Who Died Today

Series produced by Jonathan Thomas Stratman

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A fresh look at history's dead characters. It's a chance to meet people you've never met and really get to know people you only thought you knew. Ho Chi Minh ... who knew he worked as a pastry chef in Harlem in the 1920s?Frank T. Hopkins ... they made the movie "Hidalgo" about him ... who knew his shocking secret? Who was the fourth man to die in the Buddy Holly crash, and why isn't anybody talking about him?

Dynamic three-minute, filler-length episodes, keyed to specific dates throughout the year. You'll discover a fresh point of view on history's dead characters. Who they really were, how they really lived ... what they left behind. Some are obscure, many––though overlooked or overshadowed––were center stage in the unfolding, human drama or comedy that is history and life.


50 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Who was she? Imagine Indiana Jones or Lawrence of Arabia ... think of them in skirts ... and you're close. Archeologist, diplomat, writer and poet ...

  • Added: Jul 03, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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For more than fifty years ... an unbroken streak of more than 4500 games, Bob Sheppard was the voice of Yankee Stadium. As Reggie Jackson said, "t...

  • Added: Jul 06, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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Armstrong was born in Storyville, a redlight district of New Orleans, 1901. His father left and his mother was probably a prostitute. He first lear...

  • Added: Jun 18, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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Hannibal who? The story of an all-but-forgotten man who WOULD HAVE BEEN President after Lincoln's assassination, likely changing our lives.

  • Added: Jun 22, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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If the sound of his name isn't familiar, the sound of his voice certainly is. This is the unlikely story of four Detroit kids who went to a birthda...

  • Added: Jun 13, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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If his name doesn't ring a bell, it's because we knew him ... millions of television viewers ... from the 1950s all the way through to the Nickelod...

  • Added: Jun 11, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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While he's not exactly a household name, with more than 400 patents to his credit, you know his work.

  • Added: Jun 02, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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Although he appeared on stage and in more than 20 motion pictures, Dooley Wilson won immortality for his role as "Sam" in the 1942 film Casablanca....

  • Added: May 19, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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The mother of one of our greatest American writers. Long thought to be illiterate ... revealed by her letters to have a distinctive writing voice t...

  • Added: May 17, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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A Gypsy, he never lived in a house or wore a suit until age twenty. At age 18, a late-night caravan fire left him with only two, useful fingers on ...

  • Added: May 10, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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She was a small, dark-haired Polish Catholic who somehow managed to save 2500 Jewish children from the Nazis. How? Here's the tale. Also available...

  • Added: Sep 12, 2012
  • Length: 03:00
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Self-described as a simple mountain coolie, he became one of the world's foremost mountaineers and, along with Sir Edmund Hillary, the first ... ev...

  • Added: May 04, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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He was shy, geeky ... a genius ... and helped turn the tide in World War II.

  • Added: Apr 28, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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He was born John Luther Jones, but we knew him as Casey. And even though Casey Jones died in an obscure, single fatality train accident more than 1...

Bought by KZYX and KZYX


  • Added: Apr 20, 2011
  • Length: 03:22
  • Purchases: 2
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From great grandson of William Dawes, midnight rider with Paul Revere, to U.S. Vice President under Calvin Coolidge ... to co-writer of a number on...

  • Added: Apr 11, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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The Ten Boom family hides Jews and members of Dutch resistance from the Nazis in a secret room. Raided by the Gestapo, Corrie, her sister and their...

  • Added: Apr 09, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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Our unappreciated national treasure, Susan B. Anthony spent more than five decades in a struggle to transform life for American women by securing t...

  • Added: Mar 06, 2012
  • Length: 03:00
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He was a runner, early on. Before it was popular. Before Spandex, before Nike and Gatorade. At one time, he was one of a handful of the fastest hum...

  • Added: Apr 09, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
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A founding father of bebop and modern jazz, wife Nellie called his style "Melodius Thunk."

Bought by KUT


  • Added: Jan 17, 2011
  • Length: 03:00
  • Purchases: 1
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The shocking truth about the patron saint of romantic love, marriage ... and bee keeping.

Bought by KUT


  • Added: Jan 05, 2013
  • Length: 02:53
  • Purchases: 1