1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: Hey everyone. Technically you're getting two days in history today 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: because we were running two episodes from the History Vault. 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,879 Speaker 1: You'll also here two hosts, me and Tracy V. Wilson. 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: Hope you enjoy. Welcome to this Day in History Class 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: from how Stuff Works dot Com and from the desk 6 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 1: of Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's the show 7 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: where we explore the past one day at a time 8 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:27,160 Speaker 1: with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson, and 10 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: it's October eight Alvin York's heroic actions on this day 11 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighteen would later on earn him the Medal 12 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: of Honor. Alvin York was born December seven in Palmell, Tennessee. 13 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 1: After his father died in nineteen eleven, Alvin was the 14 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: oldest child who was still living at home. His older 15 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: brothers had started their own families, and he became the 16 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: head of his family, basically taking his father's place. But 17 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: he didn't shoulder all of this new responsibility very well, 18 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: or his grief over his father's death. He started drinking 19 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: and gambling, and crossing the border into Kentucky to drink 20 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: and fight, and soon he had an arrest record. But 21 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,479 Speaker 1: a couple of things happened around nineteen fourteen and nineteen 22 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: fifteen that really changed him completely. One was that he 23 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: met a young woman named Gracie Williams, who he was 24 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: very fond of. And the other is that he had 25 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: a religious awakening at a revival on New Year's Day 26 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen. This revival had lasted the whole last week 27 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: of nineteen fourteen, and he had gone there because he 28 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,759 Speaker 1: wanted to see Gracie and he knew that she would 29 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: be there. But on the last day of the revival, 30 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: something was different. When he described it quote as if 31 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: lightning had struck my soul, he really was a changed man. 32 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,400 Speaker 1: From this point. He gave up drinking and fighting and 33 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: playing cards and started trying to live his life in 34 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: a Christian way, including becoming a pacifist. But then in 35 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: June of nineteen seventeen, the same month that he got 36 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: engaged to Gracie Williams, he also had to register for 37 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: the draft for World War One. He tried to be 38 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: classified as a conscientious objector, but his application was turned down. 39 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: It was turned down because the church he was a 40 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: member of wasn't considered to be a recognized and established sect, 41 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: and also because it didn't have any particular creed beyond 42 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: the Bible to prevent its adherents from undertaking military service. 43 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: All of this really continued to trouble Alvin York's conscience 44 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: for quite some time, but he ultimately reconciled himself to 45 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: the idea of serving in the military. And then on 46 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: October nineteen, his platoon was ordered to cross a valley 47 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,679 Speaker 1: to capture a machine gun nest that was preventing their advance. 48 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: They faced really heavy machine gun fire and immense casualties 49 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: just trying to cross over an open stretch of land 50 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: to get to where they needed to go. York was 51 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: one of only seventeen men who made it across the clearing. 52 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: That was the first step in achieving this objective. And 53 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: then they followed two German soldiers through some brush, and 54 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: on the other side of that brush they surprised a 55 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: whole group of German soldiers who were eating breakfast. These 56 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: German soldiers had been marching through the night. They were exhausted, 57 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: and they were hungry, and they really thought these seventeen 58 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: Americans who had suddenly burst in on them were the 59 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: advanced guard of a much bigger force, and so most 60 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: of them started to surrender. But that is one of 61 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: the machine gunners who were up on the hill noticed 62 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: what was happening. By the time they were able to 63 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: take cover, only eight of the American force, including York, 64 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 1: were still alive and able to fight. They returned fire 65 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,799 Speaker 1: against the machine gunners, with York especially carrying the day. 66 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: When a German lieutenant and about six soldiers tried to 67 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 1: charge down the hill with bayonets trying to take down 68 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: whoever it was that was shooting the machine gunners, York 69 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: shot each of them with his pistol. He started at 70 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: the back. This was something he had learned while hunting 71 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: birds when he was living in Tennessee. He would shoot 72 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: the formation of birds from the back so the ones 73 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: in front wouldn't get startled. In this case, he was 74 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: doing it because he didn't want the people in the 75 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: back to be able to take cover behind the bodies 76 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: of fallen men in front of them. After they had 77 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: taken care of us, they captured four German officers and 78 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: a hundred and twenty eight German soldiers, along with several 79 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: machine guns. York was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the 80 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: quater gear with palms and the Medal of Honor for 81 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: his heroism on that day, But after he got back 82 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: to Tennessee, he largely refused the hero's welcome that was 83 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: waiting for him. Instead, he dedicated himself entirely to opening 84 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: a school in Fintris County, Tennessee, where he had grown up, 85 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: which had no high school at all until that point, 86 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: and this would be a major focus for most of 87 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: the rest of his life. When the movie Sergeant York 88 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: was made in nineteen forty one, the real York put 89 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 1: almost all the money that he earned from it back 90 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: into that school. He died on September two, nineteen sixty four, 91 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: at the age of seventy six. He was survived by 92 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 1: his wife, Gracie, who he married just days after getting 93 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: out of the army, and seven of their ten children. 94 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: Some of those children and York himself have said that 95 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: starting that school was to him a much bigger accomplishment 96 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: and what he did that earned the Medal of Honor. 97 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: You can learn a lot more about this from the 98 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 1: October three episode of Stuff You Miss in History Class. 99 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: Thanks to Terry Harrison for all of her audio work 100 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: on this podcast, and you can subscribe to the Stay 101 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: in History Class on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and wherever 102 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: else you get your podcasts. You can tune in tomorrow 103 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: for an assassination. Greetings, I'm Eves and welcome to this 104 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a show that believes no day 105 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: in history is a slow day. The day was October eight. 106 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: Russian poet Matina Spittaieva was born in Moscow. Spidaieva was 107 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,919 Speaker 1: a prolific writer and one of the most notable Russian 108 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: language poets of the twentieth century. On the Julian calendar, 109 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,359 Speaker 1: which Rush Show used at the time, Spitzieva's birthday was September. 110 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: Her mother, Maria Alexandrovna, was a concert pianist. Her father, 111 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: Ivan Vladimirovitch Spittaiev was a professor of art history at 112 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: the University of Moscow. He later founded the Pushkin Museum 113 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: of Fine Arts. Marina, her siblings, and her parents lived 114 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: a comfortable life. They had servants and spent summers in 115 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: a cottage in Sadusa, Russia. That said, her family wasn't perfect. 116 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: There was tension in her mother and father's marriage, as 117 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: they still had feelings for previous loves, and her mother 118 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: wanted her to be a pianist rather than pursuing poetry. 119 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 1: After Marina's mother got tuberculosis in nineteen o two, the 120 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 1: family moved around Europe in search of warmer climates. They 121 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: lived in Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany and Crimea to help 122 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: with her mother's health, but her mother died of tuberculosis 123 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen o six in Tatusa. Marina read a lot 124 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: and learned several languages, and she studied literary history at 125 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: the Sorbonne when she was a teenager. In nineteen ten, 126 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: she self published her first collection of poems, called Evening Album. 127 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: Other poets and critics like Maximilian Volochin and Nikolay Gomoloff 128 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: recognized her work, and soon she began to mingle with 129 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: other artists. She married her husband, Sergey Yakovlovich Fron in 130 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve, and they had three children together. Over the 131 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: course of their relationships, though she was devoted to her husband, 132 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: she had affairs, including ones with poets Sophia Parnak and 133 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: Osip mandel Stam. Marina's affairs and friendships inspired many of 134 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: her poems, but a period of turbulence in Russia, and 135 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: in Marina's life was on the horizon. The Russian Revolution 136 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: broke out in nineteen seven teen, and her husband joined 137 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: the Stars counter revolutionary White Army. She rejected the revolution, 138 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: and many of her poems reflect her support of the 139 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: anti Bolshevik resistance. The Domain of the Swan, a poem 140 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: about the civil war, was one of the works she 141 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: wrote during this time, though it wasn't published until decades later. 142 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: Marina lost touch with her husband while he was in 143 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: the army, and she stayed with her children in Moscow, 144 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: where they lived in poverty. During the famine that took 145 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,199 Speaker 1: place while she was in Moscow, she put her two 146 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: daughters in a state orphanage, hoping they would be better 147 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: taken care of there, but her youngest died in the 148 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: orphanage of malnutrition in nineteen twenty. In nineteen two, Marina 149 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: and her daughter set out for Berlin to reunite with Serge, 150 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: who was in exile. They later moved to Prague and 151 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 1: then in nineteen to Paris, a major center for Russian immigration. 152 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: That same year, their son, Georgi was born. Even though 153 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: she lived in poverty, she continued to put out poetry, 154 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: essays and play. Many Russian immigrate writers in Paris criticized 155 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:15,719 Speaker 1: Marina for not being anti Soviet enough. Though she did 156 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: form connections with writers like writer Maria Rilka and in 157 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: a Tescova, she was isolated from those immigrated circles and Russia. 158 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: On top of that, her husband's politics shifted. She became 159 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: homestick for Russia and developed Soviet sympathies. Eventually he joined 160 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: the n k v D, or the Soviet secret police. 161 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty nine, Marina and her son returned to 162 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union to meet her husband and daughter, who 163 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:50,319 Speaker 1: had also gained Soviet sympathies. Marina struggled in Soviet Russia 164 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: and found it hard to get work as a writer. 165 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: Her husband and daughter were soon arrested on espionage charges. 166 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: Her husband was shot and killed in nineteen f be one, 167 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,079 Speaker 1: and her daughter was sent to a labor camp. When 168 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: the Nazis began bombing Moscow, Marina and her son were 169 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: evacuated to Yallabuga, a remote town in a Tatar Soviet 170 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: socialist republic, where she had no money or support. She 171 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: died by suicide in nineteen forty one. Marina's Fadila's work 172 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: is remembered for being lyrical, direct, and experimental, and having 173 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: distinct rhythms. It's also noted for its portrayal of women's 174 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:36,320 Speaker 1: experiences during those turbulent years in Russian history. I'm Eves 175 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: Jeff Code, and hopefully you know a little more about 176 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. Have a hard time 177 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: staying present as you mindlessly scrolled through social media. Lucky 178 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: for you were stuck in the past at t d 179 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: I HC podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or if 180 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,560 Speaker 1: you would prefer to email us, you can send us 181 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: a message at this day at I heart media dot com. 182 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 1: I hope you liked this show. We'll be back tomorrow 183 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: with another episode. Hmm. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 184 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 185 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.