Mary Toft

In 18th century England, Mary Toft defied all medical odds when she started giving birth to rabbits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

When the plague broke out again in the late 19th century, scientists dissected buboes, bodies, and fleas… and found the source of the Black Death. The disease had already killed millions throughout Europe and Asia. In 1900, it reached San Francisco. Learn more about your ad choic ...  Show more

She was a pioneering scientist, proto-feminist, and letter writer extraordinaire. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu escaped a marriage to Clotworthy Skeffington to become one of history's most incredible women. Listen this week as William and Anita are joined by Katie Hickman to tell the ...  Show more

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was brought up to believe that it was her face that was her fortune, and her place to be simply decorative. However, her uncommon intelligence, influence among the powerful, and her willingness to accept new ideas about medicine would save lives, help en ...  Show more

The worldwide eradication of smallpox was not Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's only claim to fame; she discarded the life she knew and set out to remake herself, acquiring a reputation for eccentricity, adventures worthy of a modern motion picture, and unwanted literary superstardom. ...  Show more

In the early 1800s, Mary Willcocks was a young, restless woman struggling in poverty. Drifting around England as a beggar, she eventually donned a disguise and spoke in a made-up language, hoping to lure more charity. The ruse worked, and her bizarre alias was born. Learn more ab ...  Show more