The Beijing underground city may sound like the stuff of legends, but it's a real place built to escape Soviets. Check out our HowStuffWorks article to learn more about the fact and fiction surrounding the city underneath Beijing.

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The Beijing underground city may sound like the stuff of legends, but it's a real place built to escape Soviets. Check out our HowStuffWorks article to learn more about the fact and fiction surrounding the city underneath Beijing. Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>

Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.

Stuff You Missed in History Class

The Beijing underground city may sound like the stuff of legends, but it's a real place built to escape Soviets. Check out our HowStuffWorks article to learn more about the fact and fiction surrounding the city underneath Beijing.

Why is there an underground city beneath Beijing?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8f55fcc8-43d4-470b-9860-ae2800a340ab/transcript

This 2021 episode covers Jethro Tull. Today, most people only know that as the name of a band, but Tull was an 18th-century gentleman farmer often credited with inventing the seed drill.

This 2021 episode covers Jethro Tull. Today, most people only know that as the name of a band, but Tull was an 18th-century gentleman farmer often credited with inventing the seed drill.

SYMHC Classics: Jethro Tull

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a85f4457-4576-48bf-97fd-b4a5016129e9/transcript

Tracy talks about papers about history written by economists. Holy talks about linoleum having a bad reputation because of the designs of the 1970s and '80s.

Tracy talks about papers about history written by economists. Holy talks about linoleum having a bad reputation because of the designs of the 1970s and '80s.

Behind the Scenes Minis: Smashing Linoleum

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/272f3c9a-227d-4df3-8b2b-b4a501610d2c/transcript

Frederick Walton caused a lot of financial family friction on the way to developing linoleum. And even though he believed he had revolutionized home dec, he didn't expect to be remembered.

Research:
“4,000 for His ‘Devoted Attendant.’” Western Daily Press. August 3, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/813758815/?match=1&terms=%22Frederick%20Walton%22
Baker, Anne Pimlott. "Walton, Frederick Edward (bap. 1834, d. 1928), inventor of linoleum." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  September 23, 2004. Oxford University Press. Date of access 20 Jul. 2026, <https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-67799
Kaldewei, Gerhard, ed. “Linoleum: History, Design, Architecture 1882-2000.” Hatje Cantz. 2000.
“Cork Carpets.” The Chatauquan. Volume 21. 1895. https://books.google.com/books?id=a2cXAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA471#v=onepage&q&f=false
Gross, Linda. “The Evolution of Linoleum.” Hagley Museum and Library. March 19, 2018. https://www.hagley.org/librarynews/evolution-linoleum#:~:text=In%201860%20Walton%20applied%20for,1864%2C%20in%20Staines%2C%20England.
Hodgson, R.D. “Frederick Walton: Centenary of the Birth of the Inventor of Linoleum.” Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry. Vol. 53. Issue 10. March 1934. Pages 209-232. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jctb.5000531003
“Inventor’s Will.” Daily Record. Aug. 3, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1041447745/?match=1&terms=%22Frederick%20Walton%22
“Lincrusta History.” https://lincrusta.com/about-us/#history
Parsons, Ralph. “Linoleum: A Chiswick Invention.” Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society. https://brentfordandchiswicklhs.org.uk/local-history/industries-and-crafts/linoleum-a-chiswick-invention/
D.H. “CENTENARY OF FREDERICK WALTON, INVENTOR OF LINOLEUM.” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol. 82, no. 4240, 1934, pp. 432–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41317315
Simpson, Pamela H. “Comfortable, Durable, and Decorative: Linoleum’s Rise and Fall from Grace.” APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology, vol. 30, no. 2/3, 1999, pp. 17–24. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1504636
“Society of Arts.” The Morning Post. April 3, 1862. https://www.newspapers.com/image/396195800/?match=1&terms=Frederick%20Walton%20&search-id=58db9118-0a75-49e3-a4ae-68272c242a64&search-rank=1
Walton, Frederick. “The infancy and development of linoleum floorcloth.” Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent. London. 1925.
“Walton-Scruby.” The Morning Post. March 22, 1867. https://www.newspapers.com/image/396195945/?match=2&terms=frederick%20walton&search-id=ed4e6ef1-9806-4b3d-84bb-62b4e8e0efc6&search-rank=1

Frederick Walton caused a lot of financial family friction on the way to developing linoleum. And even though he believed he had revolutionized home dec, he didn't expect to be remembered.
Research:
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;4,000 for His &lsquo;Devoted Attendant.&rsquo;&rdquo; Western Daily Press. August 3, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/813758815/?match=1&amp;terms=%22Frederick%20Walton%22</li>
<li>Baker, Anne Pimlott. "Walton, Frederick Edward (bap. 1834, d. 1928), inventor of linoleum."&nbsp;Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.&nbsp;&nbsp;September&nbsp;23,&nbsp;2004. Oxford University Press. Date of access 20 Jul. 2026, &lt;https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-67799</li>
<li>Kaldewei, Gerhard, ed. &ldquo;Linoleum: History, Design, Architecture 1882-2000.&rdquo; Hatje Cantz. 2000.</li>
<li>&ldquo;Cork Carpets.&rdquo; The Chatauquan. Volume 21. 1895. https://books.google.com/books?id=a2cXAQAAIAAJ&amp;pg=PA471#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false</li>
<li>Gross, Linda. &ldquo;The Evolution of Linoleum.&rdquo; Hagley Museum and Library. March 19, 2018. https://www.hagley.org/librarynews/evolution-linoleum#:~:text=In%201860%20Walton%20applied%20for,1864%2C%20in%20Staines%2C%20England.</li>
<li>Hodgson, R.D. &ldquo;Frederick Walton: Centenary of the Birth of the Inventor of Linoleum.&rdquo; Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry. Vol. 53. Issue 10. March 1934. Pages 209-232. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jctb.5000531003</li>
<li>&ldquo;Inventor&rsquo;s Will.&rdquo; Daily Record. Aug. 3, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1041447745/?match=1&amp;terms=%22Frederick%20Walton%22</li>
<li>&ldquo;Lincrusta History.&rdquo; https://lincrusta.com/about-us/#history</li>
<li>Parsons, Ralph. &ldquo;Linoleum: A Chiswick Invention.&rdquo; Brentford &amp; Chiswick Local History Society. https://brentfordandchiswicklhs.org.uk/local-history/industries-and-crafts/linoleum-a-chiswick-invention/</li>
<li>D.H. &ldquo;CENTENARY OF FREDERICK WALTON, INVENTOR OF LINOLEUM.&rdquo;&nbsp;Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol. 82, no. 4240, 1934, pp. 432&ndash;33.&nbsp;JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41317315</li>
<li>Simpson, Pamela H. &ldquo;Comfortable, Durable, and Decorative: Linoleum&rsquo;s Rise and Fall from Grace.&rdquo;&nbsp;APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology, vol. 30, no. 2/3, 1999, pp. 17&ndash;24.&nbsp;JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1504636</li>
<li>&ldquo;Society of Arts.&rdquo; The Morning Post. April 3, 1862. https://www.newspapers.com/image/396195800/?match=1&amp;terms=Frederick%20Walton%20&amp;search-id=58db9118-0a75-49e3-a4ae-68272c242a64&amp;search-rank=1</li>
<li>Walton, Frederick. &ldquo;The infancy and development of linoleum floorcloth.&rdquo; Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent.&nbsp;London. 1925.</li>
<li>&ldquo;Walton-Scruby.&rdquo; The Morning Post. March 22, 1867. https://www.newspapers.com/image/396195945/?match=2&amp;terms=frederick%20walton&amp;search-id=ed4e6ef1-9806-4b3d-84bb-62b4e8e0efc6&amp;search-rank=1</li>
</ul>

Frederick Walton caused a lot of financial family friction on the way to developing linoleum. And even though he believed he had revolutionized home dec, he didn't expect to be remembered. 

Frederick Walton and the Invention of Linoleum

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/fc4537fe-d386-4a3c-afda-b4a30169264b/transcript

Why is there an underground city beneath Beijing?

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