78: The Carrington Event and The First Renaissance Faire

This week we deep dive into the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history that happened in 1959 and how the Red Scare of the 1950s directly led to the founding of the now iconic Renaissance Pleasure Faire. A listener email informs us of how Nixon's airborne toilet is memorialized in Seattle.San Diego Comic Con Panels:I'm Me and It's This Game's Fault!Friday July 25, 2025 8:00pm - 9:00pmRoom 29ABMiddle Eastern/North African Representation in MediaSaturday July 26, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pmGrand 10 & 11, Marriott Marquis San Diego MarinaEpisode Tabs:Eyewitness Reports of the Great Auroral Storm of 1859https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20050210157/downloads/20050210157.pdfThe Surprisingly Radical Roots of the Renaissance Fairhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-surprisingly-radical-roots-of-the-renaissance-fair-180982918/Listener Tabs:The Bay Area's most hazardous playground has to be seen to be believedhttps://www.sfgate.com/local/article/berkeley-adventure-playground-19462017.phpEmail your closed tab submissions to: [email protected] us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7aSUPPORT THE SHOW and get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.