This podcast returns on May 10th 2026. A musician discovered Uranus, a Hollywood actress developed military technology, and a statesman invented bifocal glasses. Names such as Spencer, Marshall and Stewart trace their origins back to occupations. The son of Britain's first prime minister held a series of sinecures, roles that offered status and income for little or no work.

Alongside these histories, this episode traces the origins of words such as dilettante, empleomania, gaffer, thrasonical, lucubrate and ambition.

History Daily - https://www.historydaily.com

Transition sound by https://audionautix.com

-

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/horace-walpole-gothick-man-letters/1000

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/know-the-ropes.html

To burke is to kill by strangulation, a word taken from the name of a 19th century murderer. In Anglo-Saxon England, a killing could be settled with payment through the wergild, a sum paid by the offender to the victim's family. In France, a petty criminal would go on to become one of the first figures to resemble a modern detective.

Alongside these histories, this episode explores the origins of words such as assassin, scelerate, culprit, trucidate and lucre.

Transition sound by https://audionautix.com

-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zvrsydm#zhxbcmn

https://biomedical-sciences.ed.ac.uk/anatomy/anatomical-museum/collection/people/burke

https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/eugene-francois-vidocq-and-the-birth-of-the-detective/

https://blog.oup.com/2015/08/word-etymology-culprit/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/04/11/local_heroes_doctor_william_palmer_feature.shtml

This episode investigates obscure words for conversations about bizarre histories, considering their origins and familiar words from the same root. Words explored include diluvial, nundination, expetible, tripudiate, mucilaginous, delitescent and redhibition.

Hear a collection of strange moments from the past, from a deadly latrine collapse in Erfurt to a speculative frenzy over tulips, a mysterious dancing outbreak, and a city flooded with molasses.

Sources:
https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/erfurt-latrine-disaster-what-happened/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20160419-tulip-mania-the-flowers-that-cost-more-than-houses

https://www.britannica.com/event/dancing-plague-of-1518

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/

Transition sound by https://audionautix.com