1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. Today's episode contains not just one, 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: but two nuggets of history. These are coming from the 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: T D I H vall, so you'll also here to hosts. 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: Consider it a double feature. Enjoy the show. Welcome to 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: this day in History class. It's July. The Romanovs were 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: executed on this day in en. It is one of 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: the more famous mass executions in history, and it also 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: spawned an ongoing mystery about whether maybe one of the 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: Romanov children had escaped. The Romanovs were an imperial dynasty. 10 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: They ruled Russia for more than three hundred years after 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: coming to power in sixteen, and the head of the 12 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: Romanov family in question at this point was Czar Nicholas. 13 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: The second he came to power in he had a 14 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: reputation for being cruel and out of touch and easy 15 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: to manipulate. Not a great combination and a leader, but 16 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: he was also deeply patriotic, religiously vary, devout, and devoted 17 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,839 Speaker 1: to his family. Ultimately, though he was not a popular 18 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,759 Speaker 1: ruler at all. Things got worse when the Russian Revolution 19 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: of nineteen oh five started. This revolution followed Russia's defeat 20 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: in a war with Japan and the thing that sparked it. 21 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: Even though things were difficult in the aftermath of this war, 22 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: what really launched it was a protest by workers. The 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: Czar's troops opened fire on these protesting workers, killing more 24 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: than a hundred people, and this was one of the 25 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: many events in history to later be described as Bloody Sunday. 26 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: This massacre sparked the revolution, which led to a general 27 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: strike and a counter revolution and just ongoing unrest. Then 28 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: World War One made things even harder. Then the February 29 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: Revolution started in the early months of nineteen seventeen that 30 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: was connected to food shortages which had been ongoing through 31 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: a lot of this. By this point, Nicholas and his 32 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: wife Alexandra were widely hated. They were not trusted at all. 33 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: They'd also had a whole long ordeal with an advisor, Rasputin, 34 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: who had said that he could treat their only son, Alexei, 35 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: for hemophilia, which was not a treatable condition or a 36 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,079 Speaker 1: curable condition at the time, and Alexei, as their only son, 37 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: was supposed to be the heir to the throne. Resputin 38 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: had been murdered by a group of nobles in a 39 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: prolonged effort that involved as being poisoned, shot, shot again, beaten, 40 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: and thrown into the river. Then another revolution followed later 41 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: on in nineteen seventeen. That was the Bolshevik Revolution, which 42 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: was led by Vladimir Lenin, and that led to a 43 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: civil war. The Bolsheviks took over for the provisional government 44 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: that had been put in place. The Romanovs were placed 45 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: under house arrest for months, and then they were exiled 46 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: to Siberia in August of nineteen seventeen. They continued to 47 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: be moved around and just generally not treated well during 48 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: their imprisonment, and then finally they and some servants that 49 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: were loyal to them were all executed on July seventeenth 50 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: of nineteen eighteen. There were still a few other Romanov 51 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: family members still living in Russia at this time. They 52 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: all fled and the Bolsheviks evolved into the Communist Party. 53 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: Rumors started not long at all after this execution about 54 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: whether one of the children, particularly Anastasia, who was the 55 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: youngest daughter, had escaped. Thus, there were several Anastasia impostors 56 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: and people who made various claims to being the surviving 57 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: daughter of the Romanovs. The most famous was named Anna Anderson, 58 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: and she was proved not to be legitimate after her death. 59 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: Nine bodies were discovered in nineteen seventy nine, although the 60 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: find wasn't disclosed for decades, and DNA analysis suggested that 61 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: these were the Romanov parents, three of their children, and 62 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: four unrelated people who were their attendants. There was those 63 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: somepute about these results and whether they were correct or not, 64 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: but regardless, that find left two children, Alexei and Anastasia, 65 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: unaccounted for, so people still wondered if maybe any of 66 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: these Anastasia claimants had been legitimate. Two more bodies were 67 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: found in two thousand and seven, though and overall, the 68 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: conclusion at this point is that these are all of 69 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: the bodies of the Romanovs, and that they all were 70 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: killed in nineteen eighteen. In two thousand and eight, the 71 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: Russian Supreme Court ruled that they had been victims of 72 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: political oppression by the Bolsheviks, and the Russian Orthodox Church 73 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: Council of Bishops also voted to canonize the family in 74 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: two thousand. You can learn more about all of this 75 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: in the March ten episode of Stuff You miss in 76 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: History Class called what Happened to the romanofs and also 77 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: in the September three, two thousand and eight episode of 78 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: Stuff You Miss in History Class called how did Raspute 79 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: and Really Die? Thanks also to Eaves Jeff Cope for 80 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 1: her research work on this podcast, and to Tari Harrison 81 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: for her audio work and all these episodes. You can 82 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: subscribe to This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, 83 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: Google Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. Tomorrow, tune 84 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: in for a famous fire which did happen, but one 85 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: of the most famous things about it probably did not. Hello, Hello, everyone, 86 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to this Day in History Class, where we bring 87 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: you a new tidbit from history every day. The day 88 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: was July sev nineteen fifty nine. English archaeologist Mary Leaky 89 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: discovered the school of an ancient hominin now known as 90 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: parenthesist boy c I. Paleo Anthropologists found the first Pe 91 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: boy c I fossils in East Africa in fifty five, 92 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: but it was not taxonomically classified until later. After Leaky's find, 93 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: Pe boise I was identified as a new species. Mary 94 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: and her husband, Lewis, who was also an archaeologist, had 95 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: already made some important archaeological discoveries before they came across P. 96 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: Boy c I. They found a complete skull of an 97 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: early Miocene ape in nineteen forty eight, and Mary recorded 98 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: Tanzanian rock paintings in nineteen fifty one, but the P. 99 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: Boy c I fossils were Mary's most famous discovery. From 100 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one to nineteen fifty eight, the Leakies excavated 101 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: Bad two of the Old Divide Gorge, an important paleo 102 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: anthropological site near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. There 103 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: are seven major stratigraphic units, or layers of deposition in 104 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: the gorge. Bed two is stated at about one point 105 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: one five million to one point seven million years old, 106 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,239 Speaker 1: but in nineteen fifty nine the Leakies turned their attention 107 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: to BID one, which is about one point seven million 108 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: to two point one million years old. On July seventeenth, 109 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:59,679 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty nine, Louis remained at camp because he was sick, 110 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: but when Mary was out working, she found the remains 111 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: of a skull at a site named f. LK Zinge, 112 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,280 Speaker 1: about twenty two ft below the upper limit of Bed one. 113 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: The Leakies ended up uncovering about four hundred fragments that 114 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: made up a nearly complete skull. The specimen was label 115 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: O H five or Old V Hominid five. It had 116 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,559 Speaker 1: large teeth, leading people to dub the specimen nutcracker Man. 117 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: Raymond Dart and Robert Broom had found similar specimens in 118 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: South Africa, but in August the Leakies published the Discovery 119 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: and Nature and called it Zenjanis boy c I. Though 120 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: they considered including it in the genus Astrolopiscus, they decided 121 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: to define a new genus for the specimen. The word 122 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: Zin is an Old Arabic word that referred to East Africa, 123 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: and the word boise I came from the name Charles Boise, 124 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: who had been financing the Leaky's expeditions. They also found 125 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: stone tools in bed one, though those tools were later 126 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: linked to Homo habilists. Zenjianpis boy c I later reclassify 127 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: Australopithecus boy c I and then Paranthropist boy c I. 128 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: Was dated to one point seven five million years ago. 129 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: That made it the oldest hominin discovered at the time, 130 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: Though previous finds have been difficult to date due to 131 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: the limits of contemporary technology. The find marked a change 132 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: in the way scientists traced human evolution. At the time, 133 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: the commonly held view was that human lineage had its 134 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: roots in Asia, but the discovery of P. Boy c 135 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: I suggested that hominins evolved in Africa. The discovery of P. 136 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: Boy c I got the Leakies funding from National Geographic 137 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: which allowed them to work on more projects. Mary and 138 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,719 Speaker 1: her son Jonathan found a hominin in nineteen sixty one 139 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: that Louis Leaky, Philip Tobias, and John Napier called Homo 140 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: habilists in their nineteen sixty four paper in the journal Nature. 141 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: They called it Homo habilists because they believed it used tools. 142 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: Louis Leaky thought that it was the first member of 143 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:00,599 Speaker 1: the genus Homo, and that it co existed with P. 144 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: Boy c I. Later discoveries confirmed that more than one 145 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: species of early humans lived in the same geographical area 146 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,599 Speaker 1: at the same time, and in the late nineteen seventies, 147 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: Mary and her team discovered hominid footprints and volcanic ash 148 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: at the Liatoli beds near Old Duvai Gorge. There were 149 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: three million to three point five million years old left 150 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: by an upright bipedal hominin, possibly Austra Lopithecus, and forensis, 151 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: as there was controversy in the scientific community over just 152 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,719 Speaker 1: how bipedal early hominins were. This was a significant discovery. 153 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: During the same time period, Mary's team found the remains 154 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: of early hominids in fifteen new animal species. More P. 155 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: Boy c I fossils were found in the years after 156 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: Lakey's discovery. Debate over the lineage and taxonomy of P. 157 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,719 Speaker 1: Boy c I continues today. I'm Eves Jeff Coote and 158 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 159 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,719 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you feel like correcting my pronunciation 160 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: or my accent on anything that I've said in the show, 161 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: feel free to leave a very kind comment on Twitter, 162 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: Instagram or Facebook. At t D I h C podcast, 163 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: We'll see you here in the same place tomorrow. For 164 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I Heart 165 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 166 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: favorite shows.