Introduction
From the days when there was no greater dare than to sail oceans unknown to centuries of dueling over established territories, humanity’s global priorities are ever evolving. Beneath the halo of glory, exploration and conquest have been marked with punishing twists and tragic turns: superpower Spain defeated at sea, an ill-fated race to the South Pole, the fight for freedom in America. And yet we remain undaunted: There are boundaries still to push. Welcome to a episode 3 from our exciting series, Shocking Events That Made History.
Audio Episode
Episode Transcript
0:03
From the days when there was no greater dare than to sail oceans unknown to centuries of dueling over established territories, humanity’s global priorities are ever evolving. Beneath the halo of glory, exploration and conquest have been marked with punishing twists and tragic turns. superpower Spain defeated at sea an ill fated race to the South Pole the fight for freedom in America, and yet we remain undaunted, there are boundaries still to push. Welcome to a new episode from English plus podcast. This is episode three from our series shocking events that made history we will talk about a lot of interesting or I would have to say shocking events that made history. We will start with LaSalle missing the Mississippi River Captain Cooks untimely and Mallory and Irvine on top of the world Scott South Pole disaster and we will talk about when God switch sides in the war between Catholic Spain and protest and England. We will talk about Leopold’s royal lies cheating Congo, we will talk about Columbus’s New World Order. We will talk about Hernan Cortes and the Spaniard seeking gold. We will talk about a new world colony vanishing. The red faced Redcoats and patriots, the walking purchase on the Delaware and finally an American Polk Tale, which was a stretch of territory and truth. So are you interested? There are a lot of shocking events and interesting to learn about events in today’s episode, episode three from our series shocking events that made history this is your host Danny and this is a new episode from English plus podcast.
1:56
So let’s start talking about LaSalle missing the Mississippi River which happened in July 24 1684. The mission was doomed from the start. Francis Robert Cavalli eight zero de la Sol, the former Jesuit priests turn new and world explorer had told a few fibs to get King Louis the 14th blessing for his latest expedition like that the mouth of the Mississippi River he sought to claim in a return voyage was close enough to launch an invasion of Mexico and that he had the directional sense to find the rivers and again at all, the four ships that set sail on July the 24th 1684 wouldn’t discover the Mississippi mouth by sea as blank. Rather than dwindling crew reduced by pirates, deserters, and syphilis landed 400 miles west along what is now Texas coast, where starvation, disease storms and hostile natives greeted them. As for Lascelles fate, disgruntled survivors shot him in the head, extinguishing him and his ambitions. So that was our first shocking event that made history in this episode. Next we’re going to talk about Captain Cook’s untimely and
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Captain James Cook sailed vast distances from the Pacific Islands to the Arctic and Antarctic. His ventures reshaped how Europeans saw the world but his attempt to find the northwest passage from the Pacific was more than disappointing. In 1778. Cook and his crew ended up in Hawaii after retreating from impenetrable ice in the Bering Sea. The natives there believed cooked to be the physical incarnation of a god and treated him as such. After several peaceful months, the British resumed their expedition, but a broken ship mass soon forced them to return for repairs. Unfortunately, cooks received religious status had turned and so had the natives hospitality. On February the 14th 1779. Tension reached a climax when local ceased cook and former Marines and brutalized them to death leaving to posterity only a few grisly parts of the legendary explorer. That was unfortunately Captain Cook’s untimely and shocking, but true. And now next we’re going to talk about Mallory and Irvine on top of the world, or was it because nobody knows for sure that’s coming next. Don’t go away.
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George Mallory had a simple reason for wanting to Scale Mount Everest because it’s there. The British adventurer told The New York Times in 1923, which was just one year before plummeting to his death on his third attempt to conquer the world’s highest peak. The question lingers was Mallory the first to reach the summit three decades before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay did it in 1953. That question unfortunately was never answered. The only certainty is that the climber and his companion Andrew Irvine were last seen from a distance on June the eighth 1924. To black spots on the crest geologist Knoll O’Dell, who was following behind in support felt sure they would make it to the top then clouds rolled in and obscured the pair. And though Mallory’s well preserved corpse was finally found 75 years after he vanished, that discovery had failed to answer the question of where his ambition went wrong. So that was about Mallory and Irvine, and whether they made it to the top of the world or not, which we never know. But that was definitely a shocking event worthy of being included in our series shocking events that made history. And our next event is as shocking and also has to do with reaching unreachable places, or at least back then. And that was Scott’s South Pole disaster. That’s coming next. So don’t go away. It was one of the greatest feats in the history of exploration, and our job was trek to the very bottom of the world. Sadly, it went from anticipation to disappointment to disaster. Upon reaching the South Pole on January the 17th 1912, Robert Scott discovered that he and his British team weren’t the first to arrive. The Norwegians have forced told us and our first at the poll, Scott recorded in his journal, the frostbitten explorers had nothing to do but turn around. With crushed morale. The five min expeditions succumbed, one by one to cold, disease and exhaustion. Before he died, Scott managed to jot a final message. And here I quote, we took risks. We knew we took them had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood endurance and courage of my companions, which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman, and quote, and that glorious expedition ended in disaster, which was shocking, of course, and that’s why we have it in our shocking events that made history and now we will talk about the next shocking event, and that is when God switch sides that happened in the Catholic Spain versus Protestant England war at sea. That’s coming next,
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don’t go away. Like many a monarch over the centuries, Philip the Second of Spain was convinced that he was the living instrument of the Divine Will. He wants told one of his military commanders, you are engaged in God’s service and in mind, which is the same thing and quote, but Philips notions would be put to the test in an epic sea battle in 1588. Philip was continually vexed by the protests and Queen of England Elizabeth the First, she gave tacit approval to sailors plundering Spanish treasure ships. She furthermore gave military support to protest and rebels in the Spanish Netherlands. Perhaps worst of all, in the Catholic Kings eyes. The queen was a heretic whom the pope declared unfit to rule. Philip was determined to protect the Spanish Golden Age and rid the world of this English menace. And here I quote what he said, I am so convinced that God our Savior must embrace this enterprise as his own cause. That’s what Philip declared. And then he said, that I cannot be dissuaded Philips choice to lead the mission, the Duke of Medina Cydonia was not a promising one. I mean, Cydonia himself protested. He said, My health is not equal to such a voyage for I know by experience of the little I have been at sea that I am always seasick and always his catch cold. That’s what Cydonia said. God had it covered. Philip assured him and he said this is a matter of guided by his hand and he will help you. At the end of May 15 88, the Spanish Armada was launched from newly annexed Portugal 130 ships and as many priests along with nearly 30,000 Soldiers and Sailors, the enemy would be formidable. One officer admitted to the papal envoy with faster and handier ships than ours, and many more long range guns and know their advantages as well as we do. The end of King Phillips divinely inspired mission came on August the eighth 1588. While the Armada was anchored at a small Flemish port, the English battered the fleet with gunfire then launched burning ships into their midst. The Spanish panicked and caught anchor, believing the coup de gras came not at the hands of the English, but from an act of God, a great protest and to wind as they call it, drove the scattered Armada to word the North Sea. And as it attempted to make its way home down the western coast of Ireland, savage storms destroyed much of the remaining fleet, divine providence was with the British elevating England to a world class power and reaffirming the connectedness of religion and politics. Well, at least for the victors. So that was another shocking event that made history from our series shocking events that made history this is episode three, and we’re focusing in this episode on events that changed the map, shocking events, of course, that change the map, and our next event is probably the most shocking in this episode. And that has to do with a royal lie. Leopold’s royal lies cheating Congo.
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That’s coming next don’t go away. King Leopold, the second of Belgium thought little of his European kingdom, and he wants remarked about his kingdom, small country, small people. So Leopold concocted a scheme to snatch what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo and make it his own personal fiefdom. But without money or power, the king could not simply storm into Africa as a conqueror and take his chunk of the continent, he had to present himself to the world as a humanitarian, eager to improve the plight of less fortunate people. A royal lie as I told you, his charade was frighteningly successful, laying the groundwork for devastation that has been called the African holocaust. On September the 1218 76, the king open the Brussels geographical conference, which was a convocation of the world’s leading African explorers, scientists and philanthropists. I insist the King wrote in a confidential note to the delegates, I insist on the completely charitable, completely scientific and philanthropic nature of the aim to be achieved. It is not a question of a business proposition. It is a matter of a completely spontaneous collaboration between all those who wish to engage in introducing civilization to Africa. I mean, the strange thing is that and it’s still happening today that whenever a country driven only by greed, and they want to go somewhere, the first reason that comes to mind is introducing civilization to that place. Well, at least let’s stick to our story here with King Leopold, because that’s not going to hurt anybody’s feelings, but you know what I mean, anyway, back to the royal lie of Leopold. So that’s what Leopold declared what a lie he declared to the gathered delegates that Belgium was contended with her lot as a small country with no colonial ambitions and that he was simply pleased to be able to enact such a worthy endeavor for the betterment of the world. Wow, Royal lie as I told you, the benevolent Belgian King in Chen two delegates, sir Rutherford alcholic, reported to the Royal Geographical Society. He said science and philanthropy could not have been united under higher or better auspices. And here of course, he means Leopold’s action in so great a scheme as the opening of Africa and the suppression of a slave trade which devastates the whole continent was singular. totally appropriate. Well, that’s what Sir Rutherford alcohol reported to the Royal Geographical Society. And I’m quoting what he said. So obviously, that should tell you how great Leopold’s lie was and how convincing it was. And now armed with the world’s deluded belief in his altruism, King Leopold infiltrated the Congo made it his private property, and for the next three decades engaged in what author Paul Thoreau called one of the strangest and most violence episodes of empire the world has known Leopold enslaved, murdered and maimed millions in his unquenchable lust for profit from rubber and ivory. It was an abomination from which the Democratic Republic of the Congo has still not recovered. One unlikely silver lining emerged from this dark cloud. A few more progressively minded leaders embarked on an energetic campaign to publicize Leopold’s atrocities in the Congo. They succeeded spawning a major human rights movement that was a precursor to watch groups like Amnesty International, but unfortunately, that was a mere reaction and the people who were lost there because of a lie and the greed of one man or too many. And as I said, the Congo is still recovering still hasn’t recovered from this great tragedy that befell them because of this King Leopold and as some called it, the African holocaust. So that was absolutely the most shocking event that I have for today’s episode. But let’s move on. And let’s talk about the next shocking event
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that might not be as shocking as Leopold’s royal life, but it is as shocking especially that a lot of people don’t know this specific thing about Christopher Columbus. When you talk about Christopher Columbus, everybody praises this man as the one who discovered the New World. And while part of this is true, Belle, there is something shocking you might not have known about this man about Christopher Columbus. And that’s what we’re going to talk about next. So don’t go away. Christopher Columbus received the warmest of welcomes when he first arrived in the New World on October the 12th 14th 92. And he immediately claimed for Spain, a Bahama, an island that he named San Salvador. The native people were so excited to see him that they swam out to his ship, the Pinter to offer greetings, they explore in turn was much impressed by their gentle hospitality. And here I quote what Christopher Columbus said. They brought us parrots and bowls of cotton and spears, and many other things. They willingly traded everything they own. They were well built with good bodies and handsome features. They do not bear arms and do not know them, or I showed them a sword. They took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron, their spears are made of Cain. Columbus saw vast potential in the natives. He met that fateful day. And he continued on and said, they would make fine servants with 50 men, we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. That was in the words of the great Christopher Columbus himself. I don’t know if you still see him as great. But regardless of how you see the man, I mean, the man died a long time ago. But anyway, that is definitely a detail often overlooked in centuries of Columbus Day celebrations. And that was this shocking event. And the next one will continue on talking about explorers, but of course, this one we’re going to talk about is known for his notoriety and we’re talking about Hernan Cortes in the age of Spanish conquistadores seeking gold in the new world that’s coming next, so don’t go away
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the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes had already he left a bloody trail of corpses behind him as he marauding through Mexico and his smug sense of cultural superiority demonstrated at every opportunity was matched only by his insatiable greed for gold. One contemporary recorded the excitement of Cortez and his men when they were given gifts of gold. And he wrote, quote, They appeared to smile, to rejoice exceedingly like monkeys. They seized upon the gold, it was as if then the They were satisfied Satan and gladden and quote, despite their rapacious behavior, the Aztec ruler Moctezuma, the second for some reason, allowed Cortes inside the capital of Tenochtitlan when the conquistador came calling on November the eighth 15th 19 Cortez accepted the Kings hospitality and his lavish gifts. Then, as a thank you, he made his host a prisoner in his own palace, less than eight months later Moctezuma The second was dead, and the great Aztec empire fell soon thereafter. So that was one of the shocking events that made history and the next one has to do with a new world as well. But we’re going to talk about a new world colony that vanished that happened in 5090. So you want to learn about that? Stick around, because that’s what we’re going to talk about next, don’t go away. More than 20 years before Jamestown was established in Virginia, in 1607, there was another British colony in America rolling up a settlement on the coast of what is now North Carolina, all of its inhabitants disappeared in the span of a few years without explanation. establishing colonies in the New World was a brutal business. disease, starvation and tenuous relationships with natives all contributed to hardship. Yet, even for the settlements that failed, there was usually a historic record detailing why except in the case of Roanoke, when John White appointed governor of the colony returned to Roanoke with replenishments from England on August the 1850 90, he found no sign of the 115 men, women and children he had left their two clues survived the word Croatoan. Maybe it is pronounced in a different way, but it is CR OATOAN Corolla two one or Crotone or something like that. It was carved into a fence post and Crow etched into a tree. Centuries later, the loss remains among America’s greatest mysteries. So shocking, right? And for the next shocking event, we will remain in America but we will fast forward to 1777 We’ll talk about red faced Redcoats and patriots that’s coming next
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don’t go away. It was a Revolutionary era stealth operation worthy of the Navy Seals and it was a serious blow to British prestige. In the early hours of July the 1017 77. Rhode Island Patriot Colonel William Barton and a band of about 40 Men silently made their way across Narragansett Bay, which was then teeming with British warships. After overcoming a century the men slipped into British General Richard Prescott’s house and surprised him in his bed. They had come to snatch him away, gentleman, Prescott explained, your business requires haste but do for God’s sake, let me get my clothes. And here Barton responded by God, it is no time for clothes, after which the half naked captive was led through the bushes and shoved the board awaiting boat. Miraculously, the kidnappers made it back across the bay without being intercepted. Even more embarrassing to general Prescott. This was not his first time being taken prisoner. The same thing had happened two years earlier in Canada. He is not much regretted the British official Ambrose sir remarked indifferently of Prescott’s loss. Nevertheless, the captured general literally stripped of his dignity was later exchanged for the American General Charles Lee, who ironically had been taken by the British the previous December wearing only his night gown. The Patriots were not immune to humiliation either. One rather weighty embarrassment was the betrayal of one of their greatest generals. Reacting to perceived slights and lack of appreciation, Benedict Arnold hatched a plot to deliver West Point then under his command to the British, when he learned his treachery had been discovered he fled from his home on the morning of September the 24th 1780. Right before a bland breakfast with his one time commander George Washington, the man Arnold considered most responsible for his chronic low standing, Arnold boarded the appropriately named British sloop of war, HMS vulture on the Hudson River. It might be truly sad that One vulture was receiving another and that’s what Thomas Paine wrote about it. But Arnold would be back this time under the British flag. In 1781, he led a raid on his former neighbors in New London, Connecticut, burning the town to the ground. The commander was not embraced when he returned to London, England either. Nobody likes a traitor on either side of the fence. So that was our shocking story of red faced Redcoats and patriots and next we’re going to talk about the walking purchase on the Delaware, pulling a fast one on the Delaware. That’s what we’re going to talk about next. So don’t go away and stick around to learn about that, too. William Ben tried to deal fairly with the Lennon the Indians who had long inhabited the lands of his Royal Colony, his sons did not follow his example. Eager for more territory, Thomas and John Penn produced what many historians consider a bogus document supposedly from their fathers days under which the Delaware Lenna B would cede as much land as a man could walk in a day and a half. The Indian leaders reluctantly agreed to the treaty assuming that the so called Walking purchase would be implemented justly. Instead, three of the hardiest men in Pennsylvania were hired to track along the path that had been marked and cleared of brush. On September the 19th 1737. The men sped off the natives reacted with disgust, observing that the white men didn’t walk fair, their protest was to no avail. By the next day, the one Walker who hadn’t dropped out of exhaustion had covered 60 miles and enormous chunk of the Delaware Indians homeland, the Delaware did not fade quietly into the Midwest, though, the tribe joined French forces to ravage the Pennsylvania countryside in the 1750s. And act that many perceived as a direct response to the walking purchase dope. That was our shocking event. And we are left with one last shocking event that has to do with President James Polk and what we’re going to call an American portail a stretch of territory and of truth as well. That’s coming next. That’s going to be the last shocking event for this episode. So
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you don’t want to miss that. We’re going to talk about that next. On May the 11th 1846, President James K. Polk stood before Congress and declared that Mexico posed an immediate threat to the United States. foreign troops, he said, had crossed the border and shed American blood upon the American soil. And here I quote what he said it wasn’t true. Mexico had not invaded but had clashed with US troops undisputed land that Mexican civilians occupied. In fact, the only real threat Mexico posed was that it stood in the way of America’s manifest destiny to grow westward. Though bold God is war, a young Illinois Congressman named Abraham Lincoln disputed his claims, Lincoln was branded a traitor in some circles, but mostly he was ignored. The United States was winning the war, or is to reap the substantial benefits that victory entailed. And no one was too eager to question why it started a year and nine months after it began, and nearly 13,000 American fatalities later, the conflict added to US territory 1.2 million square miles that stretched from Texas to California, more than a third of the nation’s previous size. With the southwest region firmly in its possession, the young country began to fulfill its fate as continental superpower. And with that, we come to the last shocking event for this episode. But that’s not going to be the last shocking event in the series. Remember, the series will go on and next week, we’re going to have more shocking events and and you episode so stay tuned. And by the way, let me tell you about the other things as well. The other series that are running at the moment, we have other series like the great mysteries and Essential Guide to your body and brain immortal books. And of course, our word power. It’s not a series, but it is a regular episode that we have every week. And on top of that, we’re going to have stories and I’m just choosing from the best stories out there. And we’re going to have very short introductions to everything. And remember we talked about autism not a long time ago, and next time we’re going to talk about cancer and don’t underestimate these things and think that you know everything about them because sometimes you We think we know about these things we know everything there is to know about these things. But when you start to do some research, you discover a lot of things. I’m not gonna say shocking so that you don’t link it to this series. But there are a lot of interesting things you never knew about these things. So stay tuned, a lot is coming your way. And of course, for those of you who are noticing that English plus is getting back to its original self of one new episode every day, because English plus started as a daily podcast, well, can’t we slowed down a little bit, because of many reasons. But now we’re back on track. And we are back to one new episode every day. So stay tuned and choose the series you’re interested in the most, or maybe listen to all of them. Because all of this series are interesting. So don’t miss out on these things. And don’t forget that you can find a lot more on my website English plus podcast.com. So you can visit the website. And you can also become a patron to support the show and support me as a content creator, if you would like to have more of the same good stuff that I’m creating. And on top of that, you will get a lot of benefits as a patron including some exclusive audio series, and you will have free coupons to my upcoming courses on Udemy and on other platforms. And there’s a word power course coming up so you don’t want to miss out on that. And with that we come to the end of this episode and this is your host Danny I would like to thank you very much for listening to another episode from English plus podcast. I will see you next time.
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