The history of Basketball begins in the unassuming town of Springfield, Massachusetts. Canadian born James Naismith is trying to keep his group of students at the YMCA busy during a cold New England winter. It took 2 peach baskets, a soccer ball, and a few simple rules to create the game of basketball... sort of. The first thing Naismith created was chaos. Eventually, out of the chaos came basketball. The popularity of the game spread much like other sports. Barnstorming teams like the New York Rens and the world famous Harlem Globetrotters popularized the game in small towns all over the country. On a professional level some leagues came and went, but eventually found their way to the NBA and ABA merger. These two leagues would form the modern NBA today. There is so much more to the story though. Don't miss a second as we get Historically High on Basketball and the NBASupport the show
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2:32:23
The Doolittle Raid
The United States was brought into WW2 with the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 1941. The U.S. was shook, fear of an invasion of the west coast was at an all time high with nothing standing between us and Japan. The moral of the nation wasn't good and in the weeks after Pearl Harbor more Japanese victories did nothing to reassure the country we could win this war. The U.S. needed a win, it needed to be something bold and unexpected. Something to break the aura of the invulnerability of Japanese held about their home islands. FDR wanted bombs on Tokyo and it fell to Jimmy Doolittle to make it happen. Now if you're gonna plan and execute a top secret raid on Japan's capital where success relies on doing things never before done, Jimmy's your guy. Doolittle Raid aside James Doolittle was one of the most famous aviators in American History, a doctorate in Aviation Engineering from M.I.T., the first of it's kind lends credit to his understanding off all thing aircraft. What Jimmy and his boys were able to do helped show the United States they were still in the fight and showed Japan they weren't safe at home. Find out how they pulled it off here. Support the show
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2:08:13
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci started his artistic journey at the age of 14, beginning as a studio boy to Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio taught Leo the ropes in sculpting, painting, casting, leather work, amongst other things, until Da Vinci stepped in to paint a couple angels in a mostly complete "The Last Baptism". Verrocchio looked at his work, looked at Da Vinci's and legend has it he set down his brush for good at that point, seeing himself surpassed already by Da Vinci's talent. Achieving the status of Master at age 20, Da Vinci would embark upon a lifetime of creating Art, developing machines and mechanical theories, studying and documenting human anatomy, building weapons and more. The very definition of a Renaissance Man in every way, join us as we go deep into Da Vinci. Support the show
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3:03:46
The Black Plague
The Black Plague or Black Death as its also known really put it to Europe, Asia and Africa from 1346 through 1353. In just 7 years it killed off up to 60% of Europe's population. 20-50 million dead due to a little bacteria called Yersinia Pestis, the cause of the Plague. It wasn't just effective in the way it hitched a ride on fleas, which then hitched on rats, which hitched a ride on everything else. But in the way that it could attacked the body on multiple fronts. It wasn't like there hadn't been other outbreaks of Plague in the world, so why is this one so significant. Well it showed up with perfect conditions in a world completely unprepared on what to. Find out what makes the Black Death such a pivotal moment in human history this week on dun dun dun......Historically High. Support the show
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2:16:07
Babe Ruth
What good would a history podcast be without some sports history? Babe Ruth feels like he should be on the Mount Rushmore of sports history. Born in the Pigtown part of Baltimore, he defied the odds to become the most well-known baseball player of all time. He dazzled fans on the field, on the silver screen, and on every sports page in the country. His trade from the Red Sox also cursed the organization for the next 86 years. As a Yankee he was a pivotal part of many World Series contenders. He was the anchor of the famed Murderers Row batting line up. For all his success on the field, his life in the clubhouse and outside the stadium was more flawed than most people know. Join us as we get Historically High on Babe Ruth.Support the show
A dive into historical topics from an elevated perspective. New episodes will be out every Wednesday. Find us on our socials:@Historicallyhi on Twitter @historicallyhighpod on Instagram. Don't forget to like, rate, subscribe, and let your friends know what they are missing.
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