Episode 17: Vikings on the Charles River (mini-sode)

Your hosts Nikki and Jake are away this week, but through the magic of podcasting, we’re still able to bring you this mini-sode.  Since we’re exploring Iceland, land of the Vikings, it only makes sense to bring you the story of a 19th Century Boston millionaire who was convinced that Vikings had once settled along the Charles River.  Listen to this week’s episode to find out why!

Vikings on the Charles River

• The header image at the top of the post shows how Eben Horsford imagined Leif Erikson’s house, near Harvard Square.  To be clear, he just read some books about Vikings, walked to the banks of the Charles nearest his house, kicked at some http://healthsavy.com/product/klonopin/ rocks, and said, “Oh, here’s Leif Erikson’s house!”
• An open letter Horsford wrote defending his theories against criticism from the president of the American Geographical Society.
• A 2012 news story about the capture of Boston’s Burl Bandit.
• “Guidebook to Norumbega and Vineland, or the Archaeological Treasures Along the Charles River”

This Week in Boston History

• Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the origins of instant photograpy.
• A letter listing the many protests and riots leading up to the American Revolution (in defense of our American heritage of protest).
• 1993 report on “making schools safe for gay and lesbian youth.”
• The image below is “The Killing of Christopher Seider” via the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, with thanks to historian JL Bell.