becoming the tenth person to walk around the world. So what? The 'so what' part is he wasn't alone. His companion, shall we say, was different. He took his four-legge...