Latest / Ebbs of History / When a Colony Vanished Into Thin Air
Transcript
- Jason AI: Maybe we can learn something about that in... Jason: Histiography! Lessons we've learned today. Time for the Fun Fact Challenge! This day in History! speaker-0: Welcome to the ebbs of history the show where we dive into the strangest wildest and sometimes downright creepiest stories the past has to offer From dancing plagues to pirate queens you'll laugh you'll gasp You'll even groan at my impeccable dad jokes But most importantly we'll learn how history is way cooler than your textbook ever told you speaker-1: We're your history-loving hosts, Leslie. speaker-2: Gavin. speaker-0: And I am Jason, and in every episode the three of us will take a quick trip through time and see what lessons we can still learn today. This is the ebbs of history. Hey there history lovers, welcome back to another episode of Ebs of History, we're so glad you're here with us today. Guess what? speaker-2: What? speaker-0: We have a special guest today. is busy now and for the next few weeks with her show at school. So ⁓ will be filling in. Welcome Leslie. ⁓ speaker-1: Thank you. Leslie in the house. speaker-0: As a newcomer to the show, why don't you tell us what your favorite part of history is? Or if you even like history. speaker-1: ⁓ boy. I would have known there was going to be a question and answer portion. I do. I enjoy history. I don't even know if I have one that I really love. I guess I do love like the Elizabethan and like Shakespeare and all that like history. ⁓ speaker-2: I hate you! speaker-0: How do you feel about the Georgian? know you'd... speaker-1: ⁓ like Bridgerton and stuff like that. yeah. like Emma, ⁓ that the. Jane Austen era. Yes. ⁓ and no. think that literary ⁓ more interesting in that aspect than the actual history. speaker-0: Jane Austen era. So like stories set in that right specifically historical speaker-1: I don't really feel like I know that stuff did happen, but nothing like mega, you know, happened. speaker-0: Alright, anything else to add before we start off? speaker-2: We should do a video about the four Georgias and what they all did. know, because it's just like four Georgias in a row. One, two, lo-ver you. speaker-0: Yeah. Alright then, on to the normal stuff. How was everyone's week? speaker-2: Good. speaker-0: That's it. speaker-1: Well, it's been really really hot here, ⁓ so we're kind of been in a heat wave ⁓ So that's been speaker-2: ⁓ yes. Yeah. speaker-0: and going to Zoe's show. speaker-1: We've been working as always shows on B prom which is ⁓ Yes, she's in the spring musical at school, so we've been really busy Yeah, we've been volunteering for Zombie Prom in concessions and in the dressing room, making sure that everyone is... ...what they're supposed to be doing and not doing what they shouldn't be doing. Giving out band-aids. speaker-0: doing what they're supposed to be doing. speaker-2: giving up band-aids. speaker-0: Now this is not gonna come out until after the show is over, but if anybody you ever get a chance to go see Zombie Prom, it's really, really good. For something that I had never heard of before her school did it, it's amazing. It's really good. It even got a couple of kids that are super young and you wouldn't think that they would be into musicals at all, into musicals, including a three-year-old. Like, They loved it. They loved it. speaker-2: Yeah, I loved it. It was very fun speaker-1: Yes. speaker-0: But you go to a lot of shows anyway in general, so... We weren't trying to persuade you with the other younger ones though. It did the trick. I highly suggest seeing it. speaker-1: I highly suggest seeing any musical theater with your children. speaker-0: This is true. Or any theater period. OK, we're going to move on to our actual story this week. August 1590. An English ship approaches Roanoke Island off the coast of what is now North Carolina. The captain, John White, is finally returning after three years away. He's desperate to see his daughter, his granddaughter, Virginia, and the 117 colonists that he left behind. As they approach the shore, there's no smoke from cooking fires, no welcoming party, no signs of life. When White lands, he finds the settlement completely deserted. Every man, woman, and child has vanished. The only clues? The word Kroatoan carved into a wooden post and Kro etched into a tree. What happened to these people? speaker-1: spooky speaker-0: Today, we're diving into one of America's oldest and most haunting mysteries, the lost colony of Roanoke. Have either of you guys heard of this before today? Before my little introduction just now. speaker-2: feel like I've heard the word Roanoke, but I never really heard what it is. speaker-0: What about Croatoan? Ever heard that word? speaker-1: I've watched shows on Roanoke and I've watched American horror story with the season of which I know is not ⁓ accurate, ⁓ but it still, ⁓ makes you think about what happened. And, ⁓ it's very ⁓ speaker-0: Well yeah, such a mystery even to this day what actually happened that it spawns entertainment today. speaker-1: Yeah, because it's kind of just like, especially back then, people, everything was seen as ⁓ religious or, you know, from the gods that it was either the devil did this or something of that nature. So it's very easy to be made into movies or television. speaker-0: 1587 when this whole wild story began. speaker-1: minute. 1587? Mm-hmm. Okay. Because you said 1590, but that was when he came back. Okay. speaker-2: No. speaker-0: That is correct. England was in a fierce competition with Spain for control of the New World. Sir Walter Raleigh, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, had been granted permission to establish a colony in the Americas. This wasn't England's first attempt at Roanoke. A previous expedition in 1585 had failed miserably, with colonists returning home after a year of struggling with food shortages and conflicts with local tribes. But Raleigh was determined to try again. This time, he sent 117 people. 90 men, 17 women, and 9 children. Leading them was John White, an artist and cartographer who had been part of that earlier failed expedition. he was getting into, or least he thought he did. The colonists arrived in of 1587, setting up camp in an abandoned fort on Roanoke Island. Now, can you imagine crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the 16th century? How long do you think it took? speaker-1: ⁓ five months? speaker-2: sailboat? speaker-0: Yeah, there's no motors back then. speaker-2: Yes, Guess three months. speaker-0: So we got three months and five months. The voyage took about 10 weeks, ⁓ two and a half months. ⁓ speaker-1: ⁓ I was way off. speaker-2: I was clueless. I got double the time. speaker-0: That's right. It was on a ship the size of a school bus and two of the women were pregnant during this entire journey. speaker-1: That sounds like pure torture. my gosh. don't even want to go on an airplane pregnant. Two and a half weeks on a boat? Once. ⁓ my god. It gets worse. speaker-0: to never 117 people in the size of something the size of a bus with waves and just Miserable Just a few weeks after they arrived on August 18th 1587 John White's daughter Eleanor gave birth to a baby girl They named her Virginia Dare and she became the first English child born in the Americas speaker-1: and they've given them a bigger boat? speaker-2: I'm need a bigger boat. speaker-0: Can you picture the joy and hope that they must have had filling that settlement that day that that first baby was born? speaker-2: I can see, I'm just gonna bring this up now, I can see lot of similarities between state names and capitals. Like, Raleigh, Walter Raleigh, that's the capital of North Carolina. And then, I've already heard Virginia twice, which I was like, ooh. speaker-0: Hmm? Where do think Virginia comes from? speaker-2: I do not know. speaker-0: So this was during the reign of Elizabeth the first. Do you know what her moniker was? speaker-2: Virginia. speaker-0: The Virgin Queen. ⁓ Virginia that's how they got that hmm. I like that you pointed that out. That's good So after the joyousness of this first born in America, the joy did not last long. Just three days after the colonists had arrived, tragedy struck. ⁓ colonist was killed by Native Americans during an attack. This prompted the frightened settlers to retaliate, attacking a native village. ⁓ situation was getting very dangerous, very fast. Within a month of arriving, colonists realized they were in serious trouble. ⁓ They didn't have enough supplies. The relationship with the local Algonquin people was tense after the violence. The settlers needed help, and they needed it fast. So they made a difficult decision. John White, their governor and leader, would sail back to England and get more supplies and reinforcements. Now, imagine being John White. You're leaving behind your daughter, your family, your newborn granddaughter, and 116 other people who are counting on you. The plan was simple. Go to England, get supplies, come right back. What could possibly go wrong? do you think happened, speaker-2: So I was just about to bring that up anyways. ⁓ I feel like with the tensions being high with them and the Native Americans, I think ⁓ the tribe might have been named Kronok. And then they wiped them out and kind of left no evidence. wrote that on the tree. speaker-0: Okay, like Crotoan. Mom, any ideas? ⁓ speaker-1: Well, I was just thinking maybe they just all starved because just, you know, they didn't have the supplies that they needed. So it sounds like they starved or they left to go find supplies somewhere else. And maybe it was a, know, this is where we'll be. And that's what they carved in. speaker-0: Interesting. speaker-2: That's a really good point. I feel like either of us could be it. speaker-0: Mm-hmm. Well, let's keep that all in mind. the devil. Well, let's keep that all in mind as we go along in this story. I think your questions will be answered. So when John White arrived in England in November of 1587, He found a country preparing for war. Spain was assembling the armada to invade England. speaker-1: of the devil. speaker-0: Queen Elizabeth I had issued an order. No ships could leave. Every vessel was needed for defense. White was stuck in England. ⁓ relief mission in 1588, but it a disaster. The ships were attacked by French privateers, and White himself was injured. They had to turn back. Another year passed, ⁓ then another year, and then another speaker-1: Okay wait, so he went back to England to get help and he stayed there for three years? speaker-0: Mm-hmm Just about he was stuck there. He tried getting but he was stuck speaker-1: never knew that. speaker-2: Shoulda swam. speaker-0: You could have swam quicker, right? Yeah, exactly. Meanwhile, back in Roanoke Island, the colonists were facing their own nightmare. Tree ring data from Virginia has shown that between 1587 and 1589, the region experienced one of the worst droughts in 800 years. The Algonquin people who might have traded food with the colonists under better circumstances barely had enough to feed themselves. So what were the colonists supposed to do? Finally, in August of 1590, three years after he had left, John White was able to return. It was his granddaughter Virginia's third birthday. He must have been imagining the reunion, probably hoping to see how much she had grown. But as a ship approached Roanoke Island, something felt wrong, felt off. There was no smoke from fires, no people on the shore, no signs of life whatsoever. When White and his crew landed, they found the settlement completely abandoned. The houses had been taken down, the area was overgrown with weeds and vines, but the colonists hadn't left in a panic. The fort's palisade walls were still intact, suggesting that they had time to organize their departure. Then, White started to find clues. On a wooden post, at the entrance to the fort, someone had carved the word, Croatoan. Now for spelling, I'm going to spell this for you guys. C-R-O-A-T-O- ⁓ A-N. Croatoan. On a nearby tree he also found a CRO. But there was no Maltese cross. And this detail is important. Do either of you know what a Maltese cross is? speaker-1: I was just gonna say, what is a Maltese cry? speaker-2: I do not know what a Maltese cross is. speaker-0: It's a cross with four arms of equal length that widen at their outer ends, forming a distinctive eight-pointed shape. White had told the colonists before he left if had to move because of danger, they would carve a Maltese cross on the trees. The absence of the symbol suggested that they hadn't left under attack or duress. They had planned their departure. So what does Croatoan mean? Any ideas? Gavin, you said something about it being a Native American word, Mom, any ideas? speaker-2: Like a phrase. speaker-1: ⁓ I have no idea. It just seems like jib- speaker-0: It does seem like a gibberish gibberish. Well, it actually was the name of a nearby island about 50 miles south of Roanoke. It's now called Hatteras Island. It was also the name of a Native American tribe, Croatoan people. ⁓ here's the key detail. The Croatoans were friendly with the English colonists. speaker-2: Bye! speaker-0: In fact, one of the colonists' native allies, a man named Manteo, was a Croatoan who had even traveled to England with earlier expeditions. White desperately wanted to sail to Croatoan Island to search for the colonists, but fate had other plans. A massive storm hit the coast. The ship's anchor cables broke and they lost most of their supplies. The crew refused to stay in the dangerous waters. Despite White's pleas, the captain set course for the Caribbean to resupply. and they never returned to search Kurootohin Island. John White never saw his family again. speaker-2: ⁓ That's just sad. I mean, I can imagine him being like the crew. Was it a crew or just him? speaker-0: when. speaker-2: when he went back. speaker-0: ⁓ well, he had a crew with him. speaker-2: Okay, so I can imagine him and his crew being like scared and just confused that there's no one there except for The word Crotolin and Crow right and then they know no cross But then he was never able to go to the Crotolin Island, so he never actually knew what happened speaker-0: Exactly all because of a storm and you know they lost all their supplies things like that for sure speaker-2: wasn't in the stars. speaker-1: This was before Find My Friends. speaker-2: But you still haven't gotten to the quill part yet. speaker-1: Well, I almost feel like that was them trying to write Kroatoan again and not being able to finish or them just writing it like shorthand. Yeah. Right, nobody knows. speaker-0: I We don't get, we don't have an answer. So what happened to the colonists? Here's where the mystery really captures people's imaginations. Over the next few centuries, various theories have emerged. Were they killed by hostile tribes? Did they starve? Were they swept away by a storm? Did they try to sail back to England and drown at sea? if the answer was right there all along? What if they simply left with their Native American friends? For over 400 years, a lost colony of Roanoke has captured the American imagination. Story took hold in 1834 when historian George Bancroft published his account in a history of the United States. Bancroft romanticized the colonists, especially Virginia Dare, turning them into foundational figures in American mythology. The mystery became part of the American identity. A haunting tale of disappearance and loss in the nation's origin story. For decades, the dominant narrative focused on tragedy. Colonists massacred, starved, or lost to the wilderness. The mystery became more compelling than the actual evidence. In pop culture, the lost colony inspired plays, novels, and even a season of American Horror Story. speaker-1: was right. speaker-0: The mystery was too good to solve. But in recent decades, historians and archaeologists have taken on a more evidence-based approach. Researchers like Scott Dawson and Dr. Mark Horton from the University of Bristol have conducted extensive archaeological work on Hatteras Island, where the Crow-Otoan people lived. They found English artifacts mixed with Native American items dating to the right time period, including metal objects that required European technology to produce. speaker-2: Mm. speaker-0: In 2012, researchers analyzing John White's original map discovered hidden markings showing other potential locations where colonists might have relocated. Modern historians increasingly view the mystery as less mysterious than previous generations believed. The evidence suggests a simpler, more human story, survival through assimilation and cooperation. So what do you think? Now you got the story, what do you think happened? speaker-2: After hearing that they used evidence, I think definitely they went to the island and lived with the Native Americans. Because the mix of the Native American materials and inventions and English, else could ⁓ be? speaker-1: The facts don't speaker-0: They probably did write Kroatoan to say, hey, we're going to go stay with the Kroatoan. But then three years elapsed, you know, and things happen and people move around, people die, people assimilate with the Native Americans that they were with. speaker-1: Yeah. So who's to even say that the Croatoans stayed on that island and they didn't go somewhere else? Right. speaker-0: right and even three years later they never went back to crow or had her asylum speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-1: Yes. wouldn't you make an effort after the storm, find a boat, and go there? It just seems really strange that he didn't make more of a speaker-0: Yes. I agree and in my research in writing this, I didn't really find anything about what he did afterwards, but that always stuck in my head. Like maybe that's part of the American myth that has been created around this. You know, that he just didn't go back. Like you spent three years trying to get from England to back to America, but you just gave up. speaker-1: Right, you got to America and then you just stopped? It's kind of strange. Well. It's just that makes no sense to me. speaker-0: I find that unbelievable. speaker-2: Shucks. speaker-0: Because if he would have found them, or at least found somebody that knew the story of what happened to them, this wouldn't be the big mystery that it is. speaker-1: Exactly. But I feel like people like to use it as a scare tactic of trying to scare people into staying in line. Yes. speaker-2: Ex- speaker-0: exploring the unknown. speaker-2: want to bring something up. feel like in the grand scheme of things, three years is barely any in history. But at the same time, so much can happen in three years. Yeah. speaker-1: especially back then. speaker-2: That's kind of it. I just want to bring that up. speaker-0: Okay. So, what can we learn from the lost colony of Roanoke today? I guess you guys kinda have gone over that a little bit just now. speaker-1: ⁓ I mean, maybe leave a detailed map of where you're going when you leave somewhere for somebody next time. speaker-0: I think we're past that. speaker-2: I feel like a lot of the things that we could say is already solved with things like phones, the internet, you know? speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: you can text us from school and say, hey, something's going on at school. Within seconds, we know what's going on. This three years elapsed, nobody knows what's going on. I've got a couple. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one. So there's all these mysteries about what happened. It could have been violence or things like that. But the most simple was probably the real answer is that they just assimilated with the other, with the friendly tribe because everybody was suffering then. You know, the Native Americans and the Collins. Exactly. speaker-1: They probably help each other. speaker-2: And based off that, I want to say that facts don't lie like we said earlier and sometimes evidence is just the strongest evidence. speaker-1: Even though it may not be as, you know, exciting and mysterious, sometimes it's just a boring straight up answer of, well, actually, this is what happened. They went to survive with the nearest tribe that they could. The nearest friendliest tribe that they could. speaker-0: Which leads me into my second point. Survival often means adaptation and cooperation. The colonists who likely survive are the ones who built relationships with the Krootuan people. They learned from them, they integrated into their community. They didn't go cling to their English identity. They adapted to their new reality and survived because of it. Or possibly. speaker-1: Well, that's kind of, I, I'm more interested to know about like the survivors and where they went and like how their life played out, you know, cause who, how do we have this story? You know, who's who told the story passed down, you know, John, you know, right. speaker-0: John White. He seems like a ⁓ central figure in this. speaker-1: Right, and he's kind of a little bit different as we're Yeah, so it's just interesting I want to know more about the people that survived if if they are survived speaker-0: As we're picking around it, yeah And yet again, that leads me into my last point. Whose story gets told matters. For centuries, this was framed as a tragic mystery about English colonists. But we could also tell it as a story about the Kroatoan people who helped desperate strangers survive. The story you choose to tell shapes how you understand history and how you can see the present. speaker-1: Right. Like, I want to know from the Croatoan, is there any Croatoan stories that, you know, that have been passed down or written about if, like, we just look at their side of the history and say, we know we helped these English settlers out. Well, there's your answer. know. speaker-0: I would love to go deeper into all that kind of stuff because my research was just cursory. Right. You know, just to do a 30 minute podcast. wasn't deep whatsoever. There might be something out there that has stuff like that or at least oral traditions that were passed down that just haven't been written or weren't written yet. The answers are out there somewhere, even if they're in history. Right. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: Any other comments before we move on with our podcast today? speaker-2: No, not really. Well, um, I feel like the Native American, all the tribes in general, have kind of just dissolved over time because of us. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we kind of just like took over. And I feel like if like there's not much Croatoans to speaker-1: I think I'm Wait what? speaker-0: I don't even know if there are any kro-kro-tons today. speaker-2: at one point the story had to stop being passed down and it kind of just... Left. Like. speaker-0: You know that kind of reminds me of the movie Coco. You know what, they're in the, he's in the land of the dead and that one character is fading because everybody that's alive that remembered him is starting to forget him or know dying themselves. And so he is completely fading. Same kind of thing with a lot of Native American tribes, all kinds of tribes, any type of history. If you don't remember it, speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-0: It can't live on. That's a good point. speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-1: I love going to museums because that's where you can see the stuff that they used and how they lived their lives. speaker-2: Especially the big museums like the British Museum that has you know, stuff like the Rosetta Stone it's ⁓ so much in a building. Yeah speaker-0: Hmm? right, fun fact challenge. All right, time to test your knowledge. Here are three questions about the lost colony of Roanoke. Now, mom, this is your first time, but I know you're an avid listener of our podcast. So do you know the rules? You have to wait till I finish the question. Okay. Lock in and I will say who answers best of three. Okay. You guys ready? speaker-1: Uh-oh. lock in. scared. speaker-2: Born ready born going for a sweep. All right, I this might be my first time speaker-0: Armored base. Question one. speaker-1: Locked in. I'm just kidding. speaker-2: That was like the people in the scholar quiz locking in after one word, a foil, gold. speaker-0: I only heard the back end of that story last night, I just saw how upset you were with it. speaker-2: Bye! speaker-1: and they knew the answers. speaker-2: At least half of them didn't even finish speaker-0: Something seemed off. speaker-1: I said, see. speaker-0: Alright, question one. was the full name of the first English child born in the Americas who was born on Roanoke Island just weeks before the colony was abandoned? ⁓ Gavin, beat you, speaker-2: Virginia Derr. is there no middle name? I didn't get the middle name. speaker-0: I'm gonna give it to you. It's Virginia. Can you not read your own handwriting? speaker-1: DARE speaker-2: Dare. I do. I-I-I- speaker-0: ⁓ I'm still gonna give it to him speaker-1: He wrote down dare. I wrote down dare. That's okay. speaker-0: Virginia Bdare, born August 18th, one day off from your birthday sir. ⁓ yes. speaker-2: Say Suzuki's birthday. speaker-1: It's actually between your birthday and Cam's speaker-0: 1587 to Eleanor and Anais Dare. She was the granddaughter of Governor John White. ⁓ Question two. How many years was John White stuck in England before he could return to Roanoke Island? ⁓ on the colonists. ⁓ ⁓ prematurely locked in. ⁓ speaker-2: Bye, then. Bye. Just like the three moments ago, was three years. speaker-0: Correct, from 1587 to 1590. He was delayed because England was at war with Spain and Queen Elizabeth I had ordered all ships to stay for defense against the Spanish Armada. Which the English beat. Gavin's already won this, but we're gonna do three. See if he can do it. It's really funny, know, before you came out here, Gavin, Mom was on the phone with Grandma, and Grandma told her, don't go too hard on Gavin during the Fun Pack Challenge. speaker-2: Go for sweet, baby. speaker-1: Hey, at least I'm not crying yet. speaker-0: yet. Alright, last question. What environmental disaster made survival extremely difficult for both the colonists and the Native Americans between 1587 and 1589? Locked in. speaker-2: Yeah speaker-1: Damn it, Gavin, you're so fast! My brain just cannot trigger that fast. That's the elder in me. speaker-2: A drought. speaker-0: Correct, a severe drought. speaker-2: Get the sweet baby. speaker-0: Tree ring data shows it was one of the worst droughts in 800 years, which meant there wasn't enough food for anyone, making trade between colonists and Native Americans nearly impossible. Good job. speaker-2: Let's go. speaker-1: Just a note, I knew all those answers. just couldn't watch. speaker-2: fast enough. speaker-0: Well you walked in way too fast on disqualified yourself ⁓ speaker-1: I speaker-2: Yeah. Disqualified. speaker-0: Today is March 26th, on this day in 1953, Dr. Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine. One of the greatest medical breakthroughs of the 20th century, the vaccine would eventually lead to polio being eradicated in most of the world, saving countless lives. speaker-2: Mm. What was Polio? speaker-0: That is a great question. I'm glad you asked that. speaker-2: Just a young little boy, don't remember the old days of Puyo. speaker-0: Cholio is an illness caused by a virus that mainly affects nerves in the spinal cord or brainstem. speaker-2: Hmm. speaker-1: sounds awful. speaker-2: Yep. speaker-0: In its most severe form, polio can lead to a person being unable to move certain limbs, It can also to trouble breathing and sometimes death. Awesome. So we still get polio vaccines today, don't we? speaker-2: Yeah, I got one. I needed one to get into the seventh grade. speaker-0: Did you really? that a polio? speaker-2: It was- I think it was. speaker-1: I don't know what's the what's it called these days it's like MMR speaker-2: I think it was multiple things. speaker-0: So that would be measles, mumps, and rubella. I don't think, maybe you did, I don't know. You got all your shots, that's all I know. speaker-2: I I know. I think one of them might have been polio. speaker-0: You could totally be right. could have been a booster for polio. Yeah. Cause I do remember you getting them when you were a baby, baby. Alright, so this next one I think mom's gonna remember, cause I remember it. 1997. The bodies of 39 members of Heaven's Gate cult are found in a mansion near San Diego. They had committed mass suicide believing they would reach an alien spacecraft they said was hidden behind the comet Hale Bopp. Mom, do you remember that? speaker-1: I remember that well, yes. I don't remember, I was too young to realize it was in San Diego. I always thought it was like in the Hollywood Hills area. That was just my brain doing that. speaker-0: I remember correctly it was like La Jolla so it wasn't quite San Diego but it was San Diego County. speaker-1: I just remember the video of them walking through the house and like showing all the bunk beds and yeah that was it was so weird I'm surprised they even videoed that yes speaker-0: all of wearing Nike sneakers. on the national news. speaker-2: The thing is it was a different time back then. speaker-1: Yeah, but you're still walking through a house where there's 39 dead bodies. Yeah. It's just kind of crazy. speaker-0: Yeah, and they all believed that there was a spaceship because at the time in the sky you could see the comet You know, kind of like Halley's comet comes by every 76 years this one came by and we everybody in the world could see it they believed that there was a spaceship behind it and so they suicide and believed that they would go to that Huh ⁓ right? Yeah Unbelievable speaker-2: might remember that. speaker-1: 8-8 if you ever feel that you If you ever feel like you're dealing with things that you can't handle, Nite88 is the suicide helpline. speaker-0: And someone on this podcast works for the company that runs that line. speaker-2: I wonder who it is. I think it's me guys. I'm 12 year old here. speaker-0: Because it's not me. All right, and finally, on the flip side of the polio vaccine, today in 2020, the United States became the country with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases, surpassing China and Italy as the pandemic accelerates globally, marking a grim milestone in a crisis that would reshape the entire world just a few weeks into the pandemic. speaker-1: Yeah, Gavin remembers that. ⁓ That's a really recent. speaker-2: I remember that one. speaker-0: Small tangent here, but there's a lesson at the end of what I'm about to say. Okay. So just bear with me. The U.S. never relinquished the lead in confirmed COVID cases or deaths. To this day, in the lead. We had 104.6 million confirmed cases. China has the second most with 99.5 million. We had the most deaths with 1.2. We were the only country to surpass 1 million deaths The second closest death toll by country was Brazil with 700,000. So we had 500,000 more deaths here in America. China, on the other hand, who had the second amount of confirmed cases, only had 122,000 die. Right? Big difference. speaker-2: Wow speaker-0: When you do the math and figure it out, what percentage of those confirmed cases were also deaths? We come in 86th. Brazil was 49th, and China was 211th in deaths compared to confirmed cases. All the same numbers, but looked at from different perspectives, tells a different story. We may have had the most of everything, but percentages tell the real story. If I were... to throw in population as a whole into the equation, there would be even more disparity. So basically what I'm trying to say is even though that we had the most ⁓ confirmed cases, the most deaths, and then China was on the opposite where they had a lot of confirmed cases, but almost no deaths per capita, it tells a completely different story. speaker-2: I was just about to say, per capita, it's... speaker-0: Just because you see, my point is that just because you see these big numbers doesn't really tell the whole story. speaker-2: Massen there. speaker-0: a little bit of math, which, you know, not my forte. speaker-1: But also, the countries not be submitting data correctly? speaker-0: Yes, and actually it's really interesting that you say that because there were a couple countries on this the the report that I was reading they had no confirmed cases no deaths because they just didn't report right all they refused to report speaker-1: Yeah, and that's kind of where it came down to like, I remember my boss was saying, well, if you don't test, you don't know you have COVID, so you don't have COVID. So it's like, not the point. that's beside. speaker-0: Yeah, that's not the point. Yeah, so these numbers are just confirmed. That's why I use the word confirmed because we all know like there was a lot more people that had COVID that didn't have to go to the hospital and didn't have to be tested for it and they stayed home. They knew they had it and that was The Lost Colony of Roanoke reminds us that history's greatest mysteries sometimes have surprisingly simple answers. Those 117 colonists didn't vanish into thin air. They most likely adapted, cooperated with the Korotuan people, and survived by becoming part of a new community. They left us a message carved in wood, but for centuries we were too captivated by the mystery to accept the straightforward explanation. In our own lives, when we face impossible situations, The answer might not fight for original plan. Sometimes, survival and success being willing to adapt, build relationships, and let go of how we thought things should be. The colonists who probably survived weren't the ones who waited on Roanoke Island for rescue. They were the ones brave enough join a new community and start over. Well, that's it for this episode. Thanks for traveling through time with us on the ebbs of history. If you like today's story, share it with a teacher, a friend or your family on Instagram at ebbs of history. If you have any show ideas, corrections, or questions, can contact us at questions at ebbs of history. speaker-2: Signing off, this has been your co-host, Gavin. speaker-1: Lastly. speaker-0: and me, Jason, reminding you that history is not just about the dates and battles, about people, curiosity, and the weird, wonderful choices that shaped our world. Until next time, keep wondering, keep laughing, and keep learning through the ebbs of history. ⁓