On a January day in forty-one AD, the Roman Empire's future was hiding behind a curtain. When soldiers found Claudius trembling after Caligula's murder, they made him emperor—not because he was capable, but because they thought they could control him. They were wrong.

This episode follows the man Rome mocked for his stammer and limp as he outmaneuvers the Senate, conquers Britain with war elephants, and survives countless plots.

Contact: whatcamebeforepodcast@gmail.com

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On Sunday, January 22nd, 1905, tens of thousands of unarmed workers marched through St. Petersburg to deliver a petition to their emperor, Tsar Nicholas II. Led by the charismatic priest Father Georgy Gapon, they carried religious icons and portraits of the Tsar, whom they called their "Little Father," believing he would protect them from the brutal conditions of their lives.

Instead of finding their protector, they were met with rifle fire. This episode tells the story of Bloody Sunday: the day a peaceful procession turned into a horrific massacre, shattering the sacred bond between the Tsar and his people forever. Discover how this single, tragic event destroyed the myth of the benevolent ruler and became the spark that ignited the 1905 Revolution, setting Russia on a direct path to the overthrow of the monarchy.

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Six months after Pearl Harbor, the US Navy was on the brink of collapse, and the victorious Japanese fleet planned a final, decisive blow. At a tiny atoll named Midway, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto prepared an intricate trap to annihilate America's last aircraft carriers. What he didn't know was that US naval intelligence had broken Japan's codes, turning his ambush into a deadly gamble for both sides.

This episode tells the story of the codebreakers who revealed the plan, the admirals who risked everything on that intelligence, and the pilots whose incredible courage during five fateful minutes would turn the tide of the entire Pacific War.

Contact: whatcamebeforepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@WhatCameBeforePodcast

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-came-before/id1839699689

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https://open.spotify.com/show/3eRPO23EzaKSZYL7rJ0XPt

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In the summer of 1381, an army of tens of thousands of commoners—farmers, blacksmiths, and villagers—marched on London with a revolutionary list of demands. This was the Peasants' Revolt, one of the most terrifying, violent, and significant popular uprisings in English history.

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On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall, the most potent symbol of the Cold War, crumbled overnight. This episode tells the incredible true story of how a series of miscalculations, growing protests, and one fumbled sentence at a routine press conference accidentally triggered the fall of the Wall.

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He was shot in the face, head, stomach, leg, and hip. He survived multiple plane crashes, tore off his own fingers when a doctor hesitated, and escaped a POW camp in World War Two while in his sixties.

This is the story of Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, the man Winston Churchill called a "model of chivalry and honour."

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This episode charts the rise of Agrippina the Younger from political exile to the heights of power as she schemed to place her son, the infamous Nero, upon the imperial throne.

But her ultimate triumph became her undoing.

Contact: whatcamebeforepodcast@gmail.com

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In the 14th century a disputed papal election sparked a spiritual civil war. European kingdoms were forced to take sides, powerful dynasties backed their chosen pontiff, and the two Popes busied themselves excommunicating each other and their followers.

Contact: whatcamebeforepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube:

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