Ridiculous History

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Vacuum Cleaners are Ridiculous!

Did you know over 90% of US households own a vacuum cleaner? These handy-dandy descendents of the carpet sweeper revolutionized the cleaning game... but where did they come from? As Ben, Noel and Max discover in today's episode, your humble vacuum is the result of centuries' worth of wild ideas -- and more than a few crazily ambitious inventors, as well. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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  IQ Tests are (Kind of) Dumb

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  Did Lead Lead to the Fall of the Roman Empire?

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  CLASSIC: California Schoolchildren and the Great Squirrel War

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  Don’t Be a Schmo Yo, Try a Yoyo!

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  The Ridiculous Secret of "Supreme" Pizza

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  CLASSIC: When West Virginia Begged the USSR for Foreign Aid

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  Knitting as Espionage, Part Two: Legendary Spies -- and One Traitor

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  Knitting as Espionage, Part One: Secrets in the Stitch

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  CLASSIC: Idiomatic for the People II, Part II

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  Inventors Who Died Due To Their Own Inventions: The Irrational Death of Hi…

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  The Spiritualism Movement Was Utterly Ridiculous, Part Two: Con Artists, S…

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  CLASSIC: Idiomatic for the People II, Part I: What's in a word?

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  The Spiritualism Movement Was Utterly Ridiculous, Part One: A Prank Goes V…

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  History's Weirdest National Anthems

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  CLASSIC: The Statue of Liberty Almost Lived in Egypt