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Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.

Stuff You Missed in History Class

All over the world, for all of human history – and probably going back to our earliest hominid ancestors – people have found ways to try to keep themselves clean. But how did soap come about? 
 
Research:
 
 • “Soap, N. (1), Etymology.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2025, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1115187665.
 • American Cleaning Institute. “Soaps & Detergents History.” https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/understanding-products/why-clean/soaps-detergents-history
 • Beckmann, John. “History of Inventions, Discoveries and Origins.” William Johnston, translator.
 • Bosart, L.W. “The Early History of the Soap Industry.” The American Oil Chemists' Society. Journal of Oil & Fat Industries 1924-10: Vol 1 Iss 2.
 • Cassidy, Cody. “Who Discovered Soap? What to Know About the Origins of the Life-Saving Substance.” Time. 5/5/2020. https://time.com/5831828/soap-origins/
 • Ciftyurek, Muge, and Kasim Ince. "Selahattin Okten Soap Factory in Antakya and an Evaluation on Soap Factory Plan Typology/Antakya'da Bulunan Selahattin Okten Sabunhanesi ve Sabunhane Plan Tipolojisi Uzerine Bir Degerlendirme." Art-Sanat, no. 19, Jan. 2023, pp. 133+. Gale Academic OneFile, dx.doi.org/10.26650/artsanat.2023.19.1106544. Accessed 18 Aug. 2025.
 • Costa, Albert B. “Michel-Eugène Chevreul.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michel-Eugene-Chevreul
 • Curtis, Valerie A. “Dirt, disgust and disease: a natural history of hygiene.” Journal of epidemiology and community health vol. 61,8 (2007): 660-4. doi:10.1136/jech.2007.062380
 • Dijkstra, Albert J. “How Chevreul (1786-1889) based his conclusions on his analytical results.” OCL. Vol. 16, No. 1. January-February 2009.
 • Gibbs, F.W. “The History and Manufacture of Soap.” Annals of Science. 1939.
 • Koeppel, Dan. “The History of Soap.” 4/15/2020. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/history-of-soap/
 • List, Gary, and Michael Jackson. “Giants of the Past: The Battle Over Hydrogenation (1903-1920).” https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=210614
 • Maniatis, George C. “Guild Organized Soap Manufacturing Industry in Constantinople: Tenth-Twelfth Centuries.” Byzantion, 2010, Vol. 80 (2010). https://www.jstor.org/stable/44173107
 • National Museum of American History. “Bathing (Body Soaps and Cleansers).” https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/health-hygiene-and-beauty/bathing-body-soaps-and-cleansers
 • New Mexico Historic Sites. “Making Soap from the Leaves of the Soaptree Yucca.” https://nmhistoricsites.org/assets/files/selden/Virtual%20Classroom_Soaptree%20Yucca%20Soap%20Making.pdf
 • “The history of soapmaking.” 8/30/2019. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/history-science-technology-and-medicine/history-science/the-history-soapmaking
 • Pliny the Elder. “The Natural History of Pliny. Translated, With Copious Notes and Illustrations.” Vol. 5. John Bostock, translator. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60688/60688-h/60688-h.htm
 • Pointer, Sally. “An Experimental Exploration of the Earliest Soapmaking.” EXARC Journal. 2024/3. 8/22/2024. https://exarc.net/issue-2024-3/at/experimental-exploration-earliest-soapmaking
 • Ridner, Judith. “The dirty history of soap.” The Conversation. 5/12/2020. https://theconversation.com/the-dirty-history-of-soap-136434
 • Routh, Hirak Behari et al. “Soaps: From the Phoenicians to the 20th Century - A Historical Review.” Clinics in Dermatology. Vol. No. 3. 1996.
 • Smith, Cyril Stanley, and John G. Hawthorne. “Mappae Clavicula: A Little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 64, no. 4, 1974, pp. 1–128. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1006317. Accessed 18 Aug. 2025.
 • Timilsena, Yakindra Prasad et al. “Perspectives on Saponins: Food Functionality and Applications.” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 24,17 13538. 31 Aug. 2023, doi:10.3390/ijms241713538
 • “Craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap.” https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/craftsmanship-of-aleppo-ghar-soap-02132
 • “Tradition of Nabulsi soap making in Palestine.” https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tradition-of-nabulsi-soap-making-in-palestine-02112
 • “Soaps.” https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethnobotany/soaps.shtml
 • van Dijk, Kees. “Soap is the onset of civilization.” From Cleanliness and Culture. Kees van Dijk and Jean Gelman Taylor, eds. Brill. 2011. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctvbnm4n9.4
 • Wei, Huang. “The Sordid, Sudsy Rise of Soap in China.” Sixth Tone. 8/11/2020. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006041
 
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A History of Soap

This 2021 episode covers John Dalton, famous for his work in atomic theory. But he wrote one of the first thorough descriptions of what he called “anomalous vision” – he realized he wasn’t perceiving color the same way as other people. 

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SYMHC Classics: John Dalton

Holly talks about nebulous passages in the writing of Jane Croly and her brother. Tracy and Holly talk about watching TV as children. 

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Behind the Scenes Minis: Jane and the Clicker

The initial time period where a TV remote control was developed was pretty short. And it shows how two different people perceive their work, and how that work is perceived differently over time by their employer.
 
Research:
 
 • Adler, R. “Control System.” Dec. 17, 1957. U.S. Patent Office. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/9a/fb/1a/619d2580b08526/US2817025.pdf
 • AFX News. “COMPANY NEWS; MOTOROLA TO BUY ZENITH ELECTRONICS NETWORK SYSTEMS.” New York Times. July 20, 2000. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/20/business/company-news-motorola-to-buy-zenith-electronics-network-systems.html
 • Benson-Allott, Caetlin. “Remote Control.” Bloomsbury Academic. 2015.
 • Dowling, Stephen. “The Surprising Origins of the TV Remote.” BBC. Aug. 31, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180830-the-history-of-the-television-remote-contro
 • Fox, Margalit. “
Eugene Polley, Conjuror of a Device That Changed TV Habits, Dies at 96.” New York Times. May 22, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/business/eugene-t-polley-inventor-of-the-wireless-tv-remote-dies-at-96.html • Gertner, Jon. “A Clicker Is Born.” New York Times Magazine. Dec. 30, 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/magazine/30Adler-t.html
 • Gregory, Ted. “Remote’s Inventor Hopes to Push Buttons of History.” Press of Atlantic City. Feb. 5, 2006. https://www.newspapers.com/image/926298372/?match=1&terms=eugene%20polley
 • “Heritage.” Zenith. https://zenith.com/heritage/
 • “Man who glued TV watchers to the couch dies.” Cnn.com (via AP). Feb 16, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070219040307/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/02/16/obit.remote.control.ap/index.html
 • “Now … a Flash of Light Without wires!” (Advertisement.) The Salt Lake Tribune. Nov. 20, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/598655702/?match=1&terms=Flash-matic
 • Polley, Eugene J. “Control System.” U.S. Patent Office. Sept. 8, 1959. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/f7/02/b1/5716b40ac9c0fc/US2903575.pdf
 • “Robert Adler.” National Inventors Hall of Fame. https://www.invent.org/inductees/robert-adler
 • “Robert Adler - TV Wireless Remote.” Lemelson-MIT. https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/robert-adler
 • Schofield, Jack. “Eugene Polley Obituary.” The Guardian. May 23, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/23/eugene-polley
 • Slodysko, Brian. “Eugene Polley dies at 96; inventor of wireless TV remote control.” May 23, 2012. https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-eugene-polley-20120523-story.html
 • Stroh, Michael. “The Couch Potato’s Best Friend.” Baltimore Sun. Nov. 22, 2006. https://www.newspapers.com/image/173151815/?match=1&terms=eugene%20polley
 • “TV remote control inventor Eugene Polley dies at 96.” BBC. May 22, 2012. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-18164200
 • “You have to see it to believe it!” (Advertisement.) Syracuse herald-Journal. Sept. 27, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1088093208/?match=1&terms=Flash-matic
 • “Zenith Space Command …” Evening World Herald/ Dec. 26, 1956. https://www.newspapers.com/image/883665550/?match=1&terms=%22Space%20Command%22
 
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TV Remotes

Jane Cunningham Croly, who wrote under the pen name Jennie June, was a journalist who advocated for equality for women. She is most well known for founding one of the earliest clubs for women in the U.S.
 
Research:
 
 • Croly, Jennie June. “Jennie June's American Cookery Book, Containing Upwards of Twelve Hundred Choice and Carefully Tested Receipts.” Excelsior. 1878. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jennie_June_s_American_Cookery_Book_Cont/enEEAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
 • Croly, J.C. “Sorosis: Its Origin and History.” New York. J.J. Little & Co. 1886. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/sorosisitsorigin00crol/page/n3/mode/2up
 • Croly, J.C. “Thrown on her own resources, or, What girls can do.” New York. T.Y. Crowell & Co. 1891. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100170730
 • Croly, J.C. “The history of the woman's club movement in America.” New York. H.G. Allen. 1898. https://archive.org/details/historywomanscl00clubgoog/page/n10/mode/2up
 • “The Dickens Dinner.” Louisville Daily Courier. April 19, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/119304180/?match=1&terms=%22Jennie%20June%22%20press%20club%20dickens
 • https://web.archive.org/web/20120120014321/http://www.gfwc.org/gfwc/Jane_Cunningham_Croly.asp
 • “Jane Cunningham Croly.” General Federation of Women’s Clubs. https://web.archive.org/web/20120120014321/http://www.gfwc.org/gfwc/Jane_Cunningham_Croly.asp
 • “Jane Cunningham Croly.” National Women’s Hall of Fame. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/jane-cunningham-croly/
 • “Jane Cunningham (“Jennie June”) Croly.” Ebsco. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/womens-studies-and-feminism/jane-cunningham-jennie-june-croly
 • “Our Mission.” General Federation of Women’s Clubs. https://www.gfwc.org/who-we-are/
 • “Rockford Register (Rockford, Ill.) 1855-187?” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014331
 • Morse, Caroline M., ed, and Woman’s Press Club of New York City, “Memories of Jane Cunningham Croly, ‘Jenny June,’” Produced by Ari J Joki and PG Distributed Proofreaders. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12099/pg12099-images.html
 • “The New York Sorosis.” The Charleston Daily News. Nov. 5, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/87596013/?match=1&terms=sorosis
 • Puchko, Kristy. “Journalist Jennie June Was "Having It All" in the 19th Century.” Mental Floss. April 14, 2015. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62964/journalist-jennie-june-was-having-it-all-19th-century
 • “The Sorosis Lunch.” Chicago Evening Post. Sept. 28, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/668238331/?match=1&terms=sorosis
 • “Sorosis.” Leavenworth Daily Commercial. Aug. 11, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/425238609/?match=1&terms=sorosis
 
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Jane Cunningham Croly, aka Jennie June

This 2022 episode discusses how modern rabies prophylaxis is almost 100% effective at preventing human death from the bite of a rabid animal. How did people come to understand rabies, and then develop a vaccination for it?

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SYMHC Classics: Rabies

Holly talks about the arguments she found online about whether graffiti is art. Tracy talks about how the Dickin Medal impacted veterinary medicine. 

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Behind the Scenes Minis: Graffiti Animals

Maria Dickin wanted to raise the status of animals in society and bring more awareness to the work they were doing during World War II. The Dickin Medal was created to honor military working animals. This episode covers six of those recipients.
 
Research:
 
 • “Cats and Dogs.” Sabretache: The Official Journal of the Calgary Military Historical Society. August Extra #1. 2022. http://cmhs.ca/sabretache/Sabretache_2022_08_1.pdf
 • Classic Warbirds. “Pigeons at War - The RAF and the National Pigeon Service.” https://www.classicwarbirds.co.uk/articles/pigeons-at-war-the-raf-and-the-national-pigeon-service.php
 • Elidemir, Gulistan. “Maria Dickin and the history of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals.” The Slice Whitechapel. 2/20/2022. https://whitechapellondon.co.uk/maria-dickin-pdsa-animal-charity-history/
 • Gardiner, Andrew. “The 'Dangerous' Women of Animal Welfare: How British Veterinary Medicine Went to the Dogs.” Social History of MedianeVol. 27, No. 3 pp. 466-487. https://archive.org/details/pubmed-PMC4109695/mode/1up
 • Harrison, Brian. “Dickin, Maria Elisabeth.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 11/23/2004. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/53789
 • Historic England. “Heroic War Animals: The History of the PDSA Dickin Medal.” 12/21/2023. https://heritagecalling.com/2023/12/21/heroic-animals-at-war-the-history-of-the-pdsa-dickin-medal/
 • Imperial War Museums. “What Was The Yangtze Incident?” https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-was-the-yangtze-incident
 • Kennedy, Maev. “Pet heroes honoured as cemetery reopens.” The Guardian. 12/14/2007. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/dec/14/art
 • Long, David. “The animals' VC : for gallantry and devotion : the PDSA Dickin Medal - inspiring stories of bravery and courage.” Preface. 2012.
 • Ministry of Defense. “Judy: The Dog who became a prisoner of war.” 7/24/2015. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/judy-the-dog-who-became-a-prisoner-of-war
 • National Archives. “Judy, the only dog registered as a prisoner of war.” https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/judy-the-only-dog-registered-as-a-prisoner-of-war/
 • National Archives. “Judy, the only dog registered as a prisoner of war.” https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/judy-the-only-dog-registered-as-a-prisoner-of-war/
 • Naval History. “HMS AMETHYST INCIDENT, YANGTSE RIVER, April to May 1949.” https://www.naval-history.net/WXLG-Amethyst1949.htm
 • “Rip.” https://www.pdsa.org.uk/media/5494/47646_dm-75_recipient-book_27_rip_digital.pdf
 • “Sergeant Reckless – PDSA Dickin Medal 68.” https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/animal-awards-programme/pdsa-dickin-medal/sergeant-reckless
 • “Simon - PDSA Dickin Medal 54.” https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/animal-awards-programme/pdsa-dickin-medal/simon
 • “Story of Maria Dickin and PDSA.” Via YouTube. 10/8/2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A1mMVDL4oo
 • “White Vision.” https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/animal-awards-programme/pdsa-dickin-medal/white-vision
 • “Winkie: DM 1.” https://www.pdsa.org.uk/media/5491/47646_dm-75_recipient-book_01_winkie_digital.pdf
 • Royal Pigeon Racing Association. “Pigeons In War.” https://www.rpra.org/pigeons-in-war/
 • S. Marine Corps Museum. “Sgt. Reckless - Marine War Horse.” https://www.usmcmuseum.com/uploads/6/0/3/6/60364049/sgt._reckless.pdf
 • Wooster, Martin Morse. “Dickin Medal awards, a great philanthropic initiative.” Philanthropy Daily. https://philanthropydaily.com/dickin-medal-awards-a-great-philanthropic-initiative/
 
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Six Impossible Episodes: The Dickin Medal

The possible contenders for the title of inventor of spray paint were actually working across decades. And really, all those people contributed pieces of the story.
 
Research:
 
 • Abplanalp, R.H. “Valve mechanism for dispensing gases and liquids under pressure.” U.S. Patent Office. March 17, 1953. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/e2/65/be/710e864cf870d8/US2631814.pdf
 • “About Binks.” https://binks.com/about-us/
 • Andreassen, Dag. “The world's first spray can?” Teknismuseum. Nov. 6, 2024. https://www.tekniskmuseum.no/en/stories/spray-can
 • “Atomizer.” Smithsonian National Museum of American History. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_721925
 • Baisya, Pramila. “A Brief History of Spray Paint.” UP Magazine. https://upmag.com/a-brief-history-of-spray-paint/
 • Bancroft, Hubert Howe. “The book of the fair; an historical and descriptive presentation of the world's science, art, and industry, as viewed through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.” The Bancroft Co. 1893. https://archive.org/details/bookfair1banca/page/68/mode/2up
 • Bellis, Mary. "The History of Aerosol Spray Cans." ThoughtCo, May. 11, 2025, thoughtco.com/history-of-aerosol-spray-cans-1991231
 • “Boss of the Year Secretary Speaker in Sycamore.” The Sycamore Tribune. April 29, 1960. https://www.newspapers.com/image/898198730/?match=1&terms=Edward%20H.%20Seymour
 • “Definitions of “Aerosol Product” and Related Terms in Various Federal and State Regulations, Standards and Codes.” National Institute od Standards and Technology. February 2012. https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/pml/wmd/Definitions-of-Aerosol-Product.pdf
 • “DeVilbiss Atomizers.” Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology. https://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org/museum/devilbiss-atomizers/
 • “Francis Davis Millet and Millet family papers, 1858-1984, bulk 1858-1955.” Smithsonian. https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/francis-davis-millet-and-millet-family-papers-9048/biographical-note
 • Greenbaum, Hillary and Dana Rubinstein. “The Origin of Spray Paint.” New York Times magazine. Nov. 4, 2011. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/magazine/who-made-spray-paint.html
 • Haberkorn, Stephen. “Seymour of Sycamore: Aerosol Paint Inventor Still Mass Producing.” The Daily Chronicle. May 31, 2014. https://www.newspapers.com/image/183344909/?match=1&terms=%22Nancy%20Seymour%20Heatley%22
 • Linden, Chris. “The 1893 Columbian Exposition: Remembering Chicago’s White City.” Northwest Quarterly. Dec. 10, 2012. https://northwestchicagoland.northwestquarterly.com/2012/12/10/the-1893-columbian-exposition-remembering-chicagos-white-city/
 • “Oslo, Home of the Spray Can.” Oslo Science Park. Sept. 24, 2024. https://www.forskningsparken.no/en/news/2024-oslo-home-of-the-spray-can
 • “A Patent on a Rattle in a Can.” The Lemont Herald. May 22, 1952. https://www.newspapers.com/image/700713398/?match=1&terms=%22Edward%20H.%20Seymour%22
 • Rotheim, Erik. “METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE ATOMIZING OR IDISTRIBUTION OF LIQUID OR SEMI-LIQUID MATERIALS.” United States Patent Office. April 7, 1931. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/f5/fb/c3/05208e6542c01c/US1800156.pdf
 • Seymour, E.H. “HERMETICALLY SEALED PACKAGE FOR MIXING AND DISCHARGING ” Dec. 25, 1951. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/c0/4b/45/2677a2b12e2430/US2580132.pdf
 • “Seymour Man Develops New Spray Device.” The Daily Chronicle. May 27, 1952. https://www.newspapers.com/image/126585367/?match=1&terms=%22Edward%20H.%20Seymour%22
 • “Summary of the Clean Air Act.” EPA. https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-air-act
 
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The Slow Invention of Spray Paint

This 2021 episode covers Eunice Newton Foote, who became the first person to make a connection between the Earth’s temperature and the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere in 1856. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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SYMHC Classics: Eunice Newton Foote

Revisiting our 2016 episode on black Canadian-American Mary Ann Shadd Cary, who became the first woman in North America to publish and edit a newspaper. She advocated against slavery, for better lives for free black people, and for women's rights.

 
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SYMHC Classics: Mary Ann Shadd Cary

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