HISTORY This Week - Archive

This episode comes from Points North, a podcast about the land, water, and inhabitants of the Great Lakes. You can listen to Points North wherever you get your podcasts. Lake Champlain is more than 16 times smaller than Lake Ontario, the smallest Great Lake. But in 1998, Congress designated Lake Champlain as the sixth Great Lake, teeing off a historical and cultural fight over which lakes can really call themselves Great. Radio excerpts in this episode were originally broadcast on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Weekend Edition”. TV excerpts from “NBC

April 7, 1922. A cabinet secretary signs a secret deal and locks it in his desk. The land in question holds one of the largest untapped oil reserves in the country. Officially, it belongs to the U.S. Navy. Unofficially, it’s just been handed to a private oilman – no bidding, no oversight, no witnesses. For Albert Fall, it’s a win-win. For the oil industry, it’s a jackpot. But big money is hard to hide. Within days, the deal leaks. At first, no one seems to care. The economy is booming. The

April 3, 1851. A man who escaped slavery is grabbed off the streets of Boston and thrown into a carriage. He fights back, shouting to the crowd, but it doesn’t matter. Under a new federal law, even the North isn’t safe. The Fugitive Slave Act has turned cities like Boston into hunting grounds. Freedom seekers are being captured, and ordinary citizens are being forced to help. But across the North, resistance is growing. In Pennsylvania, a man named William Parker is building a network to fight back. When slavecatchers come to

March 29th, 1923. A new play opens in Berlin, and quietly changes the future. Onstage are workers who never tire, never complain, and never stop. They’re faster, stronger, and more efficient than humans in every way. They’re called robots. A sci-fi play born out of war and industrialization sparks a global obsession and a lasting fear. Because from the very beginning, the robot wasn’t just a technological breakthrough. It was a rebellion waiting to happen. How did a playwright invent the robot? Why did his idea spread so quickly? And what

March 18, 1879. A crowd gathers around an indoor track in Brooklyn, NY, as an Irish immigrant named Bartholomew O’Donnell attempts a strange feat: walking 80 miles in 26 hours. Newspapers claim he’s eighty years old. Lap after lap, he circles the track: smoking a pipe, sipping hot tea, and pushing through the night. O’Donnell came to New York thirty years earlier, fleeing the Great Potato Famine. Like many Irish immigrants, he spent decades doing manual labor and trying to get ahead in a city that often viewed newcomers with suspicion.

Why did Orson Welles take on a murder mystery? Listen for yourself. This week, we're sharing a special preview of Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier from the podcast Radio Diaries. In this series, we learn how Welles used his platform to shed light on a crime in a small, southern town. A crime that became a spark for the budding Civil Rights movement. For more, visit radiodiaries.org To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

March 10, 1949. Defendant Mildred Gillars arrives at a courthouse to hear her verdict. To trial-watchers, she’s known as Axis Sally—the American woman who broadcast Nazi propaganda from Berlin during World War II. In taunting tones, she spent years pushing anti-Semitic and anti-Allies messages aimed at weakening the morale of American soldiers. But Gillars insists that she’s misunderstood, even innocent. That she’s an artist, she loves her country, and was forced to do what she did… or die. How did a struggling actress from Maine become a potent weapon of the

March 5, 1953. The Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, is on his deathbed, and he’s turning blue. At the end of his life, Stalin is surrounded by his closest advisors, but these comrades aren’t hoping for his quick recovery. For days, they’ve been sneaking away from their vigil, plotting. The moment Stalin’s heart stops, they leap into action. What happens when a tyrant falls? And what role did the inner circle play in bringing an end to Stalin? Special thanks to our guest, Sheila Fitzpatrick, historian and author of

March 1, 1951. Two Texas horse trainers sit down to lunch with Walt Disney. They assume he wants to use their animals in a movie. Instead, Walt leans in and tells them about something that doesn’t exist yet. Not a carnival. Not an amusement park. Something movie-like in the real world. And if he’s going to build it, he’ll need horses. At that moment, Disneyland is just an idea in Walt’s head. But within a few years, he’ll clear 160 acres of orange groves in Anaheim and attempt to build that

February 14, 1905. A stick of dynamite detonates under the Hudson River — and the ground above swallows a locomotive whole. It's the latest setback in an audacious plan to tunnel beneath the river and bring trains into Manhattan. The Pennsylvania Railroad is the largest corporation in the world, but the goopy riverbed keeps fighting back. How did they finally make it across? And why are these 115-year-old tunnels still the most critical infrastructure in America today? Special thanks to our guests: Polly Desjarlais, content and research manager at the New

HISTORY This Week will return with new episodes this Monday, February 16th, with a story about the most vital train tunnels in the United States. The North River Tunnels—their formal name—connect New Jersey to Penn Station in New York City, carrying 200,000 passengers every day. These tunnels underneath the Hudson are now over 115 years old, and are in desperate need of repair. The tunnel rehabilitation effort will be the largest infrastructure project in the country. It’s just getting underway, but now, the funding has been tied up in a political

Feb 13, 1920. For over thirty years, Black baseball players have been locked out of the major leagues. So on this day in Kansas City, Rube Foster, a former pitcher and now a team owner, is trying to make his own league just for Black players. He has gathered owners of other Black baseball teams, who currently play each other in one-off matchups or face independent teams in random games around the country. But Foster wants them to get organized, and soon, the Negro National League would be born. But up

February 4, 1955. In a New York courtroom, the Comics Czar takes the stand. He’s in charge of enforcing a new code, meant to keep comic books from corrupting America’s youth, and he’s here to prove that his work has cleaned up the industry. But that afternoon, a noted psychologist named Fredric Wertham argues that his work has not nearly gone far enough. When the hearing comes to a close, the committee is left to decide: what is the future of the comic book? Why did one of the country’s leading

On January 5, 2026, Jirdes Winther Baxter passed away at 101 years old — the last known survivor of the 1925 diphtheria epidemic in Nome, Alaska. A few years ago, we told the story of the Serum Run: the desperate relay of mushers and sled dogs who carried a life-saving antitoxin across Alaska, including to an 11-month-old Baxter. Today, that run lives on through the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Enjoy this classic HTW story, and stay tuned for new episodes soon! January 27, 1925. Musher “Wild Bill” Shannon and his

How did the VW Beetle go from Hitler’s dream car to beloved hippie icon? Today, we’re sharing an episode from a new podcast, Business History. Hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith bring to life the greatest innovations, the boldest entrepreneurs and the craziest mavericks in the annals of business—and share the lessons we can learn from their successes and failures. In today’s episode: How Hitler launched the Volkswagen Beetle and its journey from Nazi vehicle to bohemian Love Bug. This is part 1 of the Business History series on the Beetle—be

January 25, 1908. Harry Houdini is the most famous magician in America. He’s known for his escapes – from handcuffs, boxes, jail cells, even a giant football. But the escape act is getting old, and ticket sales aren’t what they used to be. And on this day, an under-capacity audience at the Columbia Theater in St. Louis is about to witness Houdini’s most dangerous escape yet… from death itself. How did a Hungarian immigrant named Erik Weisz become Harry Houdini? And when his career was fading, how did Houdini embrace death

January 15, 1919. Boston PD receives a call: “Send all available rescue personnel...there's a wave of molasses coming down Commercial Street." The bizarre flood decimated Boston's North End. How did it happen? And why does it still affect us all today? Special thanks to our guest, Stephen Puleo, author of Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. ** This episode originally aired Jan 13, 2020. Get in touch: historythisweek@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener

Editor’s note: This episode originally aired January 9, 2023. Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr. passed away in February 2025 at the age of 100. Lt. Col. James Harvey III still resides in New Jersey, now 102 years old. -- January 11, 2022. Lt. Col. James Harvey arrives at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for the first time in 73 years. He’s there to accept a plaque celebrating the last time he was there, for the Air Force’s first-ever weapons competition. Back then, Harvey and the other Tuskegee Airmen on his

January 3, 1924. Archeologists crowd into an ancient Egyptian tomb to uncover what awaits them in the unopened burial chamber. The world is waiting to find out. That’s because two years before, the discovery of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun revealed antiquities so dazzling that a media frenzy ensued – newspapers, newsreels, and Hollywood movies vied to show audiences these wonders of ancient Egypt. Now, lead archaeologist Howard Carter pushes open the door to find a majestic stone sarcophagus. Inside lies Tutankhamun, whose regal face of gold and azure blue

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has brought joy and sparkle to Midtown Manhattan since the early 1930s. The annual festivities may seem steady and timeless but this holiday icon actually has a surprisingly dramatic history. Millions tune in each year to watch the tree lighting in a music-filled ceremony on NBC, and tens of thousands more will crowd around the tree’s massive branches during the holiday season, adjusting their phones for that perfect holiday selfie. But the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is more than just decor. The tree has reflected the

December 27, 1853. On a freezing, snowy night in Birmingham, England, 2,000 people have lined up outside the town hall. They’ve braved the temperatures for a landmark performance, Charles Dickens’ first reading of A Christmas Carol. The tale will become an international sensation and beloved Christmas tradition. In this special episode of HISTORY This Week, we bring you a classic 1949 rendition of the story starring Vincent Price, so you can decide for yourself: What is it about A Christmas Carol that’s endured for over 150 years? ** This episode originally

December 16, 1773. Samuel Adams sits in a crowded meeting of American colonists at Boston’s Old South Meeting House. He’s watching small groups of men slip quietly out the door. Once outside, the men don disguises and make their way toward three ships moored in the harbor – each weighted down with chests of valuable British East India tea. The men climb aboard, tear open the chests and dump the tea in the water. Cheers fill the winter night. Back at the meeting, Samuel Adams waits. There’s nothing directly tying him

December 18, 1970. Decades after the end of WWII, a Nazi doctor is on trial. Today is judgment day in a long, difficult legal battle, but this case isn’t about war crimes. The German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal is charged with the worst medical disaster in history: the Thalidomide scandal. The shoddily tested and hastily approved drug made its way into medicine cabinets around the world, and a decade after its release, the reality is becoming clear: Thalidomide is killing babies. Who are the heroes who brought down Thalidomide? And how did

December 1, 1564. Spanish vessels left a secret port in Mexico about two weeks ago. Their goal: to sail across the Pacific and back, charting a new route for international trade, and giving Spain an edge against its chief colonial rival, Portugal. But today, when a storm hits, the smallest ship is separated from the rest of the fleet. Now, that ship, the San Lucas, is on its own. The following year, when the San Lucas makes it back to Mexico, against all odds, its pilot—a Black mariner—is accused of treason.

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 stand-up 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

November 16, 1776. George Washington rows toward Manhattan to inspect the fort that bears his name, only to meet a full-scale British assault already underway. By afternoon, Fort Washington has fallen, and General Washington is forced to abandon New York City. The Continental Army is sick, outnumbered, and demoralized. For a moment, the Revolution seems lost. Facing his worst defeat of the war, Washington himself is questioning their odds. In their new PBS documentary, The American Revolution, Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein set out to tell this version of the Founding

November 16, 1961. Fourteen college students from Iowa have driven nearly a thousand miles to the White House. They’re fasting, protesting, and calling for an end to nuclear bomb testing. These students, later known as the Grinnell 14, will help ignite the student peace movement of the 1960s. Actor Peter Coyote (then Peter Cohon) was one of them. He joins us to remember how it felt to grow up under the shadow of the bomb, why they believed Kennedy’s “peace race” could change the world, and what happened when they found

November 3, 1880. Congressman James Garfield wakes up on his quiet farm in Ohio to learn that he’s been elected President of the United States. He never campaigned to be on the ticket. He never wanted the presidency. But the nation, weary of corruption and hungry for reform, has chosen him to lead. But four months after taking office, Garfield will be shot by a man who believes he’s owed a government position. And the president’s short, remarkable life will end in tragedy. This week, we’re talking with writer and showrunner

October 28, 1895. It’s the first day of a murder trial in Philadelphia, and H.H. Holmes has been left to represent himself. His lawyers say they haven’t had time to prepare for his case, although they may just want to avoid defending the man some newspapers are already saying is “sure to grace a gallows.” Holmes has been accused of murdering his business associate, but rumors swirl that he may have killed dozens, even hundreds more. A century later, some still call him "America's first serial killer." But how did H.H.

October 19, 1814. An eager audience files into the Holliday Street Theater in Baltimore, about to see a debut performance, described as a “much-admired new song.” The composer of this song, Francis Scott Key, had written the lyrics during a recent battle in Baltimore, trapped on a British ship as he watched the rockets red glare from afar. Key wasn’t a professional songwriter – a prominent lawyer in Washington D.C., he specialized in cases related to slavery, both defending enslaved people and slave catchers. But his real legacy became this song,

October 24, 1945. The Charter of the United Nations is signed, promising to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Back when the charter was drafted a few months earlier in San Francisco, delegates from around the world gathered to build a new era of peace and human rights. Among them is Mary McLeod Bethune, the only Black woman in the U.S. delegation, and she already sees the contradictions beneath the moment: colonial powers writing freedom into a document that excludes millions. Years later, journalist Marguerite Cartwright will carry that

October, 1955. In living rooms across Denmark, children tear open the box of a brand-new toy: the LEGO System in Play. Inside are plastic bricks, a printed playmat of roads, little houses and trees — everything in perfect scale. As they build, something new is taking shape. It looks simple, but it’s a radical idea — every piece connects, no matter when or where it’s made. It’s more than a toy — it’s a system. That quiet innovation will turn a small family workshop into one of the most successful companies

October 11, 1955. Nearly three hundred of the Soviet Union’s top scientists sign a secret letter demanding the removal of one man: Trofim Lysenko. For decades, Lysenko had Joseph Stalin’s ear, ruling Soviet biology with an iron fist—banning genetics, rewriting textbooks, and sending dissenting scientists to prison or worse. How did a peasant-turned-agronomist convince Stalin that wheat could turn into rye, and that ideology mattered more than evidence? And when politics replace science, what—and who—gets destroyed? Special thanks to William deJong-Lambert, author of The Cold War Politics of Genetic Research: An

October 4, 1915. President Woodrow Wilson designates Dinosaur National Monument as a national historic site. That’s a big deal, right? There must’ve been a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony, maybe even a parade. But no. In 1915, nobody really cares about dinosaurs. But that is all about to change. And when it does, it is largely because of two paleontologists. Two guys who started off as best friends … until their growing obsession with unearthing and cataloging dinosaur bones would turn them into rivals. Then enemies. How did the competition between a pair

September 27, 1986. You’re a kid in the mid-80s. You get home from school, flip on the TV, and see something strange: a commercial where a giant egg hatches behind a family’s console, revealing a toy robot. His name is R.O.B. — the Robotic Operating Buddy — but he's just an accessory. The real product: Nintendo. Today, the Nintendo Entertainment System is launching nationwide. Just a few years earlier, the U.S. video game market had collapsed under the weight of bad games and too many consoles. But Nintendo had a plan

September 14, 1901. Midnight in the Adirondacks. A pounding knock at the door jolts Theodore and Edith Roosevelt awake. William McKinley is dead. Hours later, Theodore will be sworn in as the youngest president in U.S. history. But Edith barely flinches—her diary that day notes her children’s sniffles before her husband’s rise to power. Who was this woman who grew up alongside Theodore, helped shape his presidency, reinvented the role of First Lady, and yet tried to erase her own story from the record? Special thanks to Kathleen Dalton, author of

With every episode, Lena Dunham and Alissa Bennett take you on a historical deep dive into the life of a woman society dismissed by calling her mad, sad, or just plain bad: Lindsay Lohan, Judy Garland, Winona Ryder, Mariah Carey, Lil Kim and many more. Join them for a rich, hilarious, and heartbreaking look into exactly what it means when we call a woman “crazy.” The C-Word was originally published behind a paywall from 2019 - 2022. This is the first time it’s being released to all major podcast platforms. To

September 10, 1986. It’s just before 8am when Cliff Stoll’s pager jolts him awake. A computer at Lawrence Berkeley Lab has flagged a problem: a tiny 75-cent accounting error. But when Stoll rushes to his office, he realizes this isn’t about missing spare change. Someone has slipped into the lab’s network, tunneling thousands of miles away into U.S. military computers. Cliff isn’t a spycatcher. He’s an astronomer. And yet, from this moment on, he’ll spend months chasing a hacker who may be working for the KGB. How did spare change uncover

Sept 5, 1698. Tsar Peter the Great of Russia returns home from a year-long European tour. When noblemen, religious figures, and friends gather to welcome him home, Peter pulls out a straight razor, holds it to their throats, and…forcibly shaves their beards. This event will go down in history as a first step toward Russian geopolitical power. Before Peter’s reign, Russia was an isolated nation that was largely ignored by the rest of the world. How did Peter the Great almost single-handedly drag Russia onto the world stage? And how did

August 28, 1920. In the town of Tequila, fireworks burst overhead as people celebrate Mexico’s independence. Then… gunshots. Malachías Cuervo, heir to the famous tequila dynasty, has just reignited a bitter feud with his family’s rivals, the Sauzas. For decades, his brother José Cuervo fought to rebuild the family business through drought, revolution, and political upheaval—turning a struggling operation into an empire. His tactfulness allowed Cuervo to survive as one of the most popular tequila brands in the world today. How is José Cuervo able to navigate the Mexican Revolution, and

August 24, 1914. A train pulls up to the lumber town of White River, Ontario, carrying a regiment of Canadian troops on board. On the tracks where they disembark is a small black bear cub. An army veterinarian decides to buy the bear and name her Winnipeg—Winnie for short—after the town where he's been living. When the soldiers are deployed to the European front, Winnie is left at the London Zoo, where a child named Christopher Robin Milne will meet her. He'll later rename his own teddy bear after her: Winnie-the-Pooh.

August 24, 394. On the walls of a fading Egyptian temple, a priest carves what will become the last known hieroglyph in history. At the same moment, in Alexandria, a fiery archbishop named Theophilus is rising to power. He mocks the ancient Egyptian gods, desecrates their temples, and sets out to stamp out “paganism” for good. But Theophilus is fighting more than ancient religion—he clashes with monks, rivals, even fellow bishops, in a ruthless bid to make Alexandria the beating heart of the Christian world. What drives him to destroy? And

August 15, 1915. American diplomat J. T. Du Bois publishes a letter in The New York Times. It’s not about diplomacy or foreign affairs. This letter is about sharks. It’s Du Bois’ attempt to prove to the American public that “Man-Eating Sharks” - as he calls them - are real. Because in 1916? Most people think they’re a myth. Experts say that sharks aren’t dangerous. That they’re “rabbit” tame and too weak-jawed to pose any real threat to humans—at least, in the North East. But the following summer, a series of

August 7, 1943. Off the coast of Venezuela, a Nazi U-boat is under siege. For nine days, it’s hunted by Allied aircraft across the Caribbean, until its engines fail and its commander gives the order: abandon ship. Forty-three German sailors plunge into shark-infested waters, and are pulled out by their enemy - the United States. The Germans think the worst is behind them. Instead, they’re headed for a POW camp in the American heartland, where life will actually be pretty comfortable. They play soccer, harvest corn, eat well… until things turn

July 29th, 1992. The Baltimore Sun runs a feature about a surprise candidate in the upcoming presidential race: Barbie. The 11.5-inch icon of girlhood and glamor is running for office – and flying off the shelves. But how did a plaything become important enough to make national news? To answer that question, we take you on a journey through doll history, from French porcelain beauties to cherubs that stood for women’s suffrage. And of course, the doll who taught us how fun life in plastic could be. How did these dolls

July 23rd, 1892. Henry Clay Frick is one of America’s leading industrialists. To Alexander Berkman, he’s one of America’s leading villains. Berkman is an anarchist, along with his partner, Emma Goldman. They believe the current order of things needs to change, and one way to make change is through violence. Frick is meeting with his associates in his Pittsburgh office when Berkman bursts into the room and draws his gun. The men lock eyes, knowing that their fates are about to be forever changed. Why did the "Queen of Anarchism" and

July 17, 1674. During renovations at the Tower of London, construction workers digging beneath a stone staircase make a chilling discovery—two child-sized skeletons buried ten feet underground. And King Charles II believes he knows who they are. The remains reignite one of the most enduring mysteries in British history: the fate of the Princes in the Tower. For over 500 years, historians have debated what happened to King Edward V and his younger brother, Prince Richard. Were they murdered—perhaps by their uncle, Richard III? Or did they simply vanish from the

When we first aired "Operation Mincemeat" back in 2020, it was a daring WWII thriller that felt almost too wild to be true. Now, it’s not just history — it’s a hit Broadway musical. This week, we're revisiting our original episode about the ingenious Allied ruse that helped turn the tide of the war. And we’re adding a twist: an interview with Natasha Hodgson, co-creator and star of Operation Mincemeat, the musical. She joins us to talk spies, songs, and how one of the strangest wartime plots ever ended up on

July 7, 1938. Superman has the villain in his grasp. They soar through the air, then slam into the ground. This villain wants to start a war. Our hero won’t let that happen. At this point, Superman only has two comic book appearances. And yet, his legend is already beginning to grow. Kids read about heroics at the community pool, sitting on their stoops, late at night under their covers. Soon enough, Superman becomes America’s hero, but the two young men who created him will get left behind. How did two

July 7, 2007. In a dramatic ceremony featuring pop stars, fireworks, and smoke cannons, the Colosseum is named one of the seven new wonders of the world. It’s an appropriately over-the-top blowout for an arena which, centuries before, was home to its own lavish events. How did spectacles once unfold on the floor of this ancient arena? And how did the Romans use games to entertain people and to control them? Special thanks to our guests, Alison Futrell, co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World,

June 28, 1928. Louis Armstrong is in the studio recording what he hopes will be another hit. His career is on the rise, but he’s not a household name yet. But he’s about to lay down a track – “West End Blues” – that won’t just change his career, but the entire genre of jazz. But Armstrong didn’t compose “West End Blues” – it was written by his mentor, a man only remembered by people who are really into the history of jazz, a cornet player named Joe “King” Oliver. Armstrong

June 22, 1611. It’s been a long, cold winter. Henry Hudson and his crew have been stranded in the Canadian Arctic for months, living on the ice in wooden shacks - starving, sick, and ready to go home. And yet, Hudson wants to carry on and search for the Northwest Passage, a theoretical trading route to the Pacific that could bring him untold fortunes. His crew has had enough. How does this journey go so wrong? And what happens when you push a crew of sailors beyond the extreme? Special thanks

June 9, 1954. Senator Joseph McCarthy has accused the United States Army of having communists within its midst. After rising to power during a time of great fear in America, McCarthy's name has become synonymous with anti-communism – and with baseless, life-ruining accusations. But today, five simple words will take down one of the most notorious men in American political history. What made McCarthy so powerful in the first place? And how did that very same thing eventually bring him down? Thank you to our guest, Ellen Schrecker, historian, author and

June 14, 1938. It’s 8:30 PM at Lake Worth Casino in Fort Worth, Texas. All eyes are on a huge high-dive platform, 40 feet in the air. And at the top? A woman… on a horse. Horse diving is one of the most popular acts in America, and Sonora Carver is one of its stars. She’s been doing it for years, traveling the country to perform one of the more unbelievable stunts in sideshow history. But a few years back, Carver suffered a devastating injury during one of these dives and

June 4, 1941. Reinhard Heydrich transmits a message to all regional governors in the Third Reich: prepare for “action against occult teachings.” Heydrich is carrying out the orders of Adolf Hitler, who is furious at his Deputy Führer, Rudolf Hess. Inspired by a horoscope reading, Hess decided to fly a secret mission to Great Britain and sue for peace. But Hess crash-lands in Scotland—the plan doesn’t pan out—and his failure becomes an international embarrassment. So in retaliation, Hitler cracks down on mysticism throughout Germany. Magicians, spiritualists, and faith healers are arrested,

May 30, 1855. Five thousand Native Americans come to Walla Walla to negotiate a treaty. However, it’s not exactly a fair negotiation – the territorial governor basically tells these tribes that they have no choice but to live on reservations in order to maintain peace. This moment comes in the wake of a violent time in the Pacific Northwest, a period started by the killing of Christian missionaries—namely, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman—by the Cayuse tribe. In the wake of their deaths, the Whitmans are portrayed throughout the United States as martyrs;

May 22, 1856. Charles Sumner isn’t worried about making friends in the Senate. His rhetoric is inflammatory, almost intentionally. He’s an ardent abolitionist in a time when people are still enslaved throughout the South. In his most recent speech, Sumner attacked his colleagues directly, especially pro-slavery Senator Andrew Butler. Butler’s cousin, Preston Brooks, is also in Congress, and as a southern gentleman, he decides he has to do something to retaliate. What pushes Preston Brooks to assault Charles Sumner on the Senate floor? And how does this attack help drive Americans

May 16, 1920. Tens of thousands of people surround St. Peter’s Basilica to honor Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl who died nearly five hundred years before. Joan’s feats in battle—and her visions of God—have become legendary since her heyday during the Hundred Years' War. And today, the Catholic Church is making her a saint. But Joan was a real person – and while many supported her during her lifetime, many others wanted her dead. Who was this curious figure? And how did her faith turn the tides of a

May 15, 1940. It’s opening day. San Bernardino, California is a city on the rise, and to meet this new demand for cheap, good food, two brothers have created a restaurant: McDonald’s Famous Barbecue. You can order a PB&J sandwich, barbecued pork, baked beans, and yes, a hamburger. It’s a work in progress, but Dick and Mac McDonald never stop innovating. How did the McDonald brothers engineer a system that would be replicated in thousands of locations across the globe? And why don't they get the credit they deserve? Special thanks

May 5, 1862. The French have landed in Mexico. Napoleon III wants to conquer the country and assert France’s imperial dominance in the Americas. In his way? The Mexican army, held up in the city of Puebla. The Battle of Puebla will come to define this struggle: a European monarch against a fledgling democracy, led by Benito Juárez. Mexico’s victory will be especially celebrated by Latinos in the United States, who are watching this struggle play out while their new country is embroiled in a Civil War. This first holiday, in

April 27, 1951. The United States has been putting pressure on Denmark for a long time. Because the small European kingdom has something the Americans really, really want: Greenland. Today, they sign a treaty that will basically let the U.S. military build whatever it wants on this frozen island. They end up constructing an air base, but then turn to a much more ambitious project, underground. How does this hidden Arctic outpost connect to a massive nuclear secret? And why do the Americans abandon this city beneath the ice? Special thanks

HISTORY This Week returns with new episodes this Monday! We're kicking things off with a look at America's longtime fascination with Greenland, and how the U.S. military used the island to expand its Cold War nuclear ambitions. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

April 27, 1856. In Beijing’s Forbidden City, one of the emperor’s consorts, a woman named Cixi, has given birth to a son – the emperor’s first heir. This landmark event is met with mass celebration. But in just five years time, the emperor will be dead and Cixi will be planning a coup to take power for herself. How will she ever succeed? Special thanks to our guests: Jung Chang, author of Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, and Professor Ying-chen Peng, author of Artful Subversion: Empress Dowager

Imagine if you could ask someone anything you wanted about their finances. On What We Spend, people from across the country and across the financial spectrum are opening their wallets—and their lives—to tell you everything: what they make, what they want, and—for one week—what they spend. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

April 14, 1970. Apollo 13 is a quarter million miles from Earth, speeding towards the Moon, when a sudden explosion rocks the ship. Against all odds, the astronauts pull off one of the most remarkable survival missions in NASA history. 55 years after this harrowing flight, Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell explains exactly what it took to save his spaceship. Special thanks to Captain Jim Lovell, John Uri, Steven Barber and Vanilla Fire Productions. **This episode originally aired April 13, 2020. To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data

April 10, 1912. As the RMS Titanic pulls away from a crowded port on the south coast of England, it almost crashes. Just in time, it’s able to turn off its engines and prevent a collision with a smaller ship. Four days later, though, a serious disaster will not be avoided, and the Titanic’s first voyage will be her last. But during her brief life, the vessel is a microcosm of the Gilded world around her. How did this opulent luxury liner come to exist? And how did it foretell the

April 3, 1974. Across America, many people wake up this morning thinking it will be a normal day. But in the next 24 hours, almost 150 tornadoes will hit the United States. It will be the largest tornado outbreak in the nation's history. Why did so many deadly tornadoes hit on this one day? And how did it spur life-saving changes that are still with us decades later? Thank you to our guests: Greg Forbes, former severe weather expert with the Weather Channel; and atmospheric sciences professor Jeff Trapp from the

March 29, 1951. The world is waiting for the jury’s verdict. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg have been accused of spying for the Soviet Union, conspiring to send atomic secrets to America’s enemy in the Cold War. Ethel and Julius are tried in court together, and after the jury finds both Rosenbergs guilty, they receive the same punishment – the death penalty. But while they were treated the same, these two individuals have very different stories. Today, who was Ethel Rosenberg, the only woman executed for espionage in U.S. history? And why

March 20, 1703. Today, almost fifty men, scattered around the city of Edo, Japan, are waiting to die. They’re all former samurai who had served the same lord – and they all carried out a deadly revenge attack in his name. Their story will go down in history as the legend of the 47 Ronin. Why did these men decide that to be loyal samurai, they had to die? And how did this moment live on for centuries and become part of the national story of Japan? Thank you to our

March 14, 1991. The Birmingham Six have been in prison for 16 years. Each of these six Irishmen was found guilty of 21 counts of murder back in 1975 – held responsible for bombs detonated at two popular pubs in Birmingham, England. They were accused of being part of an IRA terror campaign, but have maintained their innocence since the moment they were arrested. It turns out... they were telling the truth. Today, the Birmingham Six will be set free. How were they imprisoned for a crime they never committed? And

College holds a mythic place in American culture, but behind the polished campus tours and glossy brochures lies a far more complicated reality. Each episode of Campus Files uncovers a new story that rocked a college or university. Consider this your unofficial campus tour. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

March 3rd, 1907. Dr. Sigmund Freud invites a guest into his office, Dr. Carl Jung. This is a meeting of the minds, about... the mind. Psychology. Freud and Jung will spend the next 13 hours discussing the unconscious, the hidden forces in our brains that guide our thoughts and decisions. They're two of the first doctors to explore this mysterious terrain, and this marathon meeting will spark a true friendship – until it all comes crashing down. How did Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung help shape the way we understand the

February 26, 1924. 10 Defendants enter a courtroom in Munich. They are being charged with an attempted coup. They tried to overthrow the government of the Weimar Republic… and almost succeeded. All eyes are on the second defendant to enter the room. When the judge reads this man’s name into the record, he identifies him as a Munich writer named Adolf Hitler. Today: Hitler’s first attempt to seize power. How did his 1923 coup fail? And why would Hitler later say that this failure was “perhaps the greatest good fortune of

February 24, 1893. Most homes don't have electricity. And yet, one of the technology's pioneers, Nikola Tesla, is about to give the world a glimpse into a fully electrified future. He takes the stage at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, and begins a demonstration. He shoots sparks out of his hands, makes himself glow, and turns on some lightbulbs. The lightbulb part doesn't sound that impressive, until you realize... they're not plugged into anything. He's holding these bulbs in his hands, and they're still radiating light. This is the promise of

February 23, 2005. New York City's culinary elite gather at Gotham Hall. Tuxedoed waiters pass around champagne flutes and decadent hors d'oeuvres, as famous chefs like Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain pose for photos and gossip with their peers before the night’s main event: an announcement that could change their lives and the fate of America's dining scene. Édouard Michelin takes the stage. His company, Michelin, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of tires, but they also produce a restaurant guide that has dictated the fortunes of European restaurants for

February 15, 1935. The American Medical Association, the AMA, is holding an emergency meeting in Chicago. The crisis? The possibility that the federal government is about to pass universal health insurance. Health insurance is a new concept in America at this time, but President Franklin Roosevelt's administration is looking to include it in a package that will include another piece of new legislation - Social Security. The AMA, which represents thousands of American doctors, fears that government-backed insurance could dictate how doctors care for patients, and how much money they're allowed

February 11, 2005. FBI agents bust down the door of a cinder block house near the University of Kentucky campus. Amid flash grenades and screaming teens, they arrest three students – plus a fourth student in a nearby dorm. The crime? Stealing almost $750,000 of rare books and manuscripts from the library at Transylvania University. Why did four freshmen decide to actually go through with their real life version of Ocean’s Eleven? And how did they plan to get away with it? Special thanks to our guests, BJ Gooch, retired special

January 28, 1986. It's freezing in Central Florida, a historically cold day. That's bad news for citrus growers, and for NASA, which is scheduled to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger from Cape Canaveral this morning. Engineers have ben cautioning NASA that cold temperatures can make space launches dangerous. And yet, NASA decides to move ahead. They consider it an "acceptable risk" and send seven astronauts hurtling into the sky. What went wrong with the Space Shuttle Challenger? And if engineers knew what could happen, why wasn’t this disaster avoided? Special thanks

To further celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're re-releasing our classic episode about the Children's Crusade, an effort to bring the youth of Birmingham, Alabama into the Civil Rights Movement in order to affect change across the country. April 20, 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. walks out of Alabama’s Birmingham Jail after being held for a week for peacefully protesting. He spent most of that time writing a letter that passionately defends the civil rights movement’s nonviolent tactics. But despite King’s passion, the movement’s progress has stalled. King

January 15, 1969. It's been less than a year since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Friends, family, and followers are gathered at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. King preached. They are there to remember him on his birthday, honor his legacy, and present a goal: an official celebration of his birthday every year, a holiday to commemorate his life and his struggle. Getting a holiday passed may sound like a bureaucratic formality, but it would become a years-long battle, mainly led by his widow, Coretta Scott

January 15, 1939. It's finally working! After countless mechanical issues, the first operational ski lift in the state of Utah is taking people up the mountain so they can glide down its slopes. Skiing conditions are ideal in the town of Alta, and this lift will allow this relatively new sport to explode in popularity. But as beautiful as Alta is, there's also a looming threat... avalanches. Alta is in one of the most avalanche-prone areas in the entire country. It used to be a small mining town, and its residents

January 8, 1964. In his State of the Union address, Lyndon Johnson unveils his War on Poverty, an effort to tackle subpar living conditions and create jobs across the United States. Johnson discovers that declaring war—even one on an idea—always comes with great costs. Why did LBJ pick poverty as one of his major initiatives? And what is the legacy of the war he started? Special thanks to Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and author of Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream; and Guian McKee, professor of public affairs at the University

New Year's Eve, 1958. Cuba's president, Fulgencio Batista, is throwing his annual New Year's Eve party at his home in Havana. It's usually a blowout. But this year, the vibes... aren't so great. Government officials and Cuban elites drink champagne and pick at arroz con pollo as the clock ticks closer to midnight. But there's a palpable anxiety in the air. They aren't just counting down to the end of the year - they may be counting down the final minutes of Cuba as they know it. A revolution is underway,

Christmas Eve, 1913. For months, newspapers have been trumpeting an urgent message: Do your Christmas shopping early. It would be easy to assume this was the work of greedy department stores and slick ad companies. But it wasn’t – at least not at first. It started as the rallying cry of a labor reformer who was striving to improve the lives of retail workers. Ever since, Americans have been wrestling over the values at the heart of holiday shopping. But even the most earnest efforts at reform have backfired, time and

**For this HTW special feature, Sally interviews director Robert Eggers about his new historically inspired film, Nosferatu.** Winter, 1476. Vlad III is a prince in Wallachia, in present-day Romania. He is a violent man, so violent that he earns the nickname "Vlad the Impaler." He also has another name that he inherited from his father: Dracula. Dracula is constantly fighting for his crown, but today, that fight will come to an end. His headless body will be discovered in a marsh, stuck down by his enemies. But his legend will live

December 21, 1970. Elvis has entered the building. And today, that building is the White House. He's brought a gift for President Nixon, a framed Colt .45 pistol, which White House security won't be thrilled with. But he isn't just there to drop off a Christmas present. Elvis Presley has lived many lives in his brief 35 years that a child might dream of: he got to be a musician, a soldier, a movie star, the "King of Rock and Roll." And now he might be just a handshake away from

December 11, 1934. Bill Wilson is on the subway, working his way through his third beer, heading to Towns Hospital. He isn’t injured, and he isn’t what would be traditionally classified as “sick.” But he knows he has a problem. And he needs help. What he doesn't know as he arrives at the hospital – with a fourth bottle of beer in his hand – is that this will be the last sip of alcohol of his life. And when he's discharged from Towns, he won't be returning. Instead, he'll go

December 1, 1969. Millions across America are tuned in to the same TV broadcast. They see a bland stage with some government workers behind desks. But there's also a large, plastic container filled with small blue capsules. In each of these capsules, a birth date. The order in which they're chosen will determine who is eligible to be sent off to fight in the Vietnam War. This is the draft lottery, an attempt by the Nixon administration to make the selective service process seem more fair, and restore some trust between

For this Thanksgiving, we're re-airing an HTW classic. This episode originally premiered November 23, 2020. November 24, 1966. Millions of spectators flood Broadway in New York City to watch the Macy’s Day Parade on Thanksgiving morning. The iconic floats – Superman, Popeye, Smokey the Bear – are set against a grey sky that can only be described as noxious. A smog of pollutants is trapped over New York City, and it will ultimately kill nearly 200 people. How did the 1966 Thanksgiving Smog help usher in a new era of environmental

November 26, 1970. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival, protestors gather under a statue of Massasoit, the Wampanoag leader who had made peace with the Pilgrims, and partook in the legendary Thanksgiving meal. This protest was organized by Wamsutta Frank James, a Wampanoag activist who wanted to draw attention to the full story of Thanksgiving – a story of fear, violence, and oppression that spanned generations. America’s reckoning with the truth of Thanksgiving, James argued, would empower indigenous people to fight for their equal rights. This

November 18, 2022. New York City is at war... with rats. And today, Mayor Eric Adams is set to announce four new pieces of legislation aimed at combating this scurrying problem. Two of these laws will target garbage, the rats' main source of food. If you put trash in places the rats can't get, their population will plummet, and New York will get a major victory in this long-running war. The garbage problem is nothing new for the city. In fact, it's been an issue since its founding almost 400 years

November 14, 332 BCE. Alexander the Great has conquered an unprecedented amount of territory in a relatively short amount of time. At just 24 years old, he's in control of Macedonia, much of Greece, and now, a huge part of Egypt. But Alexander doesn't want to just conquer each of these places - he wants to rule. And in a rare move for Macedonian royalty, he wants to rule in a way that honors local customs, allowing him to be seen as not just a king, but in some areas, as

November 4, 2009. It's Game 6 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees will clinch the series tonight on the back of one player, Hideki Matsui. He's a baseball player from Japan, one of the few who made the jump across the Pacific to play in America. In the last 15 years, many more Japanese players have made that move, including superstar Shohei Ohtani, arguably the most popular baseball player in the world today. But before Ohtani, before Matsui, there was Masanori Murakami,

Oct 27, 1972. The planet Mars has many victims. Specifically, spacecraft. There have been so many failed missions to Mars, that scientists are rumbling about a "Mars Curse". But one mission is defying the odds. Mariner 9, an American space probe, has been orbiting Mars for the last year. But now, it's running out of fuel and will be deactivated, having met all of its mission objectives. Mariner 9 gave us our closest look ever at the Red Planet, solving mysteries that have been debated for centuries. Today, humanity's relationship with

October 24, 79 CE. Pompeii is one of the crown jewels of the Roman Empire, a bustling city that serves as a coastal retreat for Rome's elite. But Pompeii also has a large, often overlooked middle-class population. They don't live in Pompeii's massive villas. Instead, they live a typical urban life – shopping at small businesses and haggling with street vendors. They even go to restaurants. And one of these restaurants—still being excavated by archeologists today—may unlock a whole new side to the story of this doomed city. So, before the

Gone South, the Edward R. Murrow award-winning podcast, is back. Unlike previous seasons, writer and host Jed Lipinski brings listeners new episodes every week with no end in sight. Each episode of Gone South Season 4 tells a different story about one of the South's most interesting crimes. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

October 18, 1887. At the Crystal Palace in London, hundreds of cats are ready to be judged. This is the first show put on by the National Cat Club, an organization seeking to bring order to the competitive cat world. But the NCC has another goal, to bring legitimacy and attention to a new idea: having a cat as a pet. Even just a couple of decades before this, you’d rarely find a cat living in a person’s home. Cats were on the streets – living near humans, not with them.

October 11, 1975. In Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City, Lorne Michaels and his cast and crew of 20-somethings scramble as the clock gets closer and closer to 11:30 PM. Wardrobes are being assembled, sets put together, and everyone—from NBC executives to viewers at home—anxiously awaits the start of what's supposed to be "a whole new dimension for TV." In just a few minutes, NBC's Saturday Night will be broadcast live across America, and change television forever. Today, guest host Dave Holmes interviews author James Andrew Miller

October 9, 1944. In California, 50 U.S. sailors are on trial for the Navy’s most serious crime, mutiny. It’s a rarely used charge, yet these 50 sailors—all of whom are Black—face the death penalty if convicted. But today, their chances of a fair trial get a little better. Thurgood Marshall enters the courtroom. He is the lead attorney for the NAACP, and believes that this trial is a direct result of ongoing segregation and racism in the U.S. military. Knowing the odds are against him, Marshall will do everything he can

October 5, 1871. In what some call the wildest town in the Wild West, bad blood has been building for a long time. Wild Bill Hickok, the sheriff of Abilene, Kansas, is facing down Phil Coe, a saloon owner with a history of antagonizing the law. Then, the guns come out. This kind of shootout isn’t uncommon in the Old West, but it’s a lot more complicated than good guys versus bad guys. And to understand it on a deeper level, you just have to play a video game. Red Dead