Explorers sought new passages to the Far East in the far north for centuries before reaching the North Pole became an end in itself. It took until the twentieth century for the first person to reach the North Pole, but exactly who that was and when it happened…well, that’s a tricky question.

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Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, (“Pathétique”)
Composed in 1893 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Public domain.
Performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

After years of plotting, failed uprisings, and repression, the Qing Dynasty is overthrown, and the Republic of China proclaimed.

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Fanfare

Opening Theme

The Moon Reflecting in the Second Spring
Composed ca. 1940 by Abing. Public domain.
Performed by Wikipedia User David290,
and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

The first experimental steam-powered, self-propelled road vehicles appeared in France in the late 18th century. By the late 19th century, there were also vehicles powered by battery and by internal combustion. But in the early years of the twentieth century, the automobile comes into its own as a practical, economic form of transportation.

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Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Daisy Bell”
Composed in 1892 by Harry Dacre. Public domain.

“In My Merry Oldsmobile”
Composed in 1905 by Gus Edwards and Vincent Bryan. Public domain.

Closing Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

In the United Kingdom, the constitutional crisis over the role of the House of Lords comes to a head in 1910, amid two general elections and the death of King Edward VII.

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Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 3 in E♭ Major (“Eroica”)
Composed in 1804 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain. Source.

Tombeau fait à Paris sur la mort de Monsieur Blancrocher, C minor
Composed in 1652 by Johann Jakob Froberger. Public domain.
Performed by Joan Benson. Source.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Closing Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.