Latest / The Hidden History Podcast
History of the Football
Ever wonder why the football is shaped like that?
I'm Aiden Thomas of Hidden History. And this is the hidden history of the football — from an inflated pig's bladder to the precision prolate spheroid they call "The Duke."
In this episode you'll hear:
How medieval folk games used whatever could be kicked — and why a pig's bladder made every ball different, unsanitary, and unreliable.
How chemist Charles Goodyear's discovery of vulcanized rubber in 1839 made a waterproof bladder possible — and how Rugby shoemaker Richard Lindon, tired of blowing up diseased bladders by mouth, invented the…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.