1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,599 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, were re running two episodes today, which means 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,560 Speaker 1: that you'll hear two hosts me and Tracy V. Wilson. 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Enjoy the show. Welcome to this Day in History Class 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: from how Stuff Works dot Com and from the desk 5 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: of Stuff You Missed in History Class. It's the show 6 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: where we explore the past one day at a time 7 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 8 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 9 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: it's October thirty one. This is recognized as the day 10 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 1: that Martin Luther nailed his nine theces to the door 11 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: of the Vittenburgh Castle Church, which is mark does this 12 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: launch of the Protestant Reformation that happened in fifteen seventeen. 13 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 1: So for pretty much as long as there has been 14 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: a Catholic Church, there have been people trying to reform it, 15 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: and sometimes these reformers have tried to work from within 16 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: the church. As one example, there's St. Francis of Assisi. 17 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: He established the Franciscan Order in twelve oh nine, and 18 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: he did this with the approval of Pope Innocent of 19 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: the Third at the same time time. Today St Francis 20 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,759 Speaker 1: is seen as a reformer, and then his later followers 21 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 1: also tried to reform not only the Franciscan order that 22 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: they were part of, but also the Catholic Church as 23 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,559 Speaker 1: a whole. At other points in history, though whole parts 24 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: of the Church have split off from one another. A 25 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: big example would be the Great Schism also known as 26 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: the East West Schism of ten fifty four and that 27 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: split the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches totally off 28 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,480 Speaker 1: from each other. So when it came to Martin Luther, 29 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: he was part of a long, long line of people 30 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: who had, in one way or another criticized the Catholic 31 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: Church and tried to reform it. Like St. Francis, he 32 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: started out trying to do this from within the church. 33 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: He wasn't intending to break things off into a totally 34 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: different religion or into another entity. These theses that were 35 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: posted at the door of Wittenburgh Castle Church were more 36 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: formally known as Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. 37 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: And even though he's popularly imagined as sort of stomping 38 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: up to the door and de bilently nailing these theses 39 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: onto it was probably more like if he actually did 40 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: do this, he posted them on the door to notify 41 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: people of a public discussion that he was going to 42 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: have on these points, and to give them advance reading 43 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: of the points so that they could discuss it more knowledgeably, 44 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: a lot more reasonable than it's often portrayed. A big 45 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: part of these secs, as their name suggests, were about 46 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: the selling of indulgences, and indulgences were regarded by many, 47 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:32,239 Speaker 1: including Martin Luther, as corrupt. This was basically a way 48 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: to be absolved of your sin, but by paying money 49 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: instead of through any actual repentance. He was also really 50 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: focused on the idea that salvation was going to come 51 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: to people not through their deeds, but through their faith, 52 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: and he wrote a lot about the idea that the 53 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: Bible is the sole religious authority within Christianity. Martin Luther's 54 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: thoughts on this came from extensive religious study that he 55 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: had been undertaking for years, as well as his time 56 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: in an Augustinian monastery. But within the Catholic Church this 57 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: writing was condemned widely, and in fifteen twenty one Martin 58 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 1: Luther was excommunicated, and that meant that what had started 59 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: off for him as this internal reform effort hoping to 60 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: change the way the Catholic Church was doing things into 61 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: a schism, so Martin Luther's followers and his followers followers 62 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: started breaking away from the Catholic Church and establishing totally 63 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: new denominations. This was the beginning of the long, tumultuous 64 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: and deeply violent Protestant Reformation and counter Reformation. Basically hundreds 65 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: of years of extremely bloody and destructive history that's billed 66 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: way over into people who were not particularly invested in 67 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: the whole religious question. Then it started morphing into national 68 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: crises and national disputes that had started out as being 69 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: more about religion but grew into being more about power 70 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: and territory. It's a lot. Thanks very much Toutari Harrison 71 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: for hall of her work on this podcast, and you 72 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: can subscribe to the Stay in History Class on Apple Podcasts, 73 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: Google Podcasts and where else you get your podcasts, and 74 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: you can tune in tomorrow for the first public viewing 75 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: of a very famous work of art. Hey everyone, I'm Eves, 76 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: and welcome back to This Day at History Class, a 77 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: podcast where we unwrap a piece of history candy every day. 78 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,359 Speaker 1: The day was October thirty one, nineteen fifty one, the 79 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: first zebra crossing, the striped pedestrian crossing scene in cities 80 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: across the world was installed in slow England. Pedestrian accidents 81 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,600 Speaker 1: and fatalities were on the rise in Britain at the time. 82 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: There were rows of metal studs on the road that 83 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: marked pedestrian crossings, which were okay for pedestrians themselves, but 84 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: we're difficult for drivers to recognize. They weren't super visible 85 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: from far away. By the time a motorist drove over 86 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: the studs and felt the bumps, it would be too 87 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: late to prevent an accident. There were also Belicia beacons, 88 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: or black and white poles with orange globes on top, 89 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: that marked pedestrian crossings on the side of the road, 90 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: but by the late nineteen forties, as the number of 91 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: cars on the road rose rapidly, these safety measures had 92 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: become less successful at increasing pedestrians awareness and preventing accidents. 93 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: Drivers and pedestrians were ignoring the crossings, so the government 94 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: began testing different painted pedestrian crossings that were more visible 95 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: than previous ones. The Transport Research Laboratory used model roads 96 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: then installed the designs in real world locations starting in 97 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:53,559 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine. They tested crossings with red and white 98 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: stripes as well as blue and yellow stripes, but in 99 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: the end black and white stripes tested best in terms 100 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 1: of the stability. They were easier to see from far 101 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: away and allowed drivers to reduce their speed ahead of time. 102 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: After the first official zebra crossing was installed in Slough, 103 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: they were installed in many more locations across Britain. They 104 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,799 Speaker 1: were marked on either side with felicia beacons. The supposed 105 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: origin of the term zebra crossing goes back to British 106 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: MP and later Prime Ministered Jim Callahan, who was reported 107 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: to have said the crossing looked like a zebra. Callahan 108 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: said he didn't remember making that remark. Though. Pedestrian deaths 109 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: declined in the first year, but there were still accidents 110 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: at zebra crossings in busy areas and the crossings could 111 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: back up traffic, so the UK introduced handa crossings, which 112 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: were basically zebra crossings with traffic signals on the beacon poles. 113 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: Britain and countries around the world continued to experiment with 114 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: different crossings that increased safety and visibility Over the years. 115 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: Many pedestrian crossing designs have been named after animals, including 116 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: Pelican crossings, Puffin Crossings, and two Can crossings. I'm Eaves 117 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more about 118 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you haven't gotten 119 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: your fill of history yet, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, 120 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: and Instagram. At t d i h C podcast email 121 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: still works. Send us a note at this day at 122 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com. Thank you again for listening 123 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: and we'll see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from i 124 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 125 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.