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After surviving months of fighting, starvation and freezing mountain passes, thousands of Greek soldiers finally stumble across something worth celebrating: an enormous supply of free honey. And naturally, they start helping themselves, but before long, they're barely able to stand! In part one of our mad honey story, we discover how bees around the Black Sea produced this strange substance, before meeting Mithridates, a young prince whose father’s murder left him deeply suspicious of everyone around him as well as his own dinner.  From an army defeated by it's own lunch to the making of the Poison King, this is a story about honey, paranoia and a rather ambitious attempt to become impossible to kill. ------------------------- Thank you to the sponsors of this episode The Stephenson Honey Co. Get 10% off your order at www.stephensonhoney.com when you use offer code FOODHISTORY at checkout. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

There are probably very few people listening to this podcast who don’t already know at least some of the story of the Titanic. But as with all famous stories like this one, there are always miniature sub plots playing out in the background that don’t become quite as famous, but once you hear them add life and color to the story as a whole. Today’s story is just one such tale and stars a man name Charles Joughin. He was the ship’s Chief Baker and on the fateful night of April 14, 1912, he found himself less concerned about the quantities of the following mornings sourdough loaves and somewhat more concerned about the water that was rising all around him. In today's episode we’ll discover just how Charles saved the lives of many on board the ship that night, chief amongst them, his own. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

In Georgian Era London, some of Britain’s most powerful men formed an exclusive dining club devoted almost entirely to eating enormous steaks, drinking heavily and celebrating the virtues of beef. They took their society so seriously that they even appointed their own bishop and when the Prince of Wales told them that he’d like to join their club, they simply told him they had a strict 24 seat policy, and all 24 seats were already full. This is the strange story of The Sublime Society of Beefsteaks. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

In the 1880s, Henry Friend claimed he had invented a secret electrical process that could revolutionise the sugar industry. His demonstrations were convincing and at the time, investors were throwing money at him. But almost nobody was allowed to see how it worked. So what exactly was going on inside his locked refinery? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

War often calls for quick thinking and unconventional tactics, but few battles have ever been won with… potatoes. But, during World War II, the USS O’Bannon, a U.S. Navy destroyer, found itself in a tense standoff with a Japanese submarine. With the enemy dangerously close, too near in fact for their deck guns to be effective, the crew resorted to a rather unexpected weapon.  This is the incredible tale of how the USS O’Bannon used quick thinking, and a well-stocked pantry, to help sink a Japanese submarine. SUBSCRIBE TO THE WILD HISTORY OF WAR: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896816399 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033nrBsVgo8URSbobSZIhU Website: wildhistoryofwar.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

At it’s very core, war is essentially throwing everything you have at your enemy hoping that they break first, and at times that breaking point can be as much a psychological one as a physical one.  Wars of attrition, as in the case of prolonged siege warfare, is all about seeing who can last the longest.  And today's story is all about one of those siege warfare breaking points, and how an army was defeated by a woman who had nothing but her cunning, boldness and two loaves of bread. SUBSCRIBE TO THE WILD HISTORY OF WAR: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896816399 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033nrBsVgo8URSbobSZIhU Website: wildhistoryofwar.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

The entire experience of eating a fancy meal these days is no longer just about the food itself. For decades, chefs like Heston Blumenthal have been creating entire culinary experiences to delight all of your senses at once, pairing sounds, smells and textures along with the already delicious flavours of their food. But while this trend has taken off again more recently, this is by no means a modern practice. In fact, as far back as the early 1600’s an innovative chef by the name of Robert May was creating similar sensory dining experiences all around Elizabethan England. Today, we’ll discover just who this man was, and how he went about revolutionising banquets into what would come to be called his "Spectacle Feasts". ------------------- Thank you to my all of my supporters! We're just one away from 30 Supporters, and it could be YOU! You can support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-aaron-mahnkes-cabinet-of-c-29519194/episode/chefs-table-172173292/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-fantastical-feasts-of-englands-first-celebrity-chefhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_May_(cook) Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

It’s well into the northern european winter season at the end of 1939. Five hundred thousand Russian Soviet Soldiers are making a collective push northwards, swarming the countryside as they go. They are armed to the hilt with tanks, explosives, machine guns, grenades and a staggeringly overwhelming number of troops. But there is one thing that they didn’t count on, one thing that threatened to derail their entire military offensive altogether. And that one thing, was the humble sausage. ------------------- Thank you to my brand-new supporters: Josh LovetereZachary Hedden You too can support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://www.history.com/news/the-bizarre-sausage-war-that-inspired-hitlerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Varolampi_Pondhttps://www.finlandatwar.com/the-sausage-war-an-army-marches-on-its-stomach/https://sofrep.com/news/sausage-war-when-hunger-got-the-best-of-the-soviets/https://short-history.com/sausage-war-733d71767317https://pennytyrrellmcqueen.wixsite.com/togetherapart/single-post/2016/10/26/sausage-war Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

For the majority of history they were considered the ultimate delicacy by European nobility who just couldn’t get enough of them. From snack to status symbol, the pineapple has graced many a King and Queens palace courts, while outside of them they took on a mythical quality akin to some sort of precious jewel. Today, we’ll track the pineapples voyage across the seas and into the history books as it became synonymous with the very peak of royal de rigeour. ------------------- Thank you to our brand-new supporter: Sarah Thompson You too can support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://www.thedailymeal.com/1233796/in-the-1700s-pineapples-were-wildly-expensive-symbols-of-prosperity/https://www.britannica.com/plant/pineapplehttps://www.bimstore.co/resources/10-facts-about-pineappleshttps://www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/a-brief-history-of-foods-pineapplehttps://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/04/25/the-strange-history-of-the-king-pine/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3-uKgiyE3Yhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple#:~:text=Precolonial%20cultivation,-The%20wild%20plant&text=By%20the%20late%201400s%2C%20cropped,it%20into%20India%20by%201550. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

For as long as so-called civilised societies have existed, equally uncivilised clubs and groups have sprung up within them, allowing their members to revel in all sorts of weird and wonderful excesses. In previous episodes we have heard about secret food clubs with a goal of eating every type of animal on earth. Todays story may not be so different, although this clubs members were’nt so picky about reaching any particular goal other that just eating every type of food they could get their hands on. ------------------- Thank you to our 2 brand-new supporters: Frank Morales  Philipp Surkov Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://www.insidehook.com/culture/revisiting-fat-mens-clubshttps://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/07/469571114/the-forgotten-history-of-fat-men-s-clubshttps://www.sunjournal.com/2020/01/19/when-fat-mens-clubs-were-big/https://www.antikeychop.com/fatmensclubhttps://husheduphistory.com/post/141904668068/girth-and-mirth-the-rise-of-the-fat-mens-clubhttps://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/unusual-clubs-in-history Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

Turn on the tv or radio, or scroll any news site online and you’ll no doubt be inundated with stories about crazy weather anomalies happening all around the globe. Volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, earthquakes, tornadoes and so much more. But none of us, thankfully, have ever lived through one of the strangest events in history when something a lot more dense than rain began falling from the skies onto some unsuspecting farmers in the small town of Olympia Springs, Kentucky.  ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/What-Was-the-Kentucky-Meat-Shower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_meat_shower https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzkmgw/the-mystery-of-the-kentucky-meat-shower https://www.popsci.com/story/science/weirdest-thing-meat-shower-kodak-cow-sword-swallower/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/running-ponies/the-great-kentucky-meat-shower-mystery-unwound-by-projectile-vulture-vomit/ https://www.wate.com/news/kentucky/the-great-kentucky-meat-shower-147-years-passed-since-the-kentucky-shower-of-flesh/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lluvia_de_peces https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_of_animals Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

In our modern age we have lived through natural disasters and floods in various parts of the world, and no matter what, they are always tragic. But tragic floods are not always a cause of nature. In episode 7, we discussed the great molasses flood that occurred in Boston and the ensuing devastation of that event. Well today, we’ll be taking a look at a similar, albeit less gloopy tidal wave of destruction that occurred 100 years before that. And, as much as any of us may love a beer every now and then and dream of swimming in a pool of the bubbly liquid, this tragic event was unfortunately no laughing matter. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Beer_Flood https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-London-Beer-Flood-of-1814/ https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/great-beer-flood-1814-what-happened/ https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-london-beer-flood/ https://www.history.com/news/london-beer-flood https://explorethearchive.com/london-beer-flood https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1814-beer-flood-killed-eight-people-180964256/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

This episode is a look at how in the early to mid 1900’s the abolitionist laws banning the production and consumption of alcohol played a majorly significant role in the creation of what, today, is a veritable institution of the American South, NASCAR. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://winstoncupmuseum.com/nascar-and-prohibition/#:~:text=Across%20the%20country%2C%20bootleggers%20had,cases%20of%20liquor%20as%20possible https://www.history.com/news/how-prohibition-gave-birth-to-nascar https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-moonshine-bootlegging-gave-rise-nascar-180962014/ https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/history/nascar-bootleggers.htm https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/nascar-moonshine https://www.ranker.com/list/ways-people-hid-alcohol-during-prohibition/kellen-perry?utm_source=newsletters&utm_medium=weirdhistory&utm_campaign=wh_active&utm_content=%7Bdate%28%27yyyyMMdd%27%29%7D https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-early-american-booze-consumption/rachel-souerbry?utm_source=newsletters&utm_medium=weirdhistory&utm_campaign=wh_active&utm_content=%7Bdate%28%27yyyyMMdd%27%29%7D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

There are many stories throughout history of individuals with freakish appetites, who seem to be able to consume quantities of food well past what a human stomach should be capable of handling. Today, we’ll be diving into the story of Charles Domery, a Polish-born soldier who tried to eat the whole world. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://historianandrew.medium.com/the-man-who-couldnt-stop-eating-including-cats-rats-grass-and-his-friend-s-leg-c7ec7e1fce01https://www.weirdhistorian.com/domery-the-man-who-ate-anything-and-a-whole-lot-of-it/https://allthatsinteresting.com/charles-domeryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Domery Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

For most of history, the Dutch have been an almost all-powerful force to be reckoned with. They were the forerunners for a lot of the world's exploration, and for a long time dominated the seas and trade routes through the stranglehold of the Dutch East India Company. In the preceding century, they were still under Spanish rule, with 2 of their kings, Charles the Fifth and his Son Phillip II, simultaneously ruling as the kings of Spain and the so-called Low Countries of The Netherlands. But the Dutch weren’t having any of this for long and at the first sign of mismanagement, made their feelings known. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://www.historydefined.net/when-the-dutch-murdered-and-ate-their-own-prime-minister/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_de_Witt https://dutchreview.com/culture/dutch-history-crowds-ate-prime-minister/ https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/is-it-true-that-an-angry-mob-of-dutchmen-killed-and-ate-their-own-prime-minister-in-1672/ https://allthatsinteresting.com/johan-de-witt Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support. Thank you to my all of my supporters!  You can also support me over on Patreon starting from just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod