January
-
1 Jan, 1762: Cock Lane Ghost mystery
- This started in London first week in 1762 and includes murder allegations, a ghost and a haunted house.
Ep. #203
2 Jan, 1860: Planet Vulcan
- The discovery of the planet Vulcan, orbiting between Mercury and the Sun was announced by the French Acadademy of Sciences. It later turned out not to exist.
Ep. #055
4 Jan, 1581: James Ussher (born this day)
- Prolific Irish scholar and church leader, famous for his chronology that sought to establish the time and date of the creation
Ep. #153
6 Jan, 1920: Doris Stokes (born this day)
- Self-proclaimed psychic and ‘claireaudient’.
Ep. #204
8 Jan, 1823: Alfred Russel Wallace (born this day)
- British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection.
Ep. #256
8 Jan, 1981: Trans-en-Provence Case
- UFO sighting in France
Ep. #307
11 Jan, 1906: Albert Hoffman (born this day)
- Swiss scientist and discoverer of LSD-25
Ep. #107
13 Jan, 1404: Act Against Multipliers
- This act made it illegal to create silver or gold using alchemy
Ep. #005
16 Jan, 1964: Massimo Pigliucci (born this day)
20 Jan, 1612: Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (died this day)
- Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the House of Habsburg.
Ep. #258
21 Jan, 1789: Baron d’Holbach (died this day)
- French-German philosopher, encyclopedist, writer, and prominent figure in the French Enlightenment
Ep. #309
21 Jan, 1854: Eusapia Palladino (born this day)
- Italian spiritualist physical medium
Ep. #057
22 Jan, 1561: Sir Francis Bacon (born this day)
- English philosopher and Statesman
Ep. #155
23 Jan, 1943: Stanisław Burzyński (born this day)
- Founder of The Burzynski Clinic, is a controversial clinic offering an unproven cancer treatment
Ep. #109
24 Jan, 1928: Desmond Morris (born this day)
- British zoologist and anthropologist. He was instrumental in popularizing the Aquatic Ape hypothesis.
Ep. #206
25 Jan, 1900: Theodosius Dobzhansky (born this day)
- Ukrainian-American evolutionary biologist
Ep. #310
27 Jan, 1950: Derek Acorah (born this day)
- Brittish spiritual medium
Ep. #007
29 Jan, 1986: The Height 611 UFO incident
- Known as ‘Russia’s own Roswell incident’.
Ep. #207
30 Jan, 1948: Edzard Ernst (born this day)
- Retired academic physician and researcher specializing in the study of complementary and alternative medicine
Ep. #156
31 Jan, 1911: Grandmother (“Baba”) Vanga (born this day)
- Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant, and herbalist.
Ep. #059
31 Jan, 2021: INH (Informationsnetzwerk Homöopathie, or Information Network Homeopathy)
- INH is a German association of homeopathy critics . The association is part of the GWUP (the German Skeptics).
Ep. #259
February
-
2 Feb, 2010: Andrew Wakefield’s paper
- The Lancet formally retracts Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 paper
Ep. #311
5 Feb, 2011: 1023 Campaign
- The 1023 global homeopathy challenge happened on 5 February 2011.
Ep. #260
6 Feb, 1999: Skeptics in the Pub
- The first ever skeptical pub was held this date in London
Ep. #111
8 Feb, 1834: Dimitri Mendeleev (born this day)
- Russian chemist and inventor. He is best known for formulating the Periodic Law and creating a farsighted version of the periodic table of elements.
Ep. #312
8 Feb, 1855: Devil’s Footprints
- A series of strange footprints was reported from around the Exe Estuary in East and South Devon, England
Ep. #110
10 Feb, 1937: Anne Anderson (born this day)
- Reproductive physiologist, forerunner of evidence based medicine
Ep. #009
10 Feb, 1947: Oliver Lodge‘s letters
- Oliver Lodge‘s last letter was opened, failing to prove that psychics are real
Ep. #157
12 Feb, 1809: Charles Darwin (born this day)
- English naturalist, geologist and biologist.
Ep. #209
13 Feb, 1923: Philippe de Cherisey (born this day)
- French writer, radio humorist, surrealist and supporting actor. He is best known for his creation of fake parchments
Ep. #158
15 Feb, 1564: Galileo Galilei (born this day)
- the “father of modern science”
Ep. #061
19 Feb, 1473: Nicolaus Copernicus (born this day)
- Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon. He formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center.
Ep. #262
22 Feb, 1997: Dolly the sheep
- Presentation of Dolly to the press.
Ep. #263
22 Feb, 2004: Andrew Wakefield
- Brian Deer’s landmark investigation into the Wakefield fraud was published
Ep. #113
22 Feb, 2010: Homeopathy
- The British Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee published its damning Evidence Check on homeopathy
Ep. #159
23 Feb, 1455: Gutenberg Bible
- First book printed using reusable metal types
Ep. #314
24 Feb, 1588: Johann Weyer (died this day)
- Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist
Ep. #011
27 Feb, 1971: Derren Brown (born this day)
March
-
3 Mar, 1968: Brian Cox (born this day)
- English physicist and former musician who is a professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester and The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science.
Ep. #264
4 Mar, 2002: Bankrupsy of David Irwing
- David Irving, famous holocaust denier, was declared bankrupt on 4 March 2002, after losing a libel suit against a writer who published a book about his “research”.
Ep. #212
9 Mar, 1847: Mary Anning (died this day)
- English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist
Ep. #115
9 Mar, 1934: Yuri Gagarin (born this day)
10 Mar, 1969: Massimo Polidoro (born this day)
- Italian psychologist, writer, journalist, television personality, co-founder and executive director of the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudoscience (CICAP)
Ep. #316
14 Mar, 1835: Giovanni Schiaparelli (born this day)
- Astronomer who believed he had discovered ‘canali‘ on Mars
Ep. #162
14 Mar, 2018: Stephen Hawking (died this day)
- English theoretical physicist, cosmologist
Ep. #117
15 Mar, 1848: Hungarian Revolution of 1848
- On this day the Hungarian Revolution broke out against Habsburg absolutism. People today have many misconceptions about what happened and why.
Ep. #317
18 Mar, 1981: Quark
- Premiere of Italian science program Quark hosted by skeptic Piero Angela
Ep. #163
19 Mar, 1992: Hungarian Skeptic Society
- Predecessor the Hungarian Skeptic Society, Tényeket Tisztelők Társasága was founded on 19th March 1992.
Ep. #266
20 Mar, 1726: Sir Isaac Newton (died this day)
- English mathematician, astronomer and physicist
Ep. #065
22 Mar, 1832: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (died this day)
- German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic
Ep. #117
23 Mar, 1907: Daniel Bovet (born this day)
- Swiss-born Italian pharmacologist who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Ep. #015
23 Mar, 1919: Italian Fascist Party
- Benito Mussolini, an Italian World War I veteran and publisher of Socialist newspapers, breaks with the Italian Socialists and establishes the nationalist Fasci di Combattimento
Ep. #318
26 Mar, 1941: Richard Dawkins (born this day)
- British evolutionary biologist and author.
Ep. #215
27 Mar, 1845: Wilhelm Röntgen (born this day)
- German mechanical engineer and physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the inaugural Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.
Ep. #267
29 Mar, 1939: UK Cancer Act of 1939
- This act was passed, most significantly to regulate advertising claims of cancer cures
Ep. #164
30 Mar, 1925: Rudolf Steiner (died this day)
- Founder of Anthroposophy
Ep. #067
31 Mar, 1596: René Descartes (born this day)
- French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who invented analytic geometry, linking the previously separate fields of geometry and algebra.
Ep. #268
April
-
1 Apr, 2010: Simon Singh
- Simon Singh wins “fair comment” libel appeal against BCA
Ep. #319
1 Apr, 2019: Internet Pranks
- We go through some examples
Ep. #165
2 Apr, 2008: Rupert Sheldrake was stabbed
- The incident happened after a lecture on April 2, 2008.
Ep. #216
5 Apr, 2012: Founding of ComCept
- Comunidade Céptica Portuguesa (English: Portuguese Skeptical Community), is a Portuguese project dedicated to scientific skepticism, created to promote rational and critical thinking about paranormal and pseudoscientific claims from a scientific point of view.
Ep. #269
6 Apr, 1956: Chris French (born this day)
- British psychologist specialising in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences, cognition and emotion. He is the head of the University of London’s anomalistic Psychology Research Unit and appears regularly in the media as an expert on testing paranormal claims.
Ep. #320
6 Apr, 1961: Jules Bordet (died this day)
- Belgian bacteriologist and immunologist
Ep. #017
10 Apr, 1755: Samuel Hahneman (born this day)
- German physician, best known for creating homeopathy.
Ep. #166
11 Apr, 1903: Gemma Galgani (died this day)
- Italian mystic and saint
Ep. #069
12 Apr, 1888: Premature obituary for Alfred Nobel
- 12 April 1888, a French newspaper allegedly published an obituary for Albert Nobel, inventor of dynamite, calling him “a merchant of death”, prompting Nobel to launch his esteemed award.
Ep. #217
12 Apr, 1955: Polio
- Polio vaccine declared safe
Ep. #119
13 Apr, 1949: Christopher Hitchens (born this day)
- Journalist and prominent atheist
Ep. #018
14 Apr, 1629: Christiaan Huygens (born this day)
- Dutch mathematician, physicist, astronomer and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time and a major figure in the scientific revolution.
Ep. #321
14 Apr, 1935: Erich von Däniken (born this day)
- Swiss author of several books which make claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, including the best-selling Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968. Von Däniken is one of the main figures responsible for popularizing the “paleo-contact” and ancient astronauts hypotheses.
Ep. #270
19 Apr, 1943: First deliberate LSD trip
- On this day Albert Hofmann chose to deliberately ingest 250 micrograms of the Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) he had synthesized at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland. Three days earlier he had accidentally absorbed some through his skin by touching a container of the drug. From the accidental exposure he experienced restlessness, dizziness and “extreme activity of imagination.” Although he had first made it five years before, as a drug intended to relieve respiratory ailments, it was only on this day that he found the drug was a hallucinogen. The striking experience was one he chose to repeat.
Ep. #218
20 Apr, 1889: Adolph Hitler (born this day)
- German dictator
Ep. #019
20 Apr, 1902: Radium isolated
- Marie and Pierre Curie isolated radium for the first time on 20 April 1902.
Ep. #271
20 Apr, 1959: Wim Hof (born this day)
- Wim Hof, (“the Iceman”), is extraordinarily resistant to extreme cold. His Wim Hof Method (WHM) combines breathing exercises, cold exposure, and meditation. Hyperventilation has been shown to reduce the body’s response to inflammation, but Hof’s extravagant claims of health benefits are not supported by scientific evidence.
Ep. #322
21 Apr, 1932: Iván Almár (born this day)
- Hungarian astronomer and prominent figure of SETI and the Hungarian skeptic movement
Ep. #167
26 Apr, 1986: Chernobyl disaster
- The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union.
Ep. #272
29 Apr, 1380: Catherine of Siena (died this day)
- Mystic, activist, author, and lay member of the Dominican Order
Ep. #071
30 Apr, 1878: Germ Theory
- Louis Pasteur presents his Germ Theory
Ep. #168
May
-
1 May, 1776: The Illuminati in Bavaria
- Founding of the mythical organisasion
Ep. #122
4 May, 1825: Thomas Henry Huxley (born this day)
- Known as “Darwin’s Bulldog” for his persistent and relentless defence of Darwin’s theory of evolusion
Ep. #021
5 May, 1813: Søren Kierkegaard (born this day)
- Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher.
Ep. #273
6 May, 1983: Adolf Hitler
- Stern Magazine admitted that they had spent 19 million marks on fake Hitler diaries
Ep. #169
8 May, 1926: David Attenborough (born this day)
- English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author
Ep. #324
10 May, 1978: UFO abduction in Poland
- An alleged alien abduction in Poland on May 10, 1978 is now commemorated with a stone memorial.
Ep. #221
12 May, 1820: Florence Nightingale (born this day)
- English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing
Ep. #073
13 May, 1917: Apparitions of Our Lady of Fàtima
- The first of several apparitions of the virgin Mary in Fàtima, Portugal
Ep. #325
14 May, 1796: First Smallpox inoculation
- On this day, Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox inoculation
Ep. #274
15 May, 2009: Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VTDK)
- VTDK wins court case
Ep. #170
18 May, 1959: Ranga Yogeshwar (born this day)
- Luxembourgish physicist and science journalist.
Ep. #275
19 May, 1941: Heinz Oberhummer (born this day)
- Austrian physicist and skeptic.
Ep. #326
19 May, 1962: Colin Fry (born this day)
- English television personality, entertainer and self-proclaimed medium
Ep. #124
20 May, 2010: Everybody Draw Mohammed Day
- Event in support of artists threatened with violence for drawing representations of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Ep. #023
21 May, 1911: Peter Hurkos (born this day)
- Dutchman who allegedly manifested extrasensory perception (ESP) after recovering from a head injury and coma.
Ep. #223
22 May, 1859: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (born this day)
- British writer and physician
Ep. #075
26 May, 1897: Bram Stoker’s Dracula
- First publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Ep. #276
28 May, 1807: Louis Agassiz (born this day)
- Swiss-American biologist and geologist, founder of glaciology – and creationist.
Ep. #224
31 May, 1725: Fake fossils
- Fake fossils accepted as genuine by Johann Beringer
Ep. #172
June
-
2 Jun, 1740: Marquis de Sade (born this day)
- Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his libertine sexuality.
Ep. #277
3 Jun, 1873: Otto Loewi (born this day)
- German-born pharmacologist and psychobiologist
Ep. #025
5 Jun, 1921: Gérard de Sède, baron de Liéoux (born this day)
- French author, writing under the nom-de-plume of Gérard de Sède, and a member of various surrealist organizations
Ep. #225
6 Jun, 1975: European Common Market
- UK referendum to join European Common Market
Ep. #173
8 Jun, 1916: Francis Crick (born this day)
- British molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin played crucial roles in deciphering the helical structure of the DNA molecule.
Ep. #278
9 Jun, 2014: Creationism
- Teaching creationism as science was banned in public schools in the UK.
Ep. #226
10 Jun, 1895: Immanuel Velikovsky (born this day)
- Russian, Israeli, and American scholar, known as the author of a number of controversial books reinterpreting the events of ancient history
Ep. #126
12 Jun, 1922: Margherita Hack (born this day)
- Italian astrophysicist, activist and was also a co-founder of CICAP
Ep. #174
15 Jun, 1941: Evelyn Underhill (died this day)
- English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice
Ep. #077
16 Jun, 1858: John Snow (died this day)
- The father of modern epidemiology, died on 16 June 1858. He is famous for tracking down the source of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in London.
Ep. #227
17 Jun, 1603: Joseph of Cupertino (born this day)
- Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, Christian mystic and saint
Ep. #027
17 Jun, 1832: William Crookes (born this day)
- Great british chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry but also was a believer in spiritualism.
Ep. #175
19 Jun, 1623: Blaise Pascal (born this day)
- French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, writer and Catholic theologian.
Ep. #279
19 Jun, 1795: James Braid (born this day)
- Scottish surgeon and “gentleman scientist”
Ep. #128
24 Jun, 1374: Medieval Dancing Plague
- The strange “Medieval Dancing Plague” broke out this day in Aachen, Germany
Ep. #228
26 Jun, 1943: Karl Landsteiner (died this day)
- Austrian biologist, physician, and immunologist.
Ep. #280
30 Jun, 1860: The Oxford Evolution Debate
- Best remembered for Thomas Henry Huxley telling Bishop Samuel Wilberforce that he would not be ashamed to have a monkey for his ancestor, but he would be ashamed to be connected with a man who used his great gifts to obscure the truth (the exact wording is debated).
Ep. #079
30 Jun, 1894: Tower Bridge
- Opening by the Prince of Wales. The story about how Robert P McCulloch was conned into buying London Bridge thinking he actually paid for Tower Bridge in 1968 is just an urban myth.
Ep. #176
July
-
1 Jul, 1818: Ignaz Semmelweis (born this day)
- Ethnic German-Hungarian physician and scientist born in the Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire, now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. He discovered that doctors washing hands drastically drove down deaths in maternity wards.
Ep. #229
1 Jul, 1976: Anneliese Michel (died this day)
- German woman killed by exorsism
Ep. #029
2 Jul, 1946: Peter Popoff (born this day)
- German-born American televangelist and debunked clairvoyant and faith healer. He was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, addresses, and ailments of audience members during Popoff-led religious services.
Ep. #281
6 Jul, 1885: Louis Pasteur
- Louis Pasteur saves boy from rabies with his new vaccine, but also cut quite a few corners in ways that would never be allowed today (if even then).
Ep. #177
6 Jul, 1885: Rabies vaccine
- On 6 July 1885, Louis Pasteur successfully demonstrated a working Rabies vaccine.
Ep. #230
8 Jul, 1857: Alfred Binet (born this day)
- French psychologist.
Ep. #178
10 Jul, 1856: Nikola Tesla (born this day)
- Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.
Ep. #282
14 Jul, 1933: Eugenics
- The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring in Nazi Germany was made into act
Ep. #130
14 Jul, 1951: Photo of Loch Ness
- The most iconic and known supposed picture of the mythical creature
Ep. #081
15 Jul, 1834: The Spanish Inquisition
- After several years of attempts to end it, it was finally abolished by Royal Decree
Ep. #031
17 Jul, 1954: Angela Merkel (born this day)
- German politician and scientist.
Ep. #283
19 Jul, 1936: David Colquhoun (born this day)
- British Pharmacologist and prominent skeptic.
Ep. #179
20 Jul, 1822: Gregor Mendel (born this day)
- Meteorologist, mathematician, biologist, Augustinian friar and abbot.
Ep. #284
26 Jul, 1875: Carl Jung (born this day)
- Carl Jung continues to be an extremely influential figure in the history of psychology despite that he got most of it wrong.
Ep. #132, Ep. #232, Ep. #285
28 Jul, 1902: Karl Popper (born this day)
- Austrian philosopher of Science
Ep. #083
29 Jul, 1862: Eduard Brückner (born this day)
- German geographer, meteorologist, glaciologist and climate scientist
Ep. #033
29 Jul, 1951: Susan Blackmore (born this day)
- British writer, lecturer, skeptic, broadcaster, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth. Her fields of research include memetics, parapsychology, consciousness, and she is best known for her book The Meme Machine.
Ep. #233
31 Jul, 1831: Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (born this day)
- Russian author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875
Ep. #035
August
-
1 Aug, 1744: Lamarck (born this day)
- Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck, or ‘Lamarck’, was born. He was a French naturalist with not entirely correct ideas about the evolution of species and although he was wrong about how it works, he still set the stage for Darwin, who was born about sixty years later.
Ep. #181
7 Aug, 1928: James ‘the Amazing’ Randi (born this day)
- ‘Grandfather of Skepticism’
Ep. #182
7 Aug, 1948: Lysenkoism
- Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences announced that from that point on Lysenkoism would be taught as “the only correct theory”.
Ep. #234
7 Aug, 1987: Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim (born this day)
- German chemist, science communicator, television presenter and YouTuber.
Ep. #286
13 Aug, 1956: The Lakenheath-Bentwaters Incident
- A series of radar and visual contacts with unidentified flying objects over airbases in eastern England
Ep. #085
15 Aug, 1977: the Wow! signal
- the Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal received on August 15, 1977, by Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope in the United States.
Ep. #235
17 Aug, 2006: ‘Orbo’ free energy device
- The company Steorn published their claims on its ‘Orbo’ free energy device. They got financing to the tune of 23 million Euro, but strangely the device never materialized…
Ep. #183
18 Aug, 1932: Luc Montagnier (born this day)
- Nobel Laureate and proponent of pseudoscience
Ep. #287
19 Aug, 2001: Sylvia Millecam (died this day)
- Dutch actress and comedian. Her death of breast cancer in 2001 could possibly have been avoided if she had not taken advice from Dutch healing medium Jomanda.
Ep. #134
25 Aug, 1850: Charles Richet (born this day)
- French physiologist at the Collège de France, who coined the term ectoplasm
Ep. #087
26 Aug, 1743: Antoine Lavoisier (born this day)
- French nobleman and chemist
Ep. #037
29 Aug, 1632: John Locke (born this day)
- English philosopher and physician and one of the first British “Empiricists”
Ep. #185
29 Aug, 1967: UFO Sighting at Cussac, France
- The famous UFO Sighting at Cussac in France took place on 29 August 1967.
Ep. #237
30 Aug, 1797: Mary Shelley (born this day)
- Author of Frankenstein
Ep. #289
September
-
5 Sep, 1996: Holocaust denial
- Libel suit filed concerning Deborah Lipstadt’s book ‘Denying the Holocaust’
Ep. #137
8 Sep, 1774: Anne Catherine Emmerich (born this day)
- Catholic Augustinian Canoness who inspired Mel Gibson’s “the Passion of the Christ”
Ep. #089
10 Sep, 1713: John Needham (born this day)
- English naturalist
Ep. #039
10 Sep, 2008: Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
- At CERN in Switzerland the Large Hadron Collider (LCH) was powered up on 10 September 2008.
Ep. #239
11 Sep, 2001: 9/11 attacks in the US
- Starting point for modern conspiracy theories online
Ep. #290
14 Sep, 2011: Ask for Evidence campaign
- The Ask for evidence campaign was launched 14 September 2011
Ep. #187
15 Sep, 1530: The portrait of Saint Dominic in Soriano
- Fake relic
Ep. #291
18 Sep, 1895: Chiropractic
- The birth of chiropractic
Ep. #139
20 Sep, 1863: Jacob Grimm (died this day)
- Linguist and a fairy tale collector
Ep. #292
23 Sep, 1939: Sigmund Freud (died this day)
- Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis
Ep. #091
25 Sep, 1994: ECSO
- The European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO) was founded on 26 September 1994.
Ep. #241
26 Sep, 1897: Pope Paul VI (born this day)
- Initiator of the Second Vatican Council, implemeting many reforms.
Ep. #041
28 Sep, 1994: Estonia ship disaster
- Surrounded by many conspiracy theories
Ep. #293
October
-
2 Oct, 1958: Marie Stopes (died this day)
- British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women’s rights
Ep. #093
2 Oct, 1991: Ig Nobel Prize
- The first Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony
Ep. #141
7 Oct, 1885: Niels Bohr (born this day)
- Danish physicist and Nobel Laureate
Ep. #294
9 Oct, 768: Coronation of Charlemagne
- There is a myth that this never happened at all.
Ep. #243
10 Oct, 1816: Sir John Simon (born this day)
- British politician
Ep. #043
14 Oct, 1988: Shroud of Turin
- Radiocarbon date analysis revealed that the shroud is a medieval hoax
Ep. #143
14 Oct, 2016: QED conference
- This week in 2016, 2017 and 2018 the QED Conference took place in Manchester.
Ep. #244
16 Oct, 2002: Dark Side of the Moon
- Mockumentary release on this day.
Ep. #192
20 Oct, 1882: Bela Lugosi (born this day)
- Hungarian-American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula.
Ep. #245
22 Oct, 1996: Evolusion recognized by the Papacy
- Pope John Paul II famously admitted that evolution makes sense on 22 October 1996. Better late than never!
Ep. #193
24 Oct, 1611: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (born this day)
- Dutch businessman and scientist
Ep. #045
28 Oct, 312: The battle of the Milvian Bridge
- The Milvian Bridge is a bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome, Italy. It was an economically and strategically important bridge in the era of the Roman Empire and was the site of the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, which led to the imperial rule of Constantine.
Ep. #246
29 Oct, 1813: William Benjamin Carpenter (born this day)
- English Physician, zoologist, physiologist and a skeptic. He described and named the Ideomotor Phenomenon, sometimes known as the Carpenter Effect.
Ep. #194
31 Oct, 1926: Harry Houdini (died this day)
- Hungarian-born American escape artist, illusionist, stunt performer and mysteriarch, noted for his escape acts
Ep. #097
31 Oct, 1992: Galileo Galilei
- Vatican admits that Galileo was right
Ep. #144
November
-
5 Nov, 1459: The Council of Constance
- The Council of Constance begins
Ep. #298
7 Nov, 1867: Marie Curie (born this day)
- Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist
Ep. #047
9 Nov, 1938: Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass)
- This was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party’s Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary forces along with civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938.
Ep. #248
10 Nov, 2009: Glasgow Skeptics
- Glasgow Skeptics founded.
Ep. #196
14 Nov, 1948: Prince Charles (born this day)
- Heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II
Ep. #099
18 Nov, 1900: George Kistiakowsky (born this day)
- Ukrainian-American physicist
Ep. #001
21 Nov, 1694: Voltaire (born this day)
- French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher
Ep. #049
21 Nov, 1907: Josef M. Issels (born this day)
- German physician known for promoting an alternative cancer therapy
Ep. #147
21 Nov, 1953: the Piltdown Man
- The Piltdown Man, a skull regarded as one of the most important missing links between apes and man, was publicly announced to be a hoax on this day.
Ep. #197
24 Nov, 1859: On the Origin of Spieces
- The first publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
Ep. #301
29 Nov, 1989: Belgian UFO wave
- Beginning of several months of UFO reports. It lasted until April 1990
Ep. #101
December
-
2 Dec, 1936: Peter H. Duesberg (born this day)
- German-American molecular biologist and HIV/AIDS denialist
Ep. #002
2 Dec, 2010: Decision to build a memorial to fallen aliens
- On 2 December 2010 the Ukrainian newspaper “Бердичiв дiловий” (“Business Berdichev”) announced that group of UFOlogists decided to build a memorial to fallen aliens.
Ep. #251
3 Dec, 1933: Paul J. Crutzen (born this day)
- Dutch atmospheric chemist
Ep. #302
4 Dec, 1873: Ghost Ship Mary Celeste
- The Ghost ship Mary Celeste was found on this day, abandoned by all crew. A couple of years later a promising young author called Arthur Conan Doyle (later Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) published a fictionalized account of the event , changing the spelling of the name of the ship slightly. This was taken as a true story and was the start not only of a brilliant writing career but also a legend and a myth that has intrigued and inspired ever since.
Ep. #199
4 Dec, 1893: John Tyndall (died this day)
- Prominent 19th-century Irish physicist who discovered the molecular basis of the greenhouse effect
Ep. #148
5 Dec, 1952: Great Smog of London
- Severe air pollution event started that affected London in December 1952
Ep. #051
9 Dec, 1979: Smallpox
- On December 9, 1979, the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication signed their names to the statement that “smallpox has been eradicated from the world.” It was a milestone in that it was the first time a disease was eradicated by human effort.
Ep. #200
9 Dec, 2009: Norwegian Spiral Anomaly
- Mysterious sky phenomenon
Ep. #303
11 Dec, 1972: Apollo 17
- Apollo 17 lands on the moon, the last time humans walked on the moon
Ep. #150
12 Dec, 1916: Rasputin (died this day)
- Russian mystic with great influence on Russian Royal house, murdered
Ep. #004
14 Dec, 1503: Nostradamus (born this day)
- French astrologer, physician and reputed seer
Ep. #103
15 Dec, 2006: Founding of Hungarian Skeptics
- The Hungarian Skeptic Society (HSS) (Hungarian: Szkeptikus Társaság Egyesület) is a skeptic organisation based in Hungary.
Ep. #253
16 Dec, 1594: Allison Balfour (died this day)
- Scottish witch
Ep. #304
16 Dec, 1917: Arthur C. Clarke (born this day)
- Renowned Sci-Fi author
Ep. #003
19 Dec, 1956: John Bodkin Adams
- Arrested on this day in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients
Ep. #053
22 Dec, 1839: John Nevil Maskelyn (born this day)
- He was a stage magician, skeptic and the inventor of the pay toilet.
Ep. #201
22 Dec, 1928: Piero Angela (born this day)
- Italian television host, science journalist, writer and pianist.
Ep. #254
25 Dec, 1: Jesus (born this day)
- Our Lord and Saviour?
Ep. #305
25 Dec, 1642: Sir Isaac Newton (born this day)
- English mathematician, astronomer and physicist
Ep. #151
27 Dec, 1571: Johannes Kepler (born this day)
- German astronomer, mathematician and astrologer.
Ep. #202
30 Dec, 1993: The Smallpox Retention Controversy
- The last remaining samples of smallpox virus in lab environment was planned to be destryed. This was not executed
Ep. #105
31 Dec, 335: Saint Sylvester (died this day)
- Bishop of Rome
Ep. #306