History Analyzed

On April 19, 1995, an enormous bomb in a rental truck was parked outside of a Federal office building in Oklahoma City. At 9:02 AM, the homemade bomb exploded. It literally destroyed the front third of that building and killed 168 people (19 were children). The terrorists were 2 U.S. Army veterans. Find out why they did it and how they were caught - along with an explanation of the militia movement of the 1990s. 

A succession of terrible American presidents in the 1850s, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan, did so much to provoke the U.S. Civil War. Their disastrous policies exacerbated the sin of slavery to lead to the greatest catastrophe in American history.

This episode is a synopsis of the war in the European Theater of Operations. World War II was the biggest catastrophe in the history of the world. Between 1937 and 1945 an estimated 60 to 75 million people were killed. Enormous areas were destroyed. For those who know about certain events, this episode explains how the overall war in Europe occurred.

Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence; he was a driving force in America's religious freedoms and the separation of church and state; and he doubled the size of the U.S. with the Louisiana Purchase. He also owned approximately 600 people in his lifetime. This episode explores his great achievements, as well as the failings in his personal life, particularly regarding slavery.

Because of the Electoral College, individual Americans do not directly vote for their president. This episode explores: what is the Electoral College; why slavery was the main reason for this system; some bizarre and undemocratic election results; an analysis of whether the Electoral College is a fair system; and the structure of the Federal government.

On May 6, 1937, the hydrogen filled zeppelin known as the Hindenburg exploded as it was landing in New Jersey. Surprisingly, 62 of the 97 people on board survived. Experts still argue as to what caused an airship the size of the Titanic to be destroyed in approximately 34 seconds.

On November 24, 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper (later known as D.B. Cooper) boarded a Northwest Orient flight from Portland to Seattle. He told the flight attendant that he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 in cash and 4 parachutes. His demands were met. Over a dense forest in a rainstorm, he parachuted out of the plane with the money, was never seen again, and became a legend. 

Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press. The mass production of books and other printed texts revolutionized the world. Gutenberg created a transformation in knowledge acquisition and communication. This kicked off the first information age. The printing press had a bigger effect on the world than the computer or the internet.

For 13 days in October 1962 the world was at the closest point in history to a nuclear war. A confrontation between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. over nuclear missiles in Cuba brought humankind to the abyss and the unthinkable: World War III.

Just about everybody knows the story. A supposedly unsinkable ship hit an iceberg and sank, proving the folly of humans. But there are many facts which are not widely known as well as prevalent myths which need to be debunked. Learn what really happened, what caused the disaster, and who were the heroes and who were the villains. 

After the Civil War, it took a century of protests, boycotts, demonstrations, and legal challenges to end the Jim Crow system of segregation and legal discrimination. Learn about the brave men, women, and children that risked their personal safety, and sometimes their lives, in the quest for Black Americans to achieve equal rights.

Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 and doubled the size of the United States. This set America on its expansion, known as Manifest Destiny, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This episode explores the history of colonization of North America, how the U.S. expanded, why Napoleon sold Louisiana, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and what would have happened if the Louisiana Purchase did not occur.