🎶 "Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies..." We’ve all sung it. But what if this innocent-sounding nursery rhyme is actually about one of the deadliest pandemics in human history?

In this episode of Have to Know History, we dig into the Black Death—the devastating plague that wiped out 1 in 3 Europeans in the 14th century—and explore the haunting connection (real or imagined) to the rhyme we all learned as kids. Was it really about plague sores, flowers to fight the smell of death, and mass cremations? Or is that just a spooky story we’ve told ourselves later?

From medieval biological warfare at the siege of Kaffa to eerie plague doctor masks, unfinished cathedrals, and the dance of death in art, this is a gripping look at how one disease reshaped the world.

🎓 This is Have to Know History—history you just have to know.

🦠 Topics include:
– The siege of Kaffa and early germ warfare
– The spread of the plague via Genoese ships
– Cultural effects, from art to labor revolts
– The truth (and myth) behind “Ring Around the Rosie”

🎧 Also available as a video episode on YouTube: youtube.com/@HaveToKnowHistory