Welcome to What You Didn't Hear, the podcast
where we dive into the overlooked stories that
happened on the same days as history's biggest
events. While the world was watching one headline,
countless other stories quietly unfolded, some
fascinating, some tragic, and some that changed
lives in ways we've never heard about. In each
episode, I'll take you beyond the front page
and shine a light on the moments history forgot.
Because every day holds more than one story.
I'm Zane Gould, and let's get into what you didn't
hear, until now. We are going to start August
20th, way back in 480 BC, with the Battle of
Thermopylae. During the Greco -Persian War, the
storm that was Xerxes' fleet made landfall in
Greece in the Malayan Gulf, where they had to
take the pass of Thermopylae into the mainland,
and were met by a coalition of various Greek
forces estimated at around 7 ,000 men. The invading
Persian army has been reported to number in the
millions, while it should be noted that modern
historians place their numbers somewhere between
120 ,000 to 300 ,000. Still, the difference is
staggering, and the Battle of Thermopylae is
a great example of the advantage one side has
when it's fighting on its home turf and defending
its homeland. On the third day of the battle,
Xerxes' forces were shown a path around the pass
of Thermopylae by a traitor named Ephelites.
and the Persians were able to outflank the defending
Greek forces. Aware of the oncoming onslaught,
King Leonidas of Sparta formed a rear guard with
300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 900 Helots, and
400 Thebans. Prior to the battle, the Oracle
of Delphi had predicted that either Sparta would
fall or King Leonidas would be slain. It is possible
that this prediction is what brought the Spartan
king to his decision to stay and fight to the
death, while the rest of the Grecian forces successfully
retreated. Jumping forward 482 years to the year
2 AD, the earliest reported conjunction of Venus
and Jupiter, which is often referred to as the
Star of Bethlehem. The conjunction occurs about
every three years and three months, but is most
easily visible when it occurs at night. If astronomy
interests you, I would recommend looking into
the next time you can watch this event. August
20th, in the year 1000, Hungary is established
as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary,
which is to this day celebrated as State Foundation
Day in Hungary. Following the siege of Acre in
the year 1191, King Richard the Lionheart orders
the execution of 2 ,000 Muslim prisoners in what
is referred to as the Massacre at Acre. Mid -voyage
on his path to circumnavigate the world in 1578,
Francis Drake renames his galleon, the Pelican,
to the Golden Hind in honor of his patron, Sir
Christopher Hatton. While the word hind is often
used to refer to the butt, and I personally was
hoping that that's what the name of the ship
was referring to, in this case it is referring
to Sir Christopher Hatton's crest of a golden
female deer. I imagine the name could be taken
either way, though, for my own enjoyment. A reference
to the wealth of Sir Hatton that his hind quarters
are made of gold. In 1612 at Lancaster Castle
in England, the Lancashire Witch Trials take
place where nine women and two men, known as
the Pendle Witches, were tried for charges of
murder, witchcraft, and talking to dogs, which
is of course a crime. One of the women tried
was acquitted and the rest of the accused were
hanged at Lancaster Castle. In 1741, on August
20th, the first sighting of Alaska is reported
by a Russian expedition led by Danish explorer
Vitus Bering. This Vitus Bering is the same explorer
that the Bering Sea, Bering Island, and Bering
Strait in the northern Pacific Ocean are named
after. Additionally, Vitus Bering is buried on
Bering Island in Russia. Vitus Bering was appointed
by the Tsar of Russia to lead an expedition to
determine if the Asian continent and North American
continent were connected by land. Their voyage
across the Bering Sea departed from the Serbian
peninsula of Kamchatka. However, rough weather
kept the Russian naval officer from a good observation
of the Alaskan coastline, but Vitus Bering concluded
that Serbia and America were not joined. in an
attempt to return to serbia bering would suffer
from a severe case of scurvy and the st paul
was wrecked off the coast of bering island in
early november of seventeen forty one where vitus
would find his final resting -place shifting
from russia to north america In 1781, General
George Washington, accompanied by French forces
under Comte de Rochambeau, began the march south
to fight British General Cornwallis in Yorktown.
The strategic goal of the Franco -American army
of 17 ,000 marching on Yorktown was to trap General
Cornwallis' troops and lay siege to the coastal
city in Virginia. I have personally been to Yorktown
on multiple occasions, and there is an incredible
trail that you can drive along and see all the
different key strategic positions for the battles
that took place during the American Revolutionary
War. I highly recommend it. In 1858, Rudolf Virchow
publishes medical text titled Cellular Pathology
in Berlin, which would establish the basis for
modern medical science. In 1866, President Andrew
Johnson issues Proclamation 157, declaring the
insurrection of Texas over, which officially
marks the end of the U .S. Civil War. On August
20, 1882, Tchaikovsky debuts the 1812 Overture
under a tent outside the unfinished Cathedral
of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Both the Overture
and the Cathedral memorialize the Russian defense
against the French invasion of 1812, led by Napoleon
Bonaparte. The 1812 Overture became one of Tchaikovsky's
most popular works, in the ranking with his ballet
scores to The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty,
and Swan Lake. in december of nineteen o seven
the great white fleet departs from virginia to
embark on a forty three thousand mile journey
that would visit six continents and make twenty
port calls spanning fourteen long months at sea
to showcase the strength of the u s navy On August
20th of 1908, the Great White Fleet arrives in
Australia for a port call, and 221 sailors are
reported deserters that never return to their
ships after their port call. I myself have circumnavigated
the globe aboard a U .S. Navy ship, and modern
ships definitely have better amenities than a
ship from the early 1900s. But if I can add my
own opinion to a piece of history, being out
to sea for long spans of time is never easy,
and often you do not realize how hard it is until
your port call. In 1913, Adolph Pagode is the
first pilot to parachute from an aircraft using
a sacrificial aircraft. As he descended with
his parachute, he watched as his plane pitched
upward and performed a loop before plummeting
to the ground. Once on the ground, he told reporters,
I have seen it alone, looping the loop, so you
see that this is possible and I will try. In
September of the same year, Pagode would successfully
perform the loop and was believed to be the first
pilot to accomplish this. However, Pyotr Nesterov
had performed an aerobatic loop nine days prior.
Two years later, while intercepting a German
reconnaissance aircraft during World War I, Pagode
would be shot down and killed by a German pilot
who he himself had trained, Otto Kandolsky. Once
word of who the pilot was that had been shot
down, the German aviators dropped a funeral wreath
behind the French line to pay their respects
for the French pilot. 1975, Viking 1 launches
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to begin
its half billion mile voyage to Mars, where it
would orbit the alien world. And sticking with
the theme of voyages, mounted atop the Titan
Centaur 7 launch vehicle, Voyager 2 launches
on the same day in 1977. Voyager 2's mission
was to pass by first the gas giants Jupiter and
Saturn, then the ice giants Uranus and Neptune.
Passing by Uranus, Voyager 2 discovered ten new
moons and two new rings. As Voyager 2 passed
by Neptune, it found five new moons, including
Triton, with evidence of volcanic activity on
Neptune's satellite. In 2018, Voyager 2 would
join Voyager 1 in interstellar space, exploring
out beyond our solar system at a speed of 34
,391 miles per hour, or 15 kilometers per second.
The Voyager mission is ongoing, with both spacecraft
still sending back data about the conditions
of deep space. And to end this incredible day
in history, in 1991 Japan, Naoko Takeuchi first
publishes what would become one of the most popular
mangas, Japanese graphic novels and comics, of
all time. Codename Sailor V, which would later
that year be adapted to Sailor Moon in the Nakayoshi
Manga Magazine from 1991 to 1997. The Sailor
Moon anime series would begin the following year
in Japan and would release in the United States
in 1995. And now it's time for Blind Date Through
Time, the only dating show where our contestant,
you, flirts with mystery and history to find
a timeless connection. Here is this week's mysterious
profile. Age, 19. Location, somewhere between
the battlefield and the heavens. Height, petite,
but don't underestimate me. Occupation, warrior,
visionary, occasional saint. Some say I hear
voices, others say I hear destiny. I come from
a small village, but I don't think small. I led
armies before I could legally drink mead. I'm
guided by visions, driven by purpose, and unafraid
to challenge the world or anyone who underestimates
me. I've been burned before, literally. But like
any good mystery, I came back stronger in spirit.
I'm not here for games, unless they involve prophecy,
strategy, or medieval intrigue. If you have a
guess of who this week's mystery profile is,
leave it in the comments below. Okay, that's
all I had for today. If you liked this episode,
please leave a review or comment, like, subscribe,
and tune in next time for What You Didn't Hear.