The History Guy

Welcome to the History Guy Podcast: Counterfactuals. What is a counterfactual? At it’s most basic, it is a ‘what if’. It’s a way of understanding history as it is by discussing what it could have been.

 Today we talk about a 1944 supreme court decision that fundamentally altered the American electorate and set the stage for civil rights victories that culminated in the Civil Rights Act: Smith v. Allwright.

Welcome to the History Guy Podcast: Counterfactuals. What is a counterfactual? At it’s most basic, it is a ‘what if’. It’s a way of understanding history as it is by discussing what it could have been.

On today’s episode we talk about the deadliest accident to ever strike a presidential cabinet: the explosion of the cannon on board the USS Princeton in February, 1844. The explosion killed both the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Navy, and fundamentally changed the trajectory of the era.

On today’s episode, we talk about an event often thought to have ended the “High Renaissance” period: the sack of Rome by a mutinous contingent of German and Spanish mercenaries in May, 1527. Often forgotten, it had a profound impact on history.

Welcome to the History Guy Podcast: Counterfactuals. What is a counterfactual? At it’s most basic, it is a ‘what if’. It’s a way of understanding history as it is by discussing what it could have been.

Today, we talk about one of the deadliest diseases in human history, and one we often don’t think about at all today: Rabies. How has it changed the world, and what might be different without it?

On today’s episode we talk about an unsung hero of the modern age: the elevator. Without them, the world wouldn’t be the same.