History Shorts
Each day, award-winning historian and author Peter Zablocki shares his research into the little-known and hidden-in-plain-sight historical curiosities you probably never heard of. All in the little time you probably do not have.
Episodes
On the evening of May 10, 1941, a solitary aircraft soared across the North Sea, its engine roaring as it made its way toward the British Isles. The pilot, dressed in a Luftwaffe uniform, was Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s long-time confidant and the Deputy Führer of Nazi Germany. His destination: Scotland. His mission: a secret peace negotiation with Britain—or so he claimed.
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Henry “Box” Brown, an enslaved man in Richmond, Virginia, often prayed to God about escaping. Finally, according to his own narrative written much later, instructions came from up above to “go and get a box and put yourself in it.” And Brown did just that.
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It was Benjamin Franklin’s illegitimate son, twenty-one-year-old William, who had helped with the famous kite experiment. The two were close, and the elder Franklin even used his influence to have William appointed Governor of New Jersey. But then came the Revolutionary War, and to Franklin’s dismay, his son sided with the enemy.
Peter speaks with the Director of Teaching and Learning at the American Historical Association about the organization's newest and largest-ever survey of history education in American secondary schools.
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Sometime in 1901, a reporter asked Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, if he was planning to attend a particular presidential reception. He looked at the men and replied, “No, I’m not going and they’d better not invite me, because there is a certain fatality about presidential functions when I am present.”
The Partition of India in 1947 was one of the most defining and devastating moments in modern history. It was a story of a nation torn apart at birth, a story of hope shattered by hatred, and a story of unimaginable suffering for millions of ordinary people. To understand the Partition, one must understand the centuries of history that preceded it and the decisions made in the final, chaotic moments of British rule that sealed the ...
At the dawn of the 20th century, as the United States emerged from its own internal struggles and territorial expansions, it began to cast a long shadow over Latin America — a region that became both a playground for American business interests and a stage for a new kind of imperialism. What unfolded over the next century was a complex story of economic exploitation, military intervention, and the creation of fragile, dependent reg...
President Warren G. Harding, the 29th POTUS, had many corruption scandals that tainted his presidency back in the 1920s. Yet, apart from the textbook-bound-forever Teapod Dome Scandal, there was one that hit closer to home for Mr. Harding. Namely, the case of one of his reported 7 mistresses, a nineteen-year-old who gave birth to his illegitimate daughter.
The Intelligence Quotient, or IQ, arose from a convergence of scientific curiosity, educational reform, and darker impulses of the 20th century. Its history is equal parts ambition, innovation, and controversy—an evolving tale of how society has tried to quantify the unquantifiable.
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Members of the House of David religious community did not know when Jesus Christ would return to Earth, but they were certain that it would happen in Benton Harbor, Michigan. So, they built a settlement and waited for Christ’s return - all while playing baseball... yep.
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Peter and Steve speak about his career, time with the History Channel, and his newest release, Presidents at War: How World War II Shaped a Generation of Presidents, from Eisenhower to JFK through Reagan and Bush.
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There were hundreds, no, thousands, of typhoid carriers in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Yet, only one of them was labeled a menace to society and banished to an island for life - that is, until Mary Mallon.
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When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, a spirited group of volunteers from diverse walks of life banded together to form one of the most legendary fighting forces in American history—the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, better known as the Rough Riders. Their leader, none other than the future President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.
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In what seems like a tale straight out of a historical thriller, there was once a real and sinister plan to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln, one of America's most revered presidents. The plot, which unfolded in 1876, eleven years after Lincoln's assassination, was a bizarre scheme involving counterfeiters, a criminal gang, and an undercover Secret Service agent. To this day, it remains one of the strangest episodes i...
In January 1872, one of the most extravagant diplomatic and cultural exchanges of the 19th century took place on the vast plains of Nebraska: Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Tsar Alexander II, embarked on a grand American buffalo hunt. The event was as much about diplomacy as it was about spectacle—a unique blending of Russian aristocracy, American military might, and Native American traditions.
The Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 (50 years ago this month) marked a dramatic and chaotic end to the Vietnam War, culminating in the capture of South Vietnam's capital by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the hurried evacuation of American personnel and South Vietnamese allies.
The Iran-Contra Affair remains one of the most complex and controversial political scandals in American history. Involving secret arms deals, covert operations, and a direct violation of U.S. laws, the scandal not only tainted the Reagan presidency but also raised fundamental questions about the limits of executive power and accountability in a democratic society.
Join Peter for a conversation with Professor James M. McPherson, one of America's most celebrated historians of all time.
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The bombing of Guernica on April 26, 1937, stands as one of the most devastating and symbolically powerful events of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The event was also famously immortalized in Pablo Picasso’s iconic painting, Guernica - a symbol of the horrors of modern warfare and the suffering of innocent civilians.
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