Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

With the release of Who Lose the Great, covering the life of Catherine the Great,

we thought it was a fabulous time to reach back into the archives and give you the true story

of the unlikely German princess who rose to the top in Russia,

just a little background for your mind before you dig into the Fabulousness of the Mini-Series.

This is an episode from 2016, and now on with the show.

Every now and again, we pose a question to you, our listeners.

We post a guaranteed content poll on the Facebook page and on the website,

and you get to vote who you would like for us to cover.

And now, this is the result.

She's not just powerful, she's not just smart, she's not just charming, she's great.

She's Catherine the Great.

I needed some trumpets behind it or something.

I might be able to pin some trumpets in post.

Stalking ice.

And now on with the show.

Let's talk about Catherine the Great.

But first, let's drop her into history.

In 1762, the first St. Patrick's Day parade held anywhere was in New York City.

Marie Antoinette was only seven and happily running around Vienna.

And Franklin, sister-in-law of Benjamin, becomes the first female editor and publisher of a US newspaper,

the Newport Rhode Island Mercury.

...