A Meteorite Hits Ann Hodges

HISTORY This Week

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History, Education, Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

November 30, 1954. At about 12:45 in the afternoon, a space rock comes plummeting through the roof of a house in Sylacauga, Alabama. It bounces off a standup radio, ricochets around the living room, and collides with the thigh of Mrs. Ann Hodges, who’s been napping on the couch. Newspapers declare: “experts agreed unanimously that Mrs. Hodges was the first person known to have been struck by a meteorite.” What happened to this space rock after it crashed to Earth and thrust itself into volatile human affairs? And what happened to the human beings whose lives were upended by this rarest of rare events?

Thanks to our guests: Dr. Julia Cartwright, planetary scientist at the University of Alabama; Billy Field, professor at the University of Alabama and screenwriter; and Julie Love Templeton, attorney in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Dr. Cartwright is involved in a number of art/science collaborations to engage and educate the public about meteorites and planetary science. You can find out more on her website, JACartwright.people.ua.edu. Keep an eye out for Billy Field’s latest project, TheStoryAcorn.com, which launches in January 2023. The website will feature history from the Civil Rights movement, told by those who lived it. The website teaches students to gather stories from their own communities and share them with the world. Thanks also to Mary Beth Prondzinski, former collections manager at the Alabama Museum of Natural History, and to the Alabama Museum of Natural History.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The History Channel, original podcast.
0:04.0	History this week, November 30th, 1954.
0:09.0	I'm Sally Helm.
0:12.0	What I am about to tell you, I want you to keep in mind that the chances of it happening are so low that I don't even know how you would calculate them.
0:22.0	At about 12.45 in the afternoon, a space rock comes plummeting through the roof of a house in Silicoga, Alabama.
0:33.0	It bounces off a stand-up radio, ricochets around the living room, and runs strikes a woman who was up until a moment ago, nape, on the couch.
0:43.0	Anne Hodges is declared the only known person to ever have been hit by a media right.
0:53.0	It's happened to a few other people since then, and there may have been others before too.
0:58.0	But in 1954, newspaper's are saying, experts agree unanimously that Mrs. Hodges was the first person known to have been struck by a media right.
1:09.0	The only recorded person ever to be so lucky, or so unlucky.
1:17.0	We're going to tell you today about her life, what happened to it after her cosmic encounter.
1:24.0	But first, let's spend just a moment on the life of the media right.
1:29.0	Let me put my meet try hat on.
1:31.0	Okay, here to give voice to our media right is Dr. Julia Cartwright, a geologist and planetary scientist, and a media expert.
1:42.0	Let us live in this media's mind for a moment. It doesn't have a mind, I know, but let's live in its world.
1:49.0	Because it truly was born at some point in time that we were not present for.
1:54.0	So what, I mean, tell me, like, if you're this media right, how does your life begin like where you born?
1:58.0	So I guess my life begins with heat.
2:03.0	The solar system itself is just beginning.
2:07.0	It's all heat and dust, and some of the swirling particles start to condense.
2:13.0	Sort of the way a dust bunny comes together in the corner of your house.
2:18.0	This is happening 4.568 billion years ago, so very long time ago.
	...

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