define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true); define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true); History Schmistory – Team Marco Polo http://www.teammarcopolo.com Smarter Kids. Smaller World. Sun, 09 Nov 2025 00:40:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 Copyright © Team Marco Polo 2013 teammarcopolo@gmail.com (Team Marco Polo) teammarcopolo@gmail.com (Team Marco Polo) http://www.teammarcopolo.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg Team Marco Polo http://www.teammarcopolo.com/blog 144 144 Smarter Kids. Smaller World. Team Marco Polo Team Marco Polo teammarcopolo@gmail.com no no History Schmistory: November 30. Jersey Shake. http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-30-jersey-shake/ Sun, 30 Nov 2025 12:00:08 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2276 1783: A magnitude 5.3 earthquake strikes New Jersey, the largest in the state’s history. Citizens threaten to punch the earth in the face.

 

Armand85 at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Armand85 at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

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History Schmistory: November 29. Going South. http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-29-going-south/ Sat, 29 Nov 2025 12:00:58 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2273 1929: U.S. Admiral Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole. Say, if Santa Claus lives in the North Pole, then who lives in the South Pole? Could it be…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus#/media/File:Gruss_vom_Krampus.jpg

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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History Schmistory: November 28. “Someone should invent the windshield.” http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-28-someone-should-invent-the-windshield/ Fri, 28 Nov 2025 12:00:59 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2270 1895: The first American automobile race takes place along a 54 mile stretch between Chicago’s Jackson Park and Evanston, Illinois. In a little over 10 hours, Frank Duryea wins by a two hour nose. Here we see the thrill of their victory…

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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History Schmistory: November 26. “Someone’s here… Places!” http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-26-someones-here-places/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 12:00:05 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2267 1922: Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (“King Tut”) in over 3000 years, giving the King ample time to perfect his moment in the spotlight…

By Bjørn Christian Tørrissen [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Bjørn Christian Tørrissen [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

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History Schmistory: November 25. “Take my money, just make it stop!”` http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-25-take-my-money-just-make-it-stop/ Tue, 25 Nov 2025 12:00:53 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2261 1984: In a Band-Aid charity event, 36 top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and pretend to enjoy singing Do They Know It’s Christmas to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. While it was certainly a great cause for Ethiopia, the only thing it caused elsewhere was severe auditory hemorrhaging

By Ecallow (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Ecallow (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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History Schmistory: November 24. Gone Apey. http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-24-gone-apey/ Mon, 24 Nov 2025 12:00:49 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2264 1859: Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, introducing the scientific theory of natural selection, which suggests, among many things, that humans evolved from apes. Many tempers flare, while other imaginations run wild!

By Cover designer Unknown. Book written by Pierre Boulle. (ebay posting) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By Cover designer Unknown. Book written by Pierre Boulle. (ebay posting) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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History Schmistory: November 23. Music to your ear-holes. http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-23-music-to-your-ear-holes/ Sun, 23 Nov 2025 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2247

For a nickel apiece a thrilled group tunes in on a screechy jukebox of the 1890s.
Photo: Bettmann/Corbis

 

1889: The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. Originally named the “nickel-in-the-slot-player”, the machine caused a such a sensation that people didn’t even mind exchanging earwax…

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History Schmistory: November 22. Maynaaaarrrrrrrrd! http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-22-maynaaaarrrrrrrrd/ Sat, 22 Nov 2025 12:00:04 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2244

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

1718: Off the coast of North Carolina, renowned and dreaded English pirate Edward Teach, the original “Blackbeard”, is killed during a battle with a small battalion of the Royal Navy, led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
They cut off his head and fastened it to the bow of the ship for all to see. As for the beard, the Lieutenant had his own plans…

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History Schmistory: November 21. News from the Prince of Patents. http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-21-news-from-the-prince-of-patents/ Fri, 21 Nov 2025 12:00:16 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2242 1877: Thomas Edison announces his latest invention, the phonograph, the first instrument able to reproduce a recorded sound, and one of the few inventions Edison might actually deserve a little credit for.

By Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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History Schmistory: November 20. MS-DOS this get easier? http://www.teammarcopolo.com/2025/11/history-schmistory-november-20-ms-dos-this-get-easier/ Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:00:38 +0000 http://www.teammarcopolo.com/?p=2240 1985: Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released. Laypersons rejoice!

By Microsoft. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By Microsoft. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

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