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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that honors the dead by sharing their stories

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Speaker 1: with the living. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're examining

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Speaker 1: a deadly example of religious intolerance from the Middle Ages.

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Speaker 1: As you might expect, today's episode deals with some heavy themes,

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Speaker 1: including anti Semitism, mob violence, and suicide. If that sounds

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Speaker 1: like too much to handle, maybe sit this episode out

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Speaker 1: or circle back to it later when you feel better prepared.

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Speaker 1: The day was March six, eleven ninety The entire Jewish

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Speaker 1: community of York was attacked by a mob while taking

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Speaker 1: refuge in the city's royal Castle. The resulting man Sacre

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Speaker 1: was the conclusion of a series of anti Semitic riots

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Speaker 1: that had spread across the country following the coronation of

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Speaker 1: Richard the First in the fall of eleven eighty nine.

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Speaker 1: But the truth is that the animosity toward Jewish citizens

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Speaker 1: had been brewing for a long time in England. More

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Speaker 1: than a century earlier, the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror,

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Speaker 1: had invaded England and claimed its throne. He quickly opened

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Speaker 1: the doors of his new Kingdom and invited Jewish communities

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Speaker 1: from France to come and live and work in England,

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Speaker 1: and many did, eventually settling in every major city in

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Speaker 1: the country. Over the next hundred years, a number of

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Speaker 1: factors gradually turned many Christian citizens against their Jewish neighbors.

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Speaker 1: Differing views of theology led to public disagreements between members

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Speaker 1: of the two faiths. For instance, take the practice of

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Speaker 1: money lending. Christians weren't allowed to profit as money lenders,

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Speaker 1: but there was no such just restriction for Jewish people.

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Speaker 1: At first, the arrangement seemed mutually beneficial. Christian borrowers could

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Speaker 1: further extend their line of credit and Jewish money lenders

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Speaker 1: could make a living. However, the more successful the money

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Speaker 1: lenders were, the more resentful and hostile the borrowers became.

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Speaker 1: Adding to this division, multiple ugly rumors began to spread

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Speaker 1: in the mid twelfth century. These slanderous stories, an example

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Speaker 1: of blood libel, accused Jewish residents of killing Christian children

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Speaker 1: in order to use their blood in religious ceremonies. Another

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Speaker 1: contributing factor to the rise in anti Semitism in England

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Speaker 1: was the launch of the Third Crusade following the death

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Speaker 1: of Henry the second nine. King Henry had taken a

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Speaker 1: somewhat mercenary approach to the Jewish population, offering them a

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Speaker 1: degree of legal protection as feudal vassals in exchange for

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Speaker 1: being heavily text by the crown. However, once Henry died

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Speaker 1: and the throne passed to his son, Richard the Lion Heart,

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Speaker 1: it wasn't clear if that deal would still stand. Before

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Speaker 1: the year was out, King Richard added to that sense

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Speaker 1: of uncertainty by calling for a new Crusade, the latest

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Speaker 1: in a series of Christian efforts to reconquer the Holy Land.

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Speaker 1: Excitement over the King's crusade spread throughout the country, and

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Speaker 1: as a result, many Christians became increasingly troubled by the

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Speaker 1: presence of non Christians in their homeland. The growing hostility

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Speaker 1: came to a head that September when several Jewish citizens

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Speaker 1: tried to attend Richard's coronation in London to pay their

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Speaker 1: respects to England's new king. Among them was a man

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Speaker 1: named Benedict, a prominent money lender from York, and his

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Speaker 1: companion Josh, the leader of York's Jewish community. The two

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Speaker 1: Jewish men were fused entry along with several others, and

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Speaker 1: when the rest of the Christian crowd realized what was

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Speaker 1: going on, the dispute quickly turned into a riot. Benedict

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Speaker 1: was wounded in the scuffle and later died from his

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Speaker 1: injuries on the journey back home. In the months that followed,

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Speaker 1: more rumors began to spread, this time claiming that King

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Speaker 1: Richard himself had ordered the expulsion of Jewish citizens from England.

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Speaker 1: Emboldened by that lie, mobs of Christian Zealots began attacking

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Speaker 1: and looting Jewish communities in towns such as Norwich, Stamford,

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Speaker 1: and Lincoln. With the Easter holiday fast approaching, the violence

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Speaker 1: finally made its way to York in mid March. The

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Speaker 1: city's sheriff had already left for the Third Crusade, leaving

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Speaker 1: Jewish residents even more vulnerable to attack. A group of

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Speaker 1: York noblemen seized that opportunity, viewing it as a chance

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Speaker 1: to wipe out the considerable debts they to Jewish money lenders.

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Speaker 1: They raised a mob and broke into the home of

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Speaker 1: Benedict's widow and children. They looted everything of value and

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Speaker 1: then set the house ablaze, killing everyone inside. A similar

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Speaker 1: attack was made on the home of Josh, but he

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Speaker 1: was able to escape and warn the rest of the

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Speaker 1: Jewish residents. As the looting continued, he led them to

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Speaker 1: seek shelter inside the city castle's tower, where they would,

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Speaker 1: in theory, be protected by the King's royal constable. That

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Speaker 1: arrangement held for a while, but when the King's tower

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Speaker 1: keeper left on other business, the Jewish residents began to

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Speaker 1: worry that their protector might be selling them out. Deciding

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Speaker 1: to take no chances, they barricaded themselves inside the wooden

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Speaker 1: keep and refused to let the constable back inside. The

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Speaker 1: situation escalated quickly from there. The tower keeper was furious.

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Speaker 1: He demanded that the castle be taken back by force.

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Speaker 1: The angry mob then surrounded the castle and tried to

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Speaker 1: do just that, but they were kept at bay by

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Speaker 1: the Jewish families inside the tower, who pelted the invaders

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Speaker 1: with stones. The Sheriff's troops were eventually called to the

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Speaker 1: scene to put an end to the chaos, but the

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Speaker 1: best they could manage was a tense standoff that ended

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Speaker 1: up lasting three days. During that time, the mob made

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Speaker 1: an offer to the families inside the tower. They were

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Speaker 1: promised that no harm would come to them, so long

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Speaker 1: as they came outside renounced their faith and agreed to

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Speaker 1: be baptized, No matter your own faith or your lack

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Speaker 1: of one. Imagine being placed in that position, to know

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Speaker 1: that the only way to save your life is to

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Speaker 1: lie about what you hold most sacred, and to know

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Speaker 1: that even if you do surrender that part of you,

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Speaker 1: your attackers may just kill you anyway. After all, the

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Speaker 1: House of Benedict was still smoldering in the distance. The

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Speaker 1: mob had already murdered one Jewish family. Would you be

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Speaker 1: able to trust their word that the killing would stop there?

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Speaker 1: On Friday, March six, those inside the tower made their decision.

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Speaker 1: Their supply of food and water was all but gone,

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Speaker 1: and they knew they wouldn't be able to hold out

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Speaker 1: for much longer. One option was to leave the tower,

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Speaker 1: refused to be baptized, and be killed on the spot

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Speaker 1: by the mob. Another option was to accept the baptismal

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Speaker 1: and potentially live, but always in shame, not your true self,

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Speaker 1: a kind of living death. The third option was the

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Speaker 1: one that most of the community chose to take their

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Speaker 1: own lives rather than to have their lives taken from them.

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Speaker 1: The last people left alive were jos and Rabbi Yamtav.

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Speaker 1: Just before their own deaths, they started a fire in

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Speaker 1: the wooden tower so that the group's corpses couldn't be

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Speaker 1: desecrated by the mob outside. The exact number of people

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Speaker 1: inside the tower is unknown, but estimates range from twenty

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Speaker 1: to forty families, and a later account put the total

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Speaker 1: at around a hundred and fifty men, women and children.

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Speaker 1: Once the fire started, some Jewish residents reportedly took the

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Speaker 1: mobs deal, agreeing to convert in exchange for safe passage. However,

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Speaker 1: as many had suspected that Christian mercy was ultimately denied,

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Speaker 1: and they were killed as soon as they stepped out

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Speaker 1: of the burning castle. With virtually every Jewish person in

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Speaker 1: the city now dead, the mobs ringleaders marched the crowd

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Speaker 1: to York Minster, a grand cathedral where the debt records

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Speaker 1: were stored. They knew that any money they owed to

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Speaker 1: their victims would now be owed to the king instead,

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Speaker 1: but only if he found out what was owed to him.

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Speaker 1: To keep that from happening, the rioters stormed the Minster

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Speaker 1: and burned every last record. Richard the First was outraged

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Speaker 1: when he heard of the events, at York. He said

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Speaker 1: it was an affront to his dignity and to his

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Speaker 1: authority as king. He ordered that a royal inquest be concluded.

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Speaker 1: This later resulted in the cities Constable and Sheriff being dismissed.

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Speaker 1: A heavy fine was also imposed on most of the

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Speaker 1: leading families of York, many of whom had ties to

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Speaker 1: the mobs, instigators, or else had taken part in the

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Speaker 1: massacre themselves. However, it's important to note that no one

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Speaker 1: was ever put on trial or punished for the murders

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Speaker 1: of roughly a hundred and fifty people. It wasn't long

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Speaker 1: before a new Jewish community was established in York, although

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Speaker 1: they only got to stay there for less than a century.

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Speaker 1: In twelve ninety, King Edward the First would expel all

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Speaker 1: Jewish people from England, an action that wouldn't be overturned

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Speaker 1: until more than three hundred and fifty years later. A

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Speaker 1: new stone building was later constructed on the same site

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Speaker 1: as the original, and in a plaque commemorating the tragedy

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Speaker 1: was finally installed at the foot of the tower. Today,

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Speaker 1: daffodils are planted around the base of what's now Clifford's Tower.

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Speaker 1: They're put there each March around the anniversary of the massacre.

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Speaker 1: The flowers six pedals evoked the six points of the

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Speaker 1: Star of David, a peaceful tribute to a faith that

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Speaker 1: would not be broken. I'm Gay Bluesier and hopefully you

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Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you

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Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with the show,

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Speaker 1: you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: t d i HC Show, and if you have any

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Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, you can send them my way at

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Speaker 1: this Day at I heart media dot com. Thanks to

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Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you for listening.

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Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another Day

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Speaker 1: in History classm