Episode 76 - Ireland during World War 2 & the Irish Crown Jewels theft

Episode 76 - Ireland during World War 2 & the Irish Crown Jewels theft

On this week’s accidental Irish special, Harrison looks at Irish neutrality during the second world war. Ireland remained neutral, but as one politician put it, neutral on the Allied side. The new country of Ireland walked a dangerous line to stay neutral but not upset too many people along the way.

Chris, meanwhile, investigates the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907 and how an incredible list of missed opportunities in the run-up to the theft could potentially have stopped the thieves in their tracks. Everything isn’t as it seems however, as the jewels weren’t actually Crown Jewels like the British ones are, but listen in to find out the whole story.

Harrison’s Sources

Irish neutrality during World War II

Behind the Green Curtain: Ireland’s phoney neutrality during World War II

Ireland during the Second World War

The Emergency – A Brief Overview

Why didn't Ireland Fight in World War 2? (Short Animated Documentary)

Chris’ Sources

The Crown Jewels 

The Greatest Unsolved Heist in Irish History 

Dublin Metropolitan Police stolen poster 

On This Day: The Irish Crown Jewels disappear from Dublin Castle in 1907 

Wikipedia article on Arthur Vicars 

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Episode 75 - 638 assassination attempts and the most expensive party ever

On this week’s episode, Chris has learnt about the different ways that the CIA attempted to assassinate Fidel Castro, all 638 of them. Well, the most interesting of the 638 attempts anyway. From the very famous exploding cigar to the slightly bonkers poisoned diving suit to the less subtle hiring of the mafia, the CIA made many attempts to get rid of the communist leader. Either they weren’t very good, or his security was excellent because he lived a very long life.

Then Harrison has learnt about the most expensive party ever thrown. In 1971, the Shah of Iran wanted to prove to the world how rich and sophisticated his country was. The preparations took more than a year and involved the building of a 1,000km highway, a 160 acre “city of tents” and an enormous food order from Paris. The party may have been a hit, but the long term consequences of the party, especially for the Shah, were severe.

Follow Up

Episode 26 - The Queen’s speech and some unusual jobs

New Zealand council ends contract with wizard after two decades of service

Episode 2: Pablo Escobar’s hippos and the most camels in the world

A herd of ‘cocaine hippos’ from Pablo Escobar’s private zoo are being sterilized

Harrison’s Sources

2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire

Cyrus Cylinder

The most expensive party ever

Decadence and Downfall: The Shah of Iran’s Ultimate Party

The Biggest Party Ever

The $22 Million Party that Overthrew an Empire

Iranian Revolution [1978–1979]

Chris’ Sources

Wikipedia article on Fidel Castro 

Fidel Castro biography 

CIA Attempted to Assassinate Fidel Castro with an Exploding Cigar 

8 Bizarre Ways the CIA Tried to Kill Fidel Castro 

Killing Fidel Castro: Poisoned Cigars, Explosive Seashells 

Close but no cigar: how America failed to kill Fidel Castro 

JFK Files: The CIA Planned To Assassinate Cuba's Fidel Castro With Exploding Seashell 

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Episode 74 - The London Necropolis Railway and War Plan Red

This week, Harrison tells the spooky tail of London’s Necropolis Railway, a rather unusual solution to London’s problem in the mid 1800’s of having simply too many dead people. A company was established that would provide a full service railway funeral, taking the body and mourners from Waterloo to their picturesque cemetery in Surrey. It’s creators confidently predicted that it would be able to bury all of London’s dead for hundreds of years and bury more than 50 million people in 100 years. Listen in to find out how they did (spoiler alert, not well).

Then Chris has learnt about War Plan Red, America’s plan to invade Canada that was drawn up in 1930. Imagine it, what if three allies - the United States, United Kingdom and Canada decided to go to war? Well, War Plan Red really focused on the US invading Canada in order to stop the British in their tracks. This episode also includes Canada’s plan to invade the US (they were all at it!) so clearly in between the world wars, the major western powers were very jittery around each other. Fortunately that is no longer the case today…

Harrison’s Sources

London Necropolis Railway

London Necropolis railway station

London Necropolis Railway - From Waterloo to eternity and back

The London Railway of the Dead - YouTube - Tom Scott

LONDON NECROPOLIS RAILWAY: TRAINS FOR THE DEAD

This abandoned railway was London's train for the dead

Chris’ Sources

That Time the U.S. Almost Went to War With Canada 

The secret Canadian plan to invade the US 

War Plan Red 

When, Why, and How did the United States enter WW2? The Date America Joins the Party

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Episode 73 - NATO’s floppy magnets and the history of coffee

Chris discovered the time that the Imperial Japanese Navy flooded Nagasaki when they launched the largest battleship - the Musashi - to ever sail the seas. Whilst the Japanese engineers managed to stop the ship just one metre past the point they thought it would roll off its dry-dock, they failed to account for the tidal wave it would create. Also in this episode, you’ll find out all about NATO’s floppy magnets. That’s right, at the height of the Cold War, just after the Cuban Missile Crisis, NATO decided they needed a simple and effective means of tracking Soviet submarines. Only, the idea that was dreamt up was a little too efficient…

Meanwhile Harrison has been looking in to the history of coffee. From the origin of the plants that give us the coffee beans to the culture that’s grown up around coffee and the influences it’s had throughout history. Learn why beans smuggled in a bouquet of flowers are today responsible for 39% of beans grown in 2020, how coffee houses were known as penny universities and how the punishment for being caught drinking a cup of coffee involved a cudgel, a sack and a river. Charming!

Chris’ Sources

4 military fails so awful they’re actually hilarious 

Japan's WW2 'Musashi battleship wreck found' 

Japanese battleship Musashi 

NATO Bombed Soviet Submarines With Tiny, Annoying Magnets 

Royal Navy plan to hunt Russian submarines with magnets was TOO successful 

Harrison’s Sources

Coffee - Wikipedia

The Coffee Bean Belt

Coffee: The Greatest Addiction Ever - YouTube

The History of Coffee - NCAUSA

History of Coffee - Brewing Controversy - YouTube

History of Coffee - Global Addiction - YouTube

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Episode 72 - British Interplanetary Society and the blue people from Kentucky

Harrison investigates the British Interplanetary Society which was found in 1933 and is the world’s longest established organisation devoted solely to supporting and promoting the exploration of space and astronautics. It seems likely that because of this incredible society, Britain could have been first to the moon after World War II, if the country hadn’t been completely broke and on its knees. Join us on a voyage of discovery!

Chris meanwhile learns about the blue people of Kentucky. Through incredibly bad luck, Martin Fugate, a Frenchman who emigrated to the United States in 1820 married a woman who had the same regressive gene that coloured his skin blue. Over 150 years, inbreeding and lack of understanding, the gene meant multiple generations of the Fugate’s and three other families in one small area of Kentucky suffered with blue skin, marking them out as different. Fortunately modern science came to the rescue…

BBC News - Charles and Diana's wedding cake slice sells for £1,850

Harrison’s Sources

Episode 5: Typhoid Mary and all about spacesuits

Episode 68 - Zambia’s astronauts and the Battle for Castle Itter

British Interplanetary Society - Wikipedia

The British Interplanetary Society

The BIS Lunar Spaceship

How a Nazi rocket could have put a Briton in space

Space Suit: 1949 - Wired

The BIS Lunar Spacesuit - National Space Centre

The Lunar Space Suit

The Long-Forgotten History of the British Moon Spacesuit

Chris’ Sources

What Scientists Found After Analyzing Cases of Inbreeding in the UK 

Wikipedia article on Methemoglobinemia 

The Fugate Family of Kentucky Had Blue Skin For Generations 

If you enjoyed this episode please leave us a review on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts!

We’d really appreciate it. Thanks for listening.