Actually Happening

This is the last episode taped way back in the halcyon days of 2015. Yes, we’re slow to get these things out. What. Nobody’s paying for this. This ‘week’ we bring you Julia Child, voting machines, the earliest evidence of...

I don’t even know what schedule we’re using for these things anymore, but if you need stories of civil war badasses as much as we do, you might like this episode. We’ve also got the biggest single rock ever made...

The passage of the Habeas Corpus Act via a fat joke, A Benjamin Franklin story complete with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles restructuring, the oldest ever message in a bottle, and a German town that may, or may not, actually...

A new soon-to-be-broken record for the best-aged episode of Actually Happening ever! In this deeply non-topical installment we discuss the invention of the toilet showroom, biblical anachronisms, gerrymandering, and criticism of Henry VIII.

The shortest presidency of anything, DNA in the War of the Roses, a helicopter theft, and fictional bridges. Also the most well aged episode of Actually Happening ever released.

In which we reveal the secret Masonic origins of Actually Happening.

We never ask questions about Rome because we always end up talking about it anyway. This week: the invention of Y-fronts, things Martin Luther never said, and bans on porn and puns.

There was only one set of footprints then, but boy were they big ones. This week: sending out a CQD, a terrible energy conservation slogan, and two cats with very important jobs.

It’s… been a while. Our lives have gotten in the way of goofy history for far too long. But worry not! We’re all back in town and will be back on a more regular schedule soon, so stay tuned. In the...

Now with actual microphones! This week, we go Minnesota Secretary of Agriculture hunting, discover the pitfalls of bad database queries, and don’t look in the back of the fridge. And we find out two guys on an island were doing, well, exactly what you’d expect…

This week’s episode involves a lot of fighting (and avoiding fighting at all costs) over really weird stuff, some Norman Rockwell appreciation… and another molasses flood.

In which the British actually stay out of a war for once, and Ben Carlin drives an amphibious vehicle around the world. Oh yeah, and more Liechtenstein!

In which we discuss some of life’s smaller mysteries, do some literal navel gazing, and find more excuses to answer questions with the word “Space!”.

This week it’s trolleys (not from Mr. Rogers), space patrol (the tv show), archaeologists vs. physicists, and the darkest secrets of itching. Boy are they dark.

Dancemaster Skybetter returns this week to help us uncover the bizarre origin of ballet.

This week we welcome another guest, choreographer Sydney Skybetter, who explains to us what a choreographer actually does (and what that has to do with failed utopian communities). And, as a bonus, he’ll be back next week with even more...

How to steal a saint in five unsurprisingly convoluted steps, as recorded in golden mosaics in Venice, and explained by art historian Letha Ch’ien.

We’re finally back from a too-long break, and joined by a special guest, art historian Letha Ch’ien! This time we’re talking Venetian art history, really old companies, and why you should be careful selling metheglin.

We’ll be back next week with regular episodes, but until then enjoy the story behind the story of War of the Worlds, and an extremely baffling discovery beneath London.

The fax machine is older than you think! Unless you already know how old it is.

In which the AH crew combines three successive Prussian rulers named Frederick, by stacking them into one extremely tall dude. Who was then kidnapped and forced to join the Potsdam Giants.

Stay away from the schnapps, Austrian army.

Time for another round of holiday leftovers. It’s a short episode, but a fun one: we get to talk about one of the feistiest ladies of early America — and the time she stole the president’s clothes while he was...

In which we stare at our hands, learn what a “Vibraslap” is, and try to explain why cats can now has cheezburgers.

And they went with “Alice”, not “Diamond Voldemort”. Congratulations to Dennis, Jess, Anna, and David, and a hearty welcome to Alice. We wish you the best in your future career as queen president doctor.

We’re going to be trying something different around here for the next few weeks. So while you’re still figuring out what to do with all that turkey in your fridge, enjoy Actually Happening’s “Holiday Leftovers” — favorite questions from our...

Recapping all the important stuff that happened in this November’s election. And by “important” we mean Biden’s wrong number calls and Big Papi winning the write-in vote for mayor of Boston. Oh yeah, and Philadelphia electing a Whig. We also...

This week, we cover everything from the beginning of time to “How to Win” to the extremely unoriginal plots of early operas (did they only own one book or something?). And stay ’til the end for what’s likely our longest...

In which we finally get to talk about the Great Molasses Flood!

In which we take a shopping trip to the strip mall of history. This week: — Bat people on the moon! — Poorly-considered religious symbols — Looting Egyptian artifacts, as usual — America’s first newspaper And it’s time to renew...

This week’s episode contains a lot of information about bananas. None of the questions were about bananas.

This week: short wars, crowdfunding radioactive substances, and the strange origins of the phrase “Bunga Bunga.”

A different sort of international incident.

This week: mock battles turn all too real, lying about being the king of Albania, and COOL ROCKS FROM SPACE.

This week: the first thing that happened, according to the internet (there are pics) — the pitch finally drops — rogue dendrochronologist chops down the oldest tree — “archbishop and social media guru”.

This week we steal someone else’s jokes, but they’re 2,000 years old, so it’s okay. Except the ones about Napoleon. There’s no excuse for those. They’re just terrible.

Guaranteed* to contain more facts about Liechtenstein than you’ve ever heard before! We also discuss the century when everyone invented typewriters and the time we agreed to not blow up Antarctica. * Unless, like, you live in Liechtenstein? In which...

“Why is no one as frightened of the ocean as I am?” “Because that war will be delicious.”

The Inquisition forgives somebody, food gets easier, dressing a girl up as Athena gets you un-banished, and a guy who thinks he’s Jesus’ younger brother orders a couple giant demon-slaying swords… and then gets shot out of a cannon. History...

It’s our usual bunch of historical nonsense: prophecies, mysterious ancient devices, and completely ignoring the topic when we don’t know anything about what we’re talking about.

Bonjour from France! 3/5 of your AH crew are in Marseilles this week. But this episode has nothing to do with that. Image credits: 1, 2.

This Week: – Anna has some big news – Anthony Weiner’s cat looks bored – Attila the Hun – Crowdfunding Lady Liberty – The sea that disappeared and the island that was never there to begin with – James Joyce...

You can’t kill a guy when he’s already dead, but that’s not going to stop us trying! Quotable: “For a question about posthumous execution, this took a dark turn.”

This week! — A scandalous round of Good Advice — Viking while intoxicated — Wedding bands of Bitcoin — A Zerg rush on Jeopardy! — Preliminary results from the world’s longest-running experiment — Emus cause problems on two continents —...

The original fanboys, or how secret societies turned into insurance companies (really!). Also, “secret society promoter” was a job back then. For a Not Actually Happening, this one has a lot of weird actual facts.

Actually Happening: a series of 1s and 0s that add up to a lot of nonsense about history. This week: Historic events unlikely to recur Jimmy Carter attacked by swimming rabbit Elian Gonzales falls through a sinkhole into the Land...

The Loch Ness Monster is not real. Sorry. But big game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell IS.

So yeah, this episode is late. Really late. Uh… that was quite a week last week. We should be back on schedule now. Anyway, enjoy the usual quality discussion of the rise of the sentient internet, the first speaker of...

Because in this celebration of springtime stir-craziness, the biggest April Fools joke is April Fools Day itself. Also: how many terrible salad dressing puns can we come up with? How many different religious hats can we stack on top of...

This week we talk about fake fossils, fairweather friends, and far-too-credulous academics.

This week we celebrate the Ides of March with the suggestion to replace the national anthem with “Sweet Caroline.” Also: what to do if you’re an interim senator, what really happens in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, why the...