Music Videos for History Nerds

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What do you get when you combine dedicated history teachers who were probably theater and choir nerds, a kick-ass costume wardrobe, friends willing to learn the violin to cover Dexy’s Midnight Runners, and someone with a copy of After Effects? Awesomeness, that’s what.

Two teachers in Hawaii have created a slew of videos to teach history lessons set to everything from Justin Timberlake to Depeche Mode. There are 48— FORTY EIGHT—of these suckers. According to them, they might be inspired by 80s songs but, “do desperation and exhaustion count as influences?”

Here are just some of my favorites. It is so hard to choose…

Say it with me: This plague is bubonic, B-U-B-O-N-I-C!

Joan of Arc a la The White Stripes is pure genius.

The Canterbury Tales to “California Dreamin'”? Yes, please. With a little Middle English thrown in for good measure.

Oh, and if that isn’t nerdy enough for you, “Beowolf” (set to “99 Luftballoons”) has some Old English. I’m guessing one of these history teachers also has an English degree.