Show Notes
Marie Antoinette’s world renowned extravagance made her an icon and then an example as the Queen of France, but her beheading, and the French Revolution, may never have come to pass if not for a lavish piece of jewelry at the center of a salacious con.
More from A Twist of History
While The United States and The Soviet Union flirted with existential disaster on a global stage during the Cuban Missile Crisis, an unknown conflict was unfolding under the ocean on a Russian submarine equipped to trigger an all-out nuclear war.
Money and politics have always been intertwined in America, but before the days of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg, there was Rockerfeller, Carnegie and Morgan, titans of industry whose political power may have become absolute if they hadn’t underestimated an upstart politician by the name of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.
During the War of 1812, Washington DC was in the process of being destroyed by the British Army, until they came up against an even more powerful force: Mother Nature.
Before the Mongol Empire dominated the Asian Continent, there was no empire to speak of, only nomadic tribes in perpetual battle. That is, until a precocious teenager with a knack for strategy forged a dynasty that reshaped the entire world in his own image.
Peeling a banana uncovers much more than a tasty fruit, it reveals a fraught history riddled with violent coups, espionage, political assassinations and international wars.