Welcome to What You Didn't Hear, the podcast
that pulls back the curtain on the shadows of
history. On this very day, while the world remembers
the headlines, hidden stories were unfolding
in the margins. Strange, forgotten, and sometimes
unsettling, today we bring those buried moments
back into the light with What You Didn't Hear
on September 17th. Make it shake. History. History.
History. History. September 17th is known as
Constitution Day or Citizenship Day in the United
States. celebrating the day that the U .S. Constitution
was signed by delegates during the Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia. But throughout history,
other events have taken place on this same day,
so now we'll go way back and focus on what you
didn't hear. In 642, Arab forces conquer Alexandria.
In 1595, Pope Clement VIII officially recognizes
Henry IV as King of France. Leading up to this
event, Henry IV converted to Catholicism, ending
a period of excommunication from the papacy,
after Pope Clement VIII had examined Henry's
sincerity. Furthermore, this ended many religious
conflicts in France and ended the Thirty Years'
War. The Dutch yacht, Sardam, arrives to rescue
the crew of the Batavia, another Dutch trade
ship, off the coast of Western Australia in 1629.
upon arrival they discovered that a majority
of the crew and passengers had either been murdered
by mutineers or passed away from exposure in
attempts to recover valuable cargo the skipper
and five crew members of the sardam disappeared
while searching for drifted cargo on more remote
islands in the east indies the following month
the sardam would return to batavia modern -day
jakarta with only sixty -eight men seven women
and two children out of two hundred and fifty
people that had been aboard the batavia when
it was shipwrecked in sixteen eighty three anthony
von lavenhuk is credited with the discovery of
bacteria lavenhuk is known as the father of microbiology
and one of the first microscopists after developing
an interest in lens making anthony used a single
lensed microscope of his own design and make
to observe the first microbes He was also the
first microbiologist to record the observation
of muscle fibers, red blood cells, bacteria,
and spermatozoa. On September 17th in 1745, Jacobites
occupy Edinburgh during the Jacobite Rebellion,
led by Charles Edward Stuart, also known as the
Young Pretender. A possible rap name, or stolen
IP from the Foo Fighters, we report, you decide.
the jacobite rebellion sought to restore the
stuart dynasty to the british throne and reinstate
catholicism however it would ultimately fail
due to the lack of military support from the
french in seventeen seventy six while a revolution
was occurring on the east coast of america fortress
presidio of san francisco was founded on the
west coast in the san francisco bay fort presidio
was built by a party led by jos joaquin moraga
and used as a foothold in the alta california
region by the spanish as such a remote location
the garrison of men at presidio was about thirty
-three men and after mexican independence from
spain in eighteen twenty one it would become
a mexican fortification before being seized by
the u s military at the start of the Mexican
-American War in 1846. Today, Fort Presidio is
a national landmark. It lies on the northern
tip of the San Francisco Peninsula and is a part
of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
William Herschel discovers Mimas, a satellite
of Saturn, in 1789. Mimas gets its name from
Greek mythology. memos was one of the giant's
offsprings of gaia born from the blood of uranus
as saturn's seventh largest natural satellite
memos has a diameter of only two hundred and
forty six miles and a gravity of point zero six
four meters per second squared compare that to
earth's gravity constant of nine point eight
zero seven meters per second squared Imagine
playing a friendly game of catch on the front
lawn of an Airbnb on Mimas. On September 15th
in 1835, Charles Darwin would first spot the
tip of the Galapagos Islands aboard the HMS Beagle.
However, on September 17th, they would make landfall.
Over the following five weeks, Darwin would explore
several islands, primarily focusing on San Cristobal,
Florina, and Santiago. during his exploration
he would collect samples of the diverse wildlife
on the islands his detailed observations of the
unique adaptations of wildlife in the galapagos
would lead to his creation of the theory of natural
selection and later the theory of evolution and
now back to san francisco in eighteen fifty the
fourth great fire of san francisco would begin
at four a m in the philadelphia house a saloon
on jackson street The blaze quickly spread and
consumed the greater area between DuPont, Montgomery,
Washington, and Pacific. The fire, as well as
those before it, led San Francisco to form the
first firefighting companies, as well as requiring
more fireproof construction to combat the risk
of fires in the city during the California Gold
Rush. In 1859, our one true leader, Joshua Abram
Norton, proclaims himself His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Norton I, Emperor of the United States
of America. And since the theme of this episode
is clearly San Francisco, I'll tell you that
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I was an
English -born resident of San Francisco. In 1866,
he would also adopt the official title of Protector
of Mexico. until our emperor passed away in january
of eighteen eighty he would maintain his title
multiple papers in california would regularly
publish proclamations and articles written by
his majesty emperor norton i residents of northern
california his majesty's subjects enjoyed his
majesty emperor norton i s royal presence in
california and he was afforded free ferry rides
free rent and free meals from friends and admirers
on september seventeenth in eighteen fifty nine
his majesty emperor norton i would hand deliver
the following declaration to the bulletin a newspaper
in san francisco at the peremptory request and
desire of a large majority of the citizens of
these united states i joshua norton formerly
of algoa bay cape of good hope and now for the
last nine years and ten months past of san francisco
california declare and proclaim myself emperor
of these united states and in virtue of the authority
thereby in me vested do hereby order and direct
the representatives of the different states of
the union to assemble a musical hall of this
city on the first day of february next then and
there to make such alterations in the existing
laws of the union as may ameliorate the evils
under which the country is laboring and thereby
cause confidence to exist both at home and abroad
in our stability and integrity His Majesty Emperor
Norton I even had his own currency, which some
restaurants in San Francisco accepted on good
faith. The notes used by the imperial government
of Norton I now regularly sell at auction for
$10 ,000 or more to collectors. And the last
tidbit that I'll give you about His Majesty Emperor
Norton I is his knack for foreign relations.
his majesty wrote many letters to queen victoria
urging her to marry him and strengthen the ties
between the empirical united states and the united
kingdoms incredible just incredible during the
american civil war in eighteen sixty two the
agalheny arsenal would explode resulting in the
largest civilian disaster during the war killing
seventy -eight workers If the Union and Confederacy
had realized that the United States had a new
emperor, the whole Civil War could have been
avoided. The Montsenus Railway Tunnel opens in
1871, linking the Turin -Modane Railway to the
Coulas -Modane Railway, and provided a whole
new connection between France and Italy through
the European Alps. The tunnel was expected to
take 40 years to finish, but was finished just
shy of 14 years with the help of tunneling innovations.
In 1901, the battle at Elan's River Port takes
place. Boer General Jan Smuts, the Field Marshal
and Prime Minister of South Africa, destroyed
the British 17th Lancers unit. In 1916, on September
17th, the Red Baron, a German fighter ace during
World War I, wins his first aerial combat over
France. Manfred von Richthofen would be shot
and killed over France two years later. but not
before claiming 80 aerial combat victories, making
him the most lethal fighter pilot of World War
I. In 1926, the Great Miami Hurricane makes landfall
in Miami, killing an estimated 450 people. Now
jumping ahead to 1950, and sticking with this
episode's theme, the San Francisco 49ers play
their first NFL game against the New York Yanks
and lose 21 -17. In 1954, one of my all -time
favorite books, Lord of the Flies, is published
by Faber and Faber in London, authored by William
Golding. Lord of the Flies was primarily inspired
by William Golding's experience fighting in World
War II. his observations on the inherent capacity
for evil in human nature his time as a teacher
of unruly boys and a literary counter -argument
to r m ballantine's optimistic novel the coral
island golding aimed to write a more realistic
adventure story depicting how civilization breaks
down and savagery emerges when children are isolated
from adult rules in nineteen sixty one samuel
beckett's happy days premieres in new york city
british rock band the who makes u s television
debut in nineteen sixty seven on the smother
brothers comedy hour they performed my generation
and detonated keith moon's drum kit at the end
of their performance In 1972, on September 17th,
TV comedy series MASH debuts and runs for 11
years, winning 14 Emmy Awards and one Peabody
Award. And to close it off, one more for San
Francisco. Pope John Paul II arrives in San Francisco
in 1987 to meet with AIDS patients to offer a
message of God's unconditional love for all and
also condemning the biases against victims. This
week I want to try something a little different
and a little simpler. Whenever I hear a common
phrase or saying, I wonder where it came from.
So now we'll look into the origins of the phrase,
by the skin of your teeth. To write this segment,
I googled a list of commonly used phrases and
picked the first one that caught my eye. I was
surprised to learn, by the skin of your teeth,
is originally from the Bible, specifically the
book of Job. In Job 19 .20, Job describes his
suffering and says, I am nothing but skin and
bones. I have escaped only by the skin of my
teeth. In addition to that brief segment, I will
give you a famous quote, and you have to guess
who said it. Now for a quote from a historical
figure. When you reach the end of your rope,
tie a knot in it, and hang on. Which historical
figure is credited with this quote? If you're
a returning listener, thank you for coming back.
If you're just finding this podcast, welcome,
and I hope you'll keep listening. Please leave
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in the episode description. Until next time,
this has been What You Didn't Hear.