Stuff You Missed in History Class

On September 16, 1890, Louis Le Prince vanished. He was never seen or heard from again. While that is the most well-known thing about him, he had a whole life before that which involved some very intriguing things.
Research:
“Amongst the persons …” The Leeds Mercury. August 2, 1870. https://www.newspapers.com/image/390297596/?match=1&terms=%22Louis%20Le Prince%22
Atreyee Gupta. “The Disappearance of Louis Le Prince.” Materials Today. Volume 11, Issues 7–8. 2008. Page 56, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1369-7021(08)70160-3.
Aulas, Jean-Jacques and Jacques Pfend. “Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, inventeur et artiste, précurseur du cinéma.” 1895. Vol. 32. 2000. https://doi.org/10.4000/1895.110
Britannica Editors. "Étienne-Jules Marey". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 May. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Etienne-Jules-Marey
Casey, Keiron. “The mystery of Louis Le Prince, the father of cinematography.” Science + Media Museum. Aug. 29, 2013. https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/louis-le-prince-created-the-first-ever-moving-pictures/
“CINEMATOGRAPHY Pioneers of Early Cinema: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (1841-1890?).” National Media Museum. https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PioneersOfEarlyCinemaLouisLe Prince.pdf
“First Surviving Film.” Guinness World Records. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-surviving-film
Fischer, Paul. “The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies.” Simon & Schuster. 2022.
“Hannibal Goodwin.” National Inventors Hall of Fame. https://www.invent.org/inductees/hannibal-goodwin
Kelley, Peter. “Louis A. A. Le Prince and the Whitley Family.” Oak Leaves. Oakwood and District Historical Society. Summer 2002. https://www.oakwoodchurch.info/Oak%20Leaves%20Part%203%20-%20Louis%20A%20A%20Le%20Prince%20and%20the%20Whitley%20Family%20by%20Peter%20Kelley.pdf
Le Prince, A. “METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ANIMATED PICTURES OF NATURAL SCENERY AND LIFE.” U.S. Patent Office. Jan. 10, 1888. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/26/13/3c/c0bd20490abc9b/US376247.pdf
Lewis, Maria. “The tragedy of Louis Le Prince.” ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image). https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/tragedy-louis-le-prince/
“The Life, Mystery and Legacy of Louis Le Prince.” Leeds Museums & Galleries. https://museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/blog-life-mystery-and-legacy-of-louis-le-prince-fylq
Marey, Etienne-Jules. “Chronophotographic gun.” Google Arts and Culture. https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/chronophotographic-gun-%C3%89tienne-jules-marey-otto-lund/KAFgqcxSaDadqw?hl=en
“New research centre honours father of film.” The Reporter. University of Leeds. May 19, 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20120205020340/http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/490/s6.htm
“PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT NITROBENZENE.” Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/tp140-c1-b.pdf
Rawlence, Christopher. “The Missing Reel: the untold story of the lost inventor of moving pictures.” New York : Atheneum : Maxwell Macmillan International. 1990. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/missingreeluntol0000rawl/mode/1up
“Single-lens Cine Camera by Louis Le Prince.” Science Museum Group. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co18634/le-prince-single-lens-cine-camera-cine-camera-cinematograph
Swift, John. "Siege of Paris". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Jan. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Siege-of-Paris-1870-1871
Britannica Editors. "Franco-German War". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 May. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/event/Franco-German-War
Youngs, Ian. “Louis Le Prince, who shot the world's first film in Leeds.” BBC. June 23, 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-33198686
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The story of the Roman catacombs is vastly different than that of the catacombs of Paris, as Rome’s are much older and were created for very different reasons.
Research:
Bonello, Giovanni. “Charting the enigmatic life of Antonio Bosio.” Times of Malta. Dec. 6, 2014. https://timesofmalta.com/article/Charting-the-enigmatic-life-of-Antonio-Bosio.547468
Bonello, Giovanni. “How Antonio Bosio Became famous Worldwide.” Times of Malta. Dec. 13, 2014. https://timesofmalta.com/article/How-Antonio-Bosio-became-famous-worldwide.548393
Bosio, Antonio. “Roma sotteranea.” 1650. Accessed online: https://books.google.com/books?id=zCXXSKqq3nQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false
Britannica Editors. "Edict of Milan". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Aug. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edict-of-Milan
Britannica Editors. "First Jewish Revolt". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Jewish-Revolt
Britannica Editors. "Law of the Twelve Tables". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Mar. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Law-of-the-Twelve-Tables
“The Catacombs of Rome.” The Atlantic Monthly. March 1858. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1858/03/the-catacombs-of-rome/627225/
Coleman-Norton, Paul R. “The Twelve Tables.” 2024 (eBook). https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14783/pg14783-images.html
“Diocletianic Persecution.” Ebsco. 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/diocletianic-persecution
“Jews in Roman Times.” The Roman Empire. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html
Lamberton, Clark D. “The Development of Christian Symbolism as Illustrated in Roman Catacomb Painting.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 15, no. 4, 1911, pp. 507–22. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/497187
Munro, Dana Carleton et al. “Translations and reprints from the original sources of European history : series for 1897.” University of Pennsylvania. 1898. https://archive.org/details/translationsrepr00munr/page/n3/mode/2up
Northcote, James Spencer. “The Roman Catacombs.” Sophia Institute Press. 2017. (Reprint)
Northcote, James Spencer. ““The Roman Catacombs; or Some Accounts of the Burial Places of the Early Christians in Rome.” Philadelphia. Peter F. Cunningham. 1857. (Reprint)
Osborne, J. “The Roman Catacombs in the Middle Ages.” Papers of the British School at Rome , 1985, Vol. 53 (1985), pp. 278-328. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40310821
Perrottet, Tony. “Explore Rome’s Hidden Underworld, Where a City Lurks Beneath a City.” Smithsonian. April/May 2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/explore-romes-hidden-underworld-city-beneath-city-180986228/
“PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR SACRED ARCHAEOLOGY – Historical Notes.” Vatican. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_commissions/archeo/inglese/documents/rc_com_archeo_doc_20011010_cenni_en.html
Richter, J. P. “Early Christian Art in the Roman Catacombs.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 6, no. 22, 1905, pp. 286–262. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/856226
“The Roman Catacombs.” Architecture. April 20, 1888. No. 414, p. 224. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433084078983&seq=414&q1=catacombs
“The Roman Catacombs.” Scientific American, vol. 58, no. 20, 1888, pp. 312–312. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26094597
Rossi, Giovannie Battista de, et all. “Roma sotterranea : or, Some account of the Roman catacombs, especially of the cemetery of San Callisto ; comp. from the works of Commendatore de Rossi with the consent of the author.” Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer. London. 1869. https://archive.org/details/a606740800rossuoft/a606740800rossuoft/page/6/mode/2up
RUTGERS, LEONARD VICTOR, and לאונרד רוטגרס. “הקטקומבות היהודיות ברומא: הערכה מחודשת / THE JEWISH CATACOMBS OF ROME RECONSIDERED.” Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי היהדות, י, 1989, pp. 29–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23535611
Terry, Andrea, and John Osborne. “Un Canadien Errant: Charles Smeaton and the Earliest Photographs of the Roman Catacombs.” RACAR: Revue d’art Canadienne / Canadian Art Review, vol. 32, no. 1/2, 2007, pp. 94–106. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42630755
Yeomans, Sarah. “City of the Dead.” Archaeology, vol. 61, no. 4, 2008, pp. 55–62. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41780388
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This 2021 episode covers Operation Paperclip, which was the U.S. effort to bring German scientists to work in the U.S. after World War II.
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Tracy talks about how she first became interested in Casimir Pulaski's story, and how her focus changed during research. She also talks about selecting episode topics and later learning the subject is problematic.
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Rebecca Smith Pollard published a book of poems to mark the U.S. centennial in 1876, and also a novel with some questionable messages. She also developed a method to teach children to read that was ahead of its time.
Research:
Chetwynd, Sally Morong “Sam.” “Birth of Rebecca Smith Pollard, Education pioneer – Sept. 20, 1831.” Brass Castle Arts. 9/20/2014. https://brasscastlearts.blogspot.com/2014/09/birth-of-rebecca-smith-pollard.html
The Writer’s Almanac. “Tuesday, September 20, 2011.” https://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php%3Fdate=2011%252F09%252F20.html
History of Literacy. “Pollard Nominated to Reading Hall of Fame.” History of Reading News. Vol.XXVI No.1 (2002:Fall). Via Archive.org Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20160729031119/https://historyliteracy.org/scripts/search_display.php?Article_ID=240
Haefner, Marie. “An American Lady.” The Palimpsest. The State Historical Society of Iowa. April 1957. The Palimpsest archive 38(4), 129-176. doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/0031-0360.22585
Pollard, Rebecca S. “The Prayers of Eleven Hundred Children.” Our Dumb Animals. Vol. 24, No. 8. January, 1892. https://archive.org/details/sim_animals_our-dumb-animals_1892-01_24_8/
The Catholic Educational Review. “Phonetics, Their Origin and Function.” Vol. 24. May 1926. https://archive.org/details/sim_catholic-educational-review_1926-05_24/
“Pollard’s Advanced Speller.” Education. Vol. 18, Issue 1. September 1897. https://archive.org/details/sim_education-us_1897-09_18_1/
Pollard, R.S. “Educational Appliance.” U.S. Patent No. 375,095. December 20, 1887.
Heilman, Arthur W. “Principles and practices of teaching reading.” Columbus, Ohio, C. E. Merrill Books. 1961.
Huey, Edmund Burke. “The History And Pedagogy Of Reading With A Review Of The History Of Reading And Writing And Of Methods Texts And Hygiene In Reading.” The Macmillan Company. 1915.
“A New Road to Learning.” The Des Moines Register. Page 23. 12/3/1911.
Wheatley, Jeffrey. “The Wrong Feeling of Feeling Right: Fanaticism and Sentiment in Anti-Abolitionist Novels.” From Religion and Social Change. Edited by Sabrina Danielsen. Journal of Religion and Society. Supplement 26 (2025.)
Harrington, Kate and Miss M.E. Wilson. “The Moonlight Tryst.” Louisville Journal. 1/7/1854.
Pollard, Rebecca S. “Emma Bartlett: or, Prejudice and fanaticism.” Cincinnati, Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Overend. 1856.
“Emma Bartlett: or, Prejudice and Fanaticism.” Ottumwa Semi-Weekly Courier. 4/16/1857.
Pollard, Rebecca S. “Centennial and Other Poems.” Philadelphia : Lippincott. 1876.
Kirkham, Samuel. “English Grammar in Familiar Lectures.” New York. Robert B. Collins.
“Portrait and Biographical Album of Lee County, Iowa.” Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1887. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~iabiog/lee/pbh1887/pbh1887-s.htm
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