So... Alright - The worst year of all time

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Geoff looks into histories worst year, gets quickly bored with it, and pivots.

So, uh, today might be a little bit of a short one. I went on a college visit with my daughter over the weekend, and as a souvenir, I brought home a pretty healthy cold. And so I'm at a little window here where I have taken a cocktail of medicines that makes me feel sort of like I'm vibrating above the ground, but also my brain feels sort of like an inflated balloon. And so I'm trying to hit this window while I'm sort of lucid. I had talked about how I wanted to get into the worst year in the history of Earth. And so I started the research on that and very quickly discovered, by the way, the year is 536 and very

quickly discovered that there are a million TikToks and like every website on earth has done an extensive story on it and knowing that it was so well covered kind of took the wind out of my sales made me not just want to regurgitate all that information. I feel like there's probably a million places you could read about it that would be more entertaining and better researched. But I'll hit the high points. In the year 536, they call it the worst year in history for a few reasons. One, and the big one, a volcano erupted in Iceland

that was fucking big. It was so big that it kind of blackened out the sky around the Earth for years. They actually called it the Year of Darkness. I think it was about 18 months. It lowered the global temperature as much as four and a half degrees. This caused famine, which caused rats to invade everywhere

When they did that they brought in the bubonic plague. So millions of people died by the bubonic plague and It began the Dark Ages All of this led to the Dark Ages. I was actually reading one like insult to fucking injury thing about this. And that is that it was exacerbated in in somewhere around five thirty nine. Another volcano, like so like right as it was waning and things were kind of returning to normal in five thirty nine, there was another fucking volcano which did it all over again.

It didn't last for as long, but it lowered the global temperatures as much as 4.9 degrees Fahrenheit and just kicked them right in the dick, right as they were, right as humanity was kind of like starting to recover. However, as I started to read it, I just, I just, the fact that it had been covered so much, I kind of lost, I just kind of lost my enthusiasm in it. So I thought, instead of covering the year 536 Let's Google the number 536 and see what other interesting stuff we find if you Google 536 the only thing that really comes up outside of

The year 536 is the Peterbilt model 536 Class 6 truck it's used for pickup and delivery. It's got a GVWR of up to 26,000 pounds. I don't know what the fuck that is. It's got a max horsepower of 200 to 380 horsepower. Peak torque, somewhere between 520 and 1250 pounds per foot. It's got a front axle. It's gonna push you about 8,000, 12,000 pounds

on a rear axle that can handle 17,000 to 25,000 pounds. What is GVWR, huh? It is gross vehicle weight rating. It's the maximum loaded weight of your vehicle or trailer as determined by the manufacturer. It's not just the, okay, interesting. Well, you learn something new every day. That's a pretty truck, I gotta say.

It just looks kinda like a, you know, like every day. That's a pretty truck. I gotta say it just looks kind of like a You know like a moving truck like you would expect to see like, you know College movers on the side of it or like muscle-bound hunks movers Huh? It's a class 6 truck. I didn't realize there were We have a class C driver's license, I didn't know we made the jump from letters to numbers. What is a class 6 truck? Let's see. Oh! Weights of these trucks

range from 19,501 to 26,000 pounds. Oh my god, is my head thumping. Typically medium duty commercial trucks such as single axles, beverage trucks, and rack trucks fall into this category I wonder what the classifications for all the other trucks are. Let's see class one is light duty

That's gonna be your Chevy Colorado your GMC Canyon your Ford fucking Ranger your Honda Ridgeline You get it Nissan Navara your frontiers your Tacomas when there's the class 2a light duty That's gonna be your Chevy Silverado. It's gonna be your Ford F-150s your Nissan Titans your Tundras Then you've got the class 2b apparently Okay, so class 2 is like 6,000 to 8,500 class 2b is 8501 to 10,000 actually Chevy, Chevy Silverado, your GMC Sierra, your Ford F-250. Let's just stick with the Fords.

I understand their nomenclature. Class 3 is a medium duty truck. That is your Ford F-350, Ford F-450 pickup only. Your Ram 3500, you get it. Class 4 is 14,000 to 16,000 pounds. That is fucking heavy, dude. And that's gonna be your Ford F450 chassis cab only, your Ram 4500, your Chevy Silb Verado 4500.

Good Lord, man. And then there's a class five, that's the Ford F550. You get the idea. Class six would be what we just discovered Class 7 heavy duty. Okay, we're talking 26,000 to 33,000 pound vehicles That's gonna be your Freightliner business class in 2106 or your Ford 750 holy shit. I didn't know that it went that high. Let's see. What does that look like? Oh, it looks like a moving van Yeah, okay. That's a Ford 750, huh? What does that look like? Oh, it looks like a moving van.

Yeah, OK. That's a Ford 750, huh? And then goes all the way up to class eight. So class eight, I guess it tops out at class eight at 80,000 pounds. And that's going to be your others, a Tesla semi. Oh, I saw that's right. I saw a tick tock of one of those Tesla semi trucks. They look like I got to be honest, they look like the future. The Peterbilt 379, once again, the Ford F750 can be a class eight.

Huh, I didn't realize there were that many classes of vehicles. So eight is as high as it goes? Let's see, nope, here we go. Vehicles that defy classification. The maximum set on a case by case basis using the Federal Bridge gross weight formula. Huh. So there are the they're considered oversized vehicles. They fit unique circumstances and are required to obtain special permits.

Plus, they're only able to travel along specially designated roads. What is the biggest vehicle in the world? Oh my God. There's some big vehicles out there. The world's largest land vehicle is the RWE Bagger 288. It's used by RWE AG. I guess that's AG. A large utility company in Germany. Oh, there you go more than seven The thing is worth it 700 feet long and it's meant for mining operations the

13,000 ton beast is a hundred million dollars state-of-the-art bucket wheel excavator For digging up coal in mountainous and rocky areas. So it's a 700 foot long vehicle that's designed to destroy the earth. 100 million dollars. God damn. Well you know what? Let's go the other direction. What is the smallest vehicle in the world? That's too big. The Peel P50 was listed as the where'd that go? The Peel 350 three wheeled microcar originally made it from 1962 to 1965 by the Peel engineering company in the Isle of Man. And then from 2011 to present.

So I guess they're still making them. It was the smallest production car ever made, according to the 2010 Guinness World Record book. The original model has no reverse gear, but a handle at the rear allows the very lightweight car to be maneuvered physically when required. It does. It looks like one of those little,

it looks like a big wheel with a roof on it, honestly. It looks like something you would buy your child. Company produces, 27 are known to still exist. Wow, they went for $176,000. I guess those are the original ones. I wonder what the new ones go for. Oh, now this is interesting. In 2011, businessmen Gary Hillman and Faisal Khan

went to Dragon's Den. Now, if you don't know what Dragon's Den, if you're in the US, you don't know what Dragon's Den is. Dragon's Den is what we call Shark Tank. I think it started over there in the UK as Dragon's Den, came over to the US as Shark Tank. So it's their Shark Tank. Asking for 80,000 pounds.

They got the investment and started a new company to put their revised models into production. Three replica models were available, initially gas, eco and fun. The line was later reduced to the two, petrol and electric. These are hand built to order. Wow. They sell around 15 annually plus 10 or so continuations of its bigger sister, the two seat bubble car, the Peel Trident. Okay, this is what I was trying to get to. The P50 is priced starts at around 14,879 pounds, which I guess would probably be around 20,000 US, 18 to 20,000 US, so around 15,000 pounds.

Whereas the greater demand for the Peel comes in the US. So around 15,000 pounds, whereas the greater demand for the peel comes in the US where the electric model. God damn it. Well, here we go. The electric model is only 13,679 pounds. Oh, cool. And it's easier to import because it complies with emissions regulation. So if you're in the US and you want to get one, go for the go for the electric model. Interesting. What else do they do at the Isle of Man? Did you know that humans have lived on the island since before 6500 BC? Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century AD

when Irish missionaries, following the teaching of St. Patrick, began settling the land. Well, there you go. Isle of Man. I wonder what else they make there. What else do they, what do they make on the Isle of Man? A wide range of great tasting food and drink.

Oh, well, that's kind of a let down answer. Kind of a bullshit answer. Oh, there's a lot of e-gaming apparently. Among the largest employers in the island's private sector are e-gaming. Oh, different lot of e-gaming apparently among the largest employers in the islands private sector are e-gaming on oh Different kind of e-gaming online gambling companies like the stars group stars Remember Resident Evil 3 micro gaming new field and playtech the Manx e gaming association Mega is representing the sector. I wonder if it's like a tax shelter type thing

where it makes it easier for gambling establishments to operate there. Kind of like we have tax shelters in the US. Filmmaking in digital media, they produced, since 1995, the Isle of Man film has co-financed and co-produced more than 100 feature film and television dramas Which have all filmed on the island. Maybe you've heard of some of these waking Ned

Stormbreaker Tom Brown's school days capture the castle the libertine five children and it what the Five Five Children and It, what the? Five, Five Children and It is a 2004 family fantasy comedy drama adventure film adaptation. Oh my God, that's a mouthful. A family fantasy comedy drama adventure film adaptation of the 1902 novel, Five Children and It. Not like the evil clown that eats kids, I guess,

because that would be like five children and it, four children and it, three children and it, two children and it, it. Which features live action and computer animation. It was directed by John Stevenson. Okay, well what is it about? In the summer of 1917, the Butterworth children, oh my God, whose fathers gone off to fight World War one are evacuated from London to stay with their eccentric

Uncle Albert and his house keether house keether what the fuck dude this medicine housekeeper Martha Unpleasant son Horace anyway, they find a locked door forbidden greenhouse and That leads them to a secret path to the beach surrounding the house. There they discover a large shelled creature which reveals itself as a Samaeid Crustacean Decapodillium wishisaurus or sand fairy. Oh good. All right, it's a kid's book about a... It looks like Groot, I'll be honest with you. I can see the picture. That's like five dorky obnoxious little kids.

And then what appears to be Groot if he had whiskers. Yeah, okay. So I wonder what else John Stevenson is known for directing. He's a British director. Yeah, I kinda had an an idea that a former vice president and creative supervisor for Jim Henson's creature shop. No shit. His filmography is OK. The Adventures of Pinocchio.

He was second unit director. Lost in Space. Same. He directed the 1999 adaptation of Animal Farm. He was the animation director on Brotherhood of the Wolf. That was a good movie. Then there's The Children of It, of course, classic. I wouldn't, have any of you seen Five Children and It? Nutcracker in 3D, the Christmas candle interlude in Prague, and the most recent thing he did,

he was the creative consultant on The Lady of Heaven, a 2021 British historical drama written by Twelver Shia. Huh. An Iraqi child in the middle of war-torn countries, oh God, at the hands of ISIS after losing his mother, finds himself a new home with an elderly woman who tells him the story of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad from the Shia perspective,

explaining how she was the first victim of terrorism. That sounds heavy. Let's go back. What, Nutcracker in 3D, huh? Nutcracker, the untold story, 2010 3D Christmas musical fantasy film. You can click on Wikipedia, 3D Christmas musical fantasy film. You can click on Wikipedia, 3D Christmas musical fantasy film.

Oh man, I thought that was, it's, every word is different. Man, if that was a category, you could just look up specifically 3D Christmas musical fantasy films. That would be fucking awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, you know the Nutcracker, right? Had Ellie Fanning in it. Oh, that's cool.

And Nathan Lane and John Turturro. Wow, that's a hell of a fucking cast. All right, well, we've gotten pretty far away from 536, the worst year in history. Let's see what was the best year in history. Let's see what was the best year in history. 1564. Large quantities of pure graphite discovered at Borotail Cumbria in 1564 were unprecedented. A year later a Swiss naturist named Conrad Gessner created the first depiction of graphite. All right well I'm not gonna get all up into it,

but it's either 1564, could be 1752, when electricity was credited as being invented, could be 1804 for some reason, 1877. You know, all the heavy hitters, 1926, we all loved, we'll still get about 1926. Let's see Following its public demonstration by Scottish inventor John Logie Baird and 26 Television yeah, that was a big one huh this all seems to be UK specific to what was the best year in history according to reddit What was the best year in history according to Reddit?

1986 the year of thrash metal there you go 1986 the year of thrash metal best year in recorded history Speaking of metal speaking of music. I was thinking every episode. I kind of want to have a song You know I was talking about six more miles last episode and I think every episode I'm gonna dedicate a song to an episode. So the song for this episode I've been listening to all week it is by the band Rainbow and it's called Temple of the King. It's kind of like Ren Fair metal. Check it out. I'll be back next week and if I still have this cold maybe I won't be back next week because I'll be dead. So if I'm back next week, I'll be feeling better and more coherent. Probably better in every way. All right.