I'm back this week with yet another inspiring underdog story... but make it Christmas! This week, I'll trace the origins of one of the most beloved Christmas characters, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, all the way back to his roots on the desk of a department story copywriter in 1939 Chicago. Robert L. May was down on his luck when his boss at Montgomery Ward asked him to write a children's book that the store could hand out to customers at Christmas time. He was in debt, his wife was dying of cancer, he was struggling to support his 4 year old daughter, and he was far from achieving his dream of becoming a great American writer. But, just like his underrated title character, Robert rose to the occasion and gave the world something it needed, something that mattered.

Read May's original Rudolph manuscript and listen to his daughter Barbara May Lewis read it here!

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• Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)
• Buy some merch
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Sources:

• Time Magazine "The Surprisingly Sad True Story Behind 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer'"
• NPR "The History of 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer'"
• Chicago Tribune "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer..."
• Wikipedia "Robert L. May"
• American Business History Center "Gimbel Brothers Department Stores: Dust to Dust"
• On Location Tours "'Elf' Filming Locations"
• Wikipedia "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"
• The Hollywood Reporter "'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' Most Beloved Holiday Movie, Poll Finds"
• Wikipedia "Johnny Marks"

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Just in time for the 121st anniversary on Tuesday, I bring to you the story of two brothers from Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright, who changed the world forever with their groundbreaking first flight on December 17th, 1903. Though it lasted just 12 seconds, it marks the first powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight, something humans had tried and failed to do for centuries. Join special guest Adonis A. Osekre and me as we delve into the story of the Wright brothers to uncover just how remarkable their achievement really was.

Purchase "Windswept Dreams: The Wright Brothers' Legacy from Kitty Hawk's Dunes and Beyond" by Adonis A. Osekre

Check out askadonis.com

Support the show!

• Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)
• Buy some merch
• Buy Me a Coffee
• Venmo @Shea-LaFountaine

Sources:

• "Remarkable Women of the Outer Banks" by Hannah Bunn West
• "Windswept Dreams: The Wright Brothers' Legacy from Kitty Hawk's Dunes and Beyond" by Adonis A. Osekre
• Encyclopedia Britannica "Wright Brothers"
• National Air and Space Museum "Meet the Wright Family"
• National Air and Space Museum "Who Were the Wright Brothers?"
• National Air and Space Museum "Before the Wrights Were Aviators"
• National Air and Space Museum "Researching the Wright Way"
• National Air and Space Museum "You Just Invented the Airplane, Now What?"
• National Air and Space Museum "Katherine Wright: the Wright Sister"

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I'll pick up where I left off last week, with the storming of the Bastille and the fall of the "ancien regime." We'll explore how, over the next few years, this new France will become more of a hellscape than a paradise. As a radical group, the Jacobins, seizes control, distopia ensues with the September Massacres of 1792, the "Reign of Terror" spanning 1793 to 1794, and the executions of the monarchy. We'll explore how this chaos paves the way for France's next ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte, to seize power for better or for worse. And, we'll look at 4 takeaway lessons from the French Revolution that we can still learn something from today.

Support the show!

• Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)
• Buy some merch
• Buy Me a Coffee
• Venmo @Shea-LaFountaine

Sources:

• Age of Revolutions "4 Cautionary Tales from the French Revolution for Today" by Christine Adams
• biography.com "Louis XVI"
• history.com "French Revolution"
• history.com "Marie Antoinette"
• Encyclopedia Britannica "French Revolution"
• US Office of the Historian "The United States and the French Revolution"
• Chateau de Versailles "Death of Louis XIV"
• UTEP "What the French Revolution Can Teach Us About Inflation"
• Napoleon.org "The Republican Calendar"
• Encyclopedia Britannica "Charlotte Corday"
• The Collector "Marie Antoinette's Death: How Did She Die and Why?"
• Five Minute History "Napoleon: Hero or Tyrant?"

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