Seemingly Innocuous

On a hot summer day, 7000 people gathered at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s traveling circus in Hartford, Connecticut, for what was sure to be a spectacle.  Little did any of the patrons know just how memorable that day was going to be and how absolutely tragic!  Join Hav this week as he covers this disastrous event and discusses many attendees who were forced to make split decisions not knowing what their fate truly held for them.  This is a tough one but I hope you enjoy this week’s episode (as much as one could enjoy it….)Written by: Hav MartinezResearch by: Hav MartinezProduced and Edited by: Hav MartinezEpisode Co-Host: JackieMusic By: SkaneSocials/Contact:Follow on Instagram: @seeminglyinnocuouspodEmail us! [email protected] Primary References:1. O’Nan, Stewart. The Circus Fire: A True Story of an AmericanTragedy. 20002. https://www.circusfire1944.com/3. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/08/05/85043468.pdf4. https://www.guilfordfire.com/single-post/remembering-the-tragic-hartford-circus-fire-77-years-later5. https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/05/archives/fifty-animals-die-in-fire-at-circus-ringling-menagerie-burns-in.html6. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-rich-tragic-history-of-daredevil-wallendas/7. https://fee.org/articles/the-myth-of-us-prosperity-during-world-war-ii/8. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1991/rt9103/910310/03100173.htm9. https://youthjournalism.org/inferno-under-big-top-survivors/10.https://www.circusesandsideshows.com/circuses/ringlingbrosbbcircus.html11.  https://connecticuthistory.org/hartford-circus-fire-the-tents-on-fire-who-knew/12.  https://www.hartfordhistory.net/circusfire.html13.  https://toomuchbrudders.com/2020/07/03/the-hartford-circus-fire/14.  https://dnadoeproject.org/case/hartford-circus-fire-victims/15.  https://blog.qrfs.com/294-the-deadliest-fires-in-u-s-history-lessons-learned-from-the-hartford-circus-fire/16.  https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-07-01/80-years-ago-a-gas-soaked-roof-and-wwii-created-a-perfect-storm-for-the-hartford-circus-tragedy17.  https://www.thestacksreader.com/the-little-girl-in-grave-1565/

At the top of this week’s episode, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was likely thrilled from beyond the grave about what the future of the Zeppelin name was likely to become.  After all, rigid airships were looking like they might be the chosen form of air travel, especially for transcontinental flights.  The Hindenburg had a highly successful first season and with expansion of passenger capacity during the winter of ’36, she was bound to continue on her successful path and lead the charge for many more airships to come.  Unfortunately, this would all come crashing down, quite literally, in a fiery blaze.  Little did anyone know how their lives would change or possibly end as a result of being on the Hindenburg during her last voyage across the Atlantic. Written by: Hav MartinezResearch by: Hav MartinezProduced and Edited by: Hav MartinezEpisode Co-Host: EthanMusic By: SkanePrimary Resources:1.       https://www.airships.net/zeppelins/2.       https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/lz129-hindenburg-detailed-history/3.       https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster/4.       https://www.airships.net/airship-people/captain-max-pruss/5.       https://www.airships.net/hydrogen-airship-accidents/6.       https://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin/7.       https://www.zeppelinhistory.com/list-of-zeppelins/lz-127-graf-zeppelin/8.       https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1956/july/zeppelins-german-navy-1914-189.       https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/zeppelin-raids/10.  https://isopolar.com/history-the-zeppelin-age/11.  https://www.zeppelinhistory.com/rigid-airships-history/timeline-of-zeppelins/12.  https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-6/the-hindenburg-disaster13.  https://www.airships.net/hindenburg-survivors/14.  https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/html.php?section=515.  https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/hindenburg-flight-passenger-diary/16.  https://www.historytoday.com/hindenburg-disaster-and-end-airship-era17.  https://www.airships.net/airship-people/hugo-eckener/18.  https://www.airships.net/us-navy-rigid-airships/uss-los-angeles/19.  https://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin/size-speed-statistics/20.  https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/size-speed/21.  https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/the-foote-files-wls-chicago-and-the-hindenburg/22.  https://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/passengers-aboard-lz-129-hindenburg-may.html23.  Joseph Spah as “Ben Dova” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9gh9P4TT0

Months after the turn of the 20th century, a visionary was determined to make history with the creation of his design, albeit possibly borrowed, of a massive ship that he felt would change the travel and shipping industries forever. In this episode of Seemingly Innocuous, Hav a co-host talk about the rise (pun intended) of rigid airships designed and built by a German inventor whose name Zeppelin would forever go down in history, and sadly not exactly in the illustrious way that he had hoped. Written by: Hav MartinezResearch by: Hav MartinezProduced and Edited by: Hav MartinezEpisode Co-Host: EthanMusic by: SkanePrimary Resources:1.       https://www.airships.net/zeppelins/2.       https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/lz129-hindenburg-detailed-history/3.       https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster/4.       https://www.airships.net/airship-people/captain-max-pruss/5.       https://www.airships.net/hydrogen-airship-accidents/6.       https://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin/7.       https://www.zeppelinhistory.com/list-of-zeppelins/lz-127-graf-zeppelin/8.       https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1956/july/zeppelins-german-navy-1914-189.       https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/zeppelin-raids/10.  https://isopolar.com/history-the-zeppelin-age/11.  https://www.zeppelinhistory.com/rigid-airships-history/timeline-of-zeppelins/12.  https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-6/the-hindenburg-disaster13.  https://www.airships.net/hindenburg-survivors/14.  https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/html.php?section=515.  https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/hindenburg-flight-passenger-diary/16.  https://www.historytoday.com/hindenburg-disaster-and-end-airship-era17.  https://www.airships.net/airship-people/hugo-eckener/18.  https://www.airships.net/us-navy-rigid-airships/uss-los-angeles/19.  https://www.airships.net/lz127-graf-zeppelin/size-speed-statistics/20.  https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/size-speed/21.  https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/the-foote-files-wls-chicago-and-the-hindenburg/ 22.  https://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/passengers-aboard-lz-129-hindenburg-may.html

In this episode, we conclude the case of Charles "Charlie" Whitman and discuss how his vile actions on August 1, 1966 ended several lives and forever altered the life of Claire Wilson and numerous others! We also discuss the heroic actions of not only law enforcement but also fellow bystanders and how Charlie was finally able to be taken down from his perch on the UT Texas Tower.Written by: Hav MartinezResearch by: Hav MartinezProduced and Edited by: Hav MartinezEpisode Co-Host: SuzieMusic by: SkanePrimary Resources:1.       https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2016/09/03/claire-james-survived-whitmans-bullet-the-baby-she-carried-didnt/10100433007/2.       https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/01/texas-tower-shooting-myth-good-guy-with-gun/3.       https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Whitman4.       https://www.garylavergne.com/whitman-why.htm5.       http://behindthetower.org/the-victims/6.       https://www.westtexasscoutinghistory.net/McCoy-story.html7.       https://towerhistory.org/profiles/claire-wilson-james/8.       Green, Ryan. The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying TrueStory of Charles Whitman.

On August 1, 1966, students and faculty were going about their typical routines on the University of Texas campus in Austin. Little did anyone know that Charles "Charlie" Whitman had been planning for weeks to carry out one of the most widely known early instances of a mass shooting in the U.S. In this very first episode of Seemingly Innocuous, a true crime and disaster podcast that examines how the universe sometimes has more control over our destiny than we realize, we discuss how effectively meaningless choices sometimes leads to the difference between life and death. Written by: Hav MartinezResearch by: Hav MartinezProduced and Edited by Hav MartinezEpisode Co-Host: SuzieMusicy by: SkanePrimary Resources:1.       https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2016/09/03/claire-james-survived-whitmans-bullet-the-baby-she-carried-didnt/10100433007/2.       https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/01/texas-tower-shooting-myth-good-guy-with-gun/3.       https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Whitman4.       https://www.garylavergne.com/whitman-why.htm5.       http://behindthetower.org/the-victims/6.       https://www.westtexasscoutinghistory.net/McCoy-story.html7.       https://towerhistory.org/profiles/claire-wilson-james/