Eruption of Mount Vesuvius - the destruction of Pompeii (Past Moments from History)

In this exciting episode of Check This Out!, Amy and Cece take young listeners on a journey back in time to explore the dramatic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and its impact on the ancient city of Pompeii. Discover how a sudden volcanic explosion buried an entire city under ash, freezing it in time for nearly 2,000 years, and learn about the brave people who survived, the rediscovery of Pompeii, and why this historic event still fascinates us today. Filled with fun facts, stories of real people like Pliny the Elder, and insights into archaeology, this episode brings history to life for kids and their grownups alike!

#Vesuvius #Pompeii #Volcano #AncientHistory #KidsEducation #HistoryForKids #Archaeology #HistoricalEvents #VolcanicEruption #KidsPodcast #EducationalPodcast #HistoricalDiscovery #FunHistory #KidsLearning #Discovery #PastMoments #HistoryMatters #LearnHistory #KidsAndHistory #ExploringThePast

Transcript

Amy: Welcome back, listeners! It’s time for another episode of Check This Out!

Cece: I can't wait! 

Amy: Me either! Today’s episode is all about a past moment from history that’s both exciting and a little bit unusual—the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy and how it destroyed the city of Pompeii! 

Cece: That is intense! 

Amy: You’re right, Cece. This past moment is an intense one.  

Mount Vesuvius was a volcano that erupted a long time ago in Italy.  Now, there are lots of volcanoes all over the world, but this one is super famous because it changed a city called Pompeii forever. Should we find out what happened when Mount Vesuvius erupted and why we’re still talking about it today? 

Cece: Yeah! Let's get started. 

Cece Welcome to Check this out! Podcast for kids 

Amy And their grownups.  Where we explore interesting people, places, ponderings and past moments from history that shape the world around us.  

My name is Amy Contreras, and I’m Cece.  

Amy: On a very hot day, August 24th, in the year 79 AD—something very dramatic happened in Pompeii Italy. 

Cece: That was a long time ago

You’re right, 79 AD was 1,946 years ago and yet we are still talking about it today!  Anyways… Mount Vesuvius, a volcano near the city of Pompeii, in Italy suddenly exploded during the middle of the day on August 24th.   

Cece: How scary

Amy: Right?! The volcanic eruption lasted for about 18 hours. So basically it was an entire day of ash, rocks, and fire shooting out of the volcano and into the sky. The ash that came out of the volcano was so heavy that it covered everything in a thick blanket. Think of it like a giant cloud of ash and rocks and toxic gases falling from the sky. 

Cece: I wish i could have seen that 

Amy: Maybe, but you honestly probably didn’t want to be there in person to see it.   

Cece: Fair enough

People living in nearby city of Pompeii didn’t expect the volcano to erupt. They didn’t even know what a volcano was at the time of the explosion.   

Cece: Here’s a fun fact

When people talk about Mount Vesuvis exploding they talk about the city of Pompeii, because it was famously destroyed and covered by all the volcanic materials.  But did you know another fairly large city was destroyed and covered by Mt Vesuvius as well? 

Cece: Spill the tea! 

Another city that was close by to pompeii was called Hurculaneum, it was only about 5000 people, compared to the 20 or so thousand people who lived in pompeii.  But it was also destroyed by mount vesuvius and covered in ash.  

Cece: I had no idea! 

Now, when the big explosion happened in 79AD that wasn’t the first time Mount Vesuvius had erupted.  We know  Mount Vesuvius had erupted before, but a long time before this big explosion in 79ad.  So people had forgotten that the mountain they lived by was actually a volcano.  When it exploded this was the biggest and deadliest eruption anyone had seen at the time. 

Cece: That makes a lot of sense

The city of Pompeii was right next to the volcano, just a couple of miles away! Pompeii had popped up there because of fertlie lands and being close to the sea, it was a great spot to live! Many rich romans had homes in Hurculaneum or came to pompeii to visit.  So while Pompeii and Hurculaneum were just a few miles away they didn’t realize the lands were so fertlie because of volcanic ash from hundreds of years earlier! 

Check this out:
Mount Vesuvius is a type of volcano called a stratovolcano, which means it’s made of many layers of ash and lava. It’s one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because it can erupt suddenly and with a lot of power. 

Cece: How big was the explosion? 

Amy: The explosion was so powerful it shot out super-hot gas and ash at temperatures of over 900 degrees Fahrenheit—that’s hotter than your oven! The ash and gases then rained down on Pompeii and the surrounding areas, burying everything under a mountain of volcanic material. The cloud of ash that shot out of the volcano went over 10 miles high up into the air!  

Cece: That is intense! 

Amy: Now, what’s really fascinating about this eruption is what happened to the city of Pompeii. It was a busy city in Italy with about 20,000 people living there. Once the ash started falling, most people tried to run away, but some tried to wait out the ash and rocks and explosion indoors.  For those people who tried to wait out the volcano… it was too late. 

Cece: What happened next? 

Amy: Many people escaped, but sadly, thousands of others were trapped in the city. The ash from the volcano and falling pumice stones quickly covered the city, like a giant snowstorm. And about 12 hours after the initial explosion there was a cloud of toxic gas that flowed out from the volcano, killing anyone who remained alive in the city.  

Check this out:
Pompeii was buried under about 13 to 20 feet of ash and pumice—this is a kind of light, porous volcanic rock. Because of this ash, the city was frozen in time, almost like it was a giant, underwater ice sculpture, but with ash instead of ice. 

Since Pompeii was rediscovered in the 18th century archieolgoists have been working on it almost non-stop.  

Cece: What does that word mean mama?

An archieologist is a scientist who….. Archaeology is the study of things that people made, used, and left behind. The goal of archaeology is to understand what people of the past were like and how they lived. Scientists who study archaeology are called archaeologists. 

Over the last several hundreds of years archieologists have found the bodies of over 2000 men, women, and children who remained in Pompeii and were buried in the ash and volcanic materials. 

Cece: I want to check out more about that 

You definitely can.  But Let’s get back to the explosion of Mount Vesuvius.  On August 24th in the year 79 AD The volcano first erupted shortly after noon.  This wasn’t just an eruption, it was an EXPLOSION! The ash was so thick it turned everything black—people couldn’t even see the sun! 

Cece: Really?

Yes!  Thousands of residents escaped the city, while others took shelter in their homes. But the ash kept falling. Piles of ash were as deep as nine feet in some places, it blocked doorways and even caved in roofs. In other parts of the city the volcanic material was piled up to 15 feet high!  

So while this was messy and destructive it also helped to preserve Pompeii

Cece: What do you mean mama? 

Amy: The volcanic ash helped preserve Pompeii for thousands of years. Buildings, streets, even food and paintings, were left just as they were when the ash covered everything. Nothing got exposed to the elements or changed becuase it was buried and preserved.  You can even still see mosaics and the colors after almost 2000 years.  

Cece: That’s so weird! Can you actually see the city now? 

Amy: Yes! I’ve actually been to Pompeii! It is a really cool experience to see the city frozen in time.  You can see art, furniture, treasures, and just the day to day realities of life from almost 2000 years ago.  

Cece: thats cool 

What is really cool is Pompeii was basically lost and forgotten until it was rediscovered in 1748. Since its rediscovery Archaeologists have been digging it up ever since. Today, visitors can walk through the ancient streets, see the ruins of houses, temples, and even the footprints of people and animals that got trapped. 

Cece: How incredible, thats amazing 

One thing I find really amazing is there is new research that shows the people who survied the explosion of mount vesuvius actually returned to pompeii after the ash had settled and the volcano stopped exploding. 

Cece: What do you mean mama? 

Archieolgoists have found evidence that people were living on top of houses that were buried by ash.  So picture this, if a 3 story house was covered in ash, and like 9-10 feet of ash were on the ground outside, you could still access the top 2 floors.  People who survived vesuvius went back and continued living in pompeii after everything calmed down.  

Cece: My mind is blown

I know! This is a relatively new finding, the archieologists now know that people lived in Pompii on top of the ruins of the city for about 400 years after the big explosion in 79ad.  Many of these people couldn’t afford to move and they were trying to salvage their lives and stay in the place that was their home.  After a couple of hundreds of years of people living on top of the ruins the city was officially abandoned and forgotten about until it was re-discovered in the 18th century.  

Cece: What an amazing story 

Amy: We actually know about some of the people who lived in Pompeii during the time of mount vesuvius exploding because of what archaeologists found. One story is about a man named Pliny the Elder. 

Cece: Who was he? 

Amy: Pliny the Elder was a Roman scholar and a naval commander. On the day Mt Vesuvius erupted, he decided to sail closer to the volcano to see what was happening because he wanted to learn more about the eruption. Unfortunately, he got caught in the toxic gas and died trying to help the terrified citizens of pompeii.  

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Pliny the Elder’s nephew, Pliny the Younger, was nearby and wrote detailed letters about what he saw. His letters to a famous roman historian describe how the sky darkened, the seas turned crazy, and how people fled in panic. His descriptions help us understand today how terrifying the eruption was for the people who were experiencing it. 

Cece: He sounds really brave

Amy: Yes, he was brave. Even though, in recent years some archieologists have questioned the accuracy of the timing of when Mt Vesuvius exploded.  They have found certain evidence that suggests the volcano actually exploded in October, or the fall, vs summer, which is what Pliny the younger had said.  Who knows if the archieologists will ever figure out the answer, but regardless we know it happend!  

Cece: History can be complicated 

It can, especially since there aren’t photos or videos from that long ago!  

Pompeii was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius at a time when the people who lived in Pompeii didn’t even know they lived by a volcano!  And did you know, some people survived by hiding in underground cellars or escaping into the countryside? But most couldn’t

Cece: Man oh man 

Cece, do you know how pompeii was rediscovered all those years after it was destroyed by the volcano? 

Cece: No, tell us, tell us! 

A farmer found the ruins in 1748 beneath his vineyard!  

Cece: No way 

Yea! And it took all the way until 1982 for the first human remains to be found at the other destoryed city of Hurculaneum

Guess what? 

Cece: What! 

Mount Vesuvius is still an active volcano

Cece: You’ve got to be joking

I’m not! Its the only active volcano on the european mainland and today it is predicted that over 700,000 people live in the danger zone of what could be affected if it explodes again.  

Cece: Jeez

I know, thanks for listening to us talk about another past moment from history.  The eruption of Mt Vesuvius and destruction of Pompeii and Hurculaneum is a major moment in history.  

Before we let you go you know we don’t just love talking about past moments form history 

Cece: we also love to rhyme 

Here is a poem we wrote for you about Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii 

Long ago and far away 

Vesuvius erupted and covered Pompeii 

Dark clouds of ash filled the sky 

Some couldn’t escape no matter how they tried 

Forgotten a while and brought back from the ground 

A farmers discovery lifted an ashen shroud 

Frozen figures and moments of the past

Preserved forever in a blanket of ash 

We discover so much about hurculaneum and Pompeii 

Learning more about life there every day

Thanks for listening to another episode of check this out! 

Thanks for listening to another episode of Check this out!  Here at the “check this out” podcast we know there is a lot of information and it can be overwhelming to find accurate information! This podcast is a tool for you to help you do something called “citing your sources”. As you get older and do projects for school you’ll learn that certain types of websites or information sources aren’t verified or have evidence and documentation to back them up.  On “check this out” we use verified sources to build the stories you hear about.  

Verified sources are materials or information that have been confirmed for accuracy, and credibility through an evaluation process!  Our sources for this week's episode are encyclopedia britannica, history.com the smithsonian, and national geographic 

Make sure to join us again for next weeks episode because we are celebrating our 50th episode of check this out! 

For our 50th episode we are bringing you a compilation of ceces favorite episodes. This mega episode will feature Ruby Bridges, Mount Everest, Malala Youfsafzi. 

Cece: Thanks for listening, see you next episode, don’t forget to subscribe 

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/pompeii 

https://www.britannica.com/place/Pompeii 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-mount-vesuvius-erupted-pompeiis-poorest-survivors-lived-amid-the-rubble-of-the-ancient-city-for-hundreds-of-years-180987153/ 

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/august-24/vesuvius-erupts