VOTE on an Extra History topic! All patron suggestions! (Patreon)
Content
This poll consists entirely of topics suggested by the $8+ patrons! You can vote for as many choices as you want!
The poll will end at 12:59 PM PT on Monday, May 28.
Current Schedule: The History of Non-Euclidean Geometry --> 1918 Flu Pandemic --> Majapahit: An Empire of Water --> Your Vote!
Feel free to discuss your votes in the comments! We the Extra History team will be staying out of it (except to answer questions, should you have any) because we don't want to influence anyone's opinion.
Proposed Topics & Descriptions
The Gold Rush: Building California
In 1848, prospectors from across the world flooded California. The boom would create the state we know today—from its Chinatowns and vineyards to San Francisco’s gay districts—and redefine the American idea of success. But that growth also came with waves of violence and oppression that still mark the state.
The Viking Expansion: From Constantinople to Canada
Around 1000 CE, Leif Erikson stepped onto the shores of North America. But his settlements there were only the furthest-flung outposts of the Norse expansion. Centuries of raiding, trading, and light invading had spread Northmen from Byzantium to Greenland—and left legacies we can still see today.
Lewis and Clark: The Corps of Discovery
In May 1804, thirty-three soldiers left on a mission to find out exactly what Thomas Jefferson had bought in the Louisiana Purchase. Their duty was to chart and catalogue this new territory—recording its geography and plants, its indigenous people and resources—from Missouri to the Pacific. Yet this ostensibly peaceful mission would carry dark premonitions of things to come.
Captain Cook: Farther Than Any Man
No commoner had ever commanded a Royal Navy vessel… until James Cook stepped aboard the HMS Endeavor. In three stunning voyages, he rewrote the map of the Pacific, exploring the frozen Antarctic, charting the shores of Australia, and contacting dozens of indigenous cultures. In doing so he became a new kind of hero—the humanist, knowledge-seeking explorer—but also paved the way for the destruction of the places and people he studied.