The year was 1985, Freddy Mercury was bringing down the house at Wembley, Rocky Balboa won the Cold War by defeating Ivan Drago, and the Nintendo Entertainment System was release in the United States. It took the country by storm on the overall clad back of an Italian plumber named Mario. Nintendo ruled the home video game market until 1989 when a new player joined the game. The Sega Genesis' step onto the scene wasn't a home run right away. Sega decided to bring in a legend of the toy industry, a man named Tom Kalinske. This guy had his hands all over your childhood (not in the bad way) . Flintstone Vitamins? He created them. Barbie? He's the reason she's around today. Matchbox Cars? Who amongst us hasn't smashed one with a hammer when they no longer rolled properly. Tom and his team decided the only way to fight Nintendo's death grip on the market was to appeal to an older more mature and rebellious audience, teenagers. Sega became MTV to Nintendo's Disney Channel. Their battle took place in the stores, at the conventions, and on your TV. It had everything, corporate sabotage, defection to the competition, Joey Lawrence, Japanese rent-by-the-hour hotels, and a Hedgehog with attitude who's still doing his thing today. Get ready for the nostalgia fueled ride that is The Console Wars: Round 1.Support the show
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2:29:09
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2:29:09
The Battle of the Somme
During the 4 1/2 months it was fought, the Battle of the Somme took the crown as the deadliest battle of World War 1. This battle had it all, trench warfare, so many artillery pieces it created mountains of spent casings, fighter aircraft, and the introduction of the tank to the world as a weapon. The battle was the meeting of old world tactics and new world technology, never a good thing. The first day of the battle was the stuff of nightmares for the British. Once the 7 day artillery bombardment was finished, the Brits went over the top of their trench into No-Man's Land to charge what they believed to be an already decimated German front line. Unfortunately the metal storm unleashed over the German position for the last week was ineffective due to using the wrong type of artillery and also a pesky little leak of the British plans which gave the Germans a heads up to hunker down. As the shells stopped falling the Germans reoccupied the front line and waited for the British. What followed was the biggest loss of life in a single for the British in their history. And thats just the appetizer folks, tune in to get the full story. Support the show
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2:18:55
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2:18:55
Basketball and the NBA
The history of Basketball begins in the unassuming town of Springfield, Massachusetts. Canadian born James Naismith is trying to keep his group of students at the YMCA busy during a cold New England winter. It took 2 peach baskets, a soccer ball, and a few simple rules to create the game of basketball... sort of. The first thing Naismith created was chaos. Eventually, out of the chaos came basketball. The popularity of the game spread much like other sports. Barnstorming teams like the New York Rens and the world famous Harlem Globetrotters popularized the game in small towns all over the country. On a professional level some leagues came and went, but eventually found their way to the NBA and ABA merger. These two leagues would form the modern NBA today. There is so much more to the story though. Don't miss a second as we get Historically High on Basketball and the NBASupport the show
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2:32:23
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2:32:23
The Doolittle Raid
The United States was brought into WW2 with the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 1941. The U.S. was shook, fear of an invasion of the west coast was at an all time high with nothing standing between us and Japan. The moral of the nation wasn't good and in the weeks after Pearl Harbor more Japanese victories did nothing to reassure the country we could win this war. The U.S. needed a win, it needed to be something bold and unexpected. Something to break the aura of the invulnerability of Japanese held about their home islands. FDR wanted bombs on Tokyo and it fell to Jimmy Doolittle to make it happen. Now if you're gonna plan and execute a top secret raid on Japan's capital where success relies on doing things never before done, Jimmy's your guy. Doolittle Raid aside James Doolittle was one of the most famous aviators in American History, a doctorate in Aviation Engineering from M.I.T., the first of it's kind lends credit to his understanding off all thing aircraft. What Jimmy and his boys were able to do helped show the United States they were still in the fight and showed Japan they weren't safe at home. Find out how they pulled it off here. Support the show
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2:08:13
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2:08:13
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci started his artistic journey at the age of 14, beginning as a studio boy to Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio taught Leo the ropes in sculpting, painting, casting, leather work, amongst other things, until Da Vinci stepped in to paint a couple angels in a mostly complete "The Last Baptism". Verrocchio looked at his work, looked at Da Vinci's and legend has it he set down his brush for good at that point, seeing himself surpassed already by Da Vinci's talent. Achieving the status of Master at age 20, Da Vinci would embark upon a lifetime of creating Art, developing machines and mechanical theories, studying and documenting human anatomy, building weapons and more. The very definition of a Renaissance Man in every way, join us as we go deep into Da Vinci. Support the show
A dive into historical topics from an elevated perspective. New episodes will be out every Wednesday. Find us on our socials:@Historicallyhi on Twitter @historicallyhighpod on Instagram. Don't forget to like, rate, subscribe, and let your friends know what they are missing.
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