Podcast Transcript What did the first Chinese Emperor Qin, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Gengis Kahn, the Queen of Sheba, and all their contemporaries who lived when they did have in common? None of them ever ate a potato. The potato is a rather new addition to the diets of the old world, and one …
Podcast Transcript In the 7th century, the world saw the rise of one of the most important religious and political forces in history: Islam. Springing forth from the Arabian Peninsula, within a matter of years, the Islamic Caliphate had become one of the largest empires on Earth. Much of that growth was due to one …
Podcast Transcript From the very founding of the United States, there was a debate that took place amongst the representatives from the 13 states. Where should be the capital of the new country be located? A compromise was eventually reached where the states of Maryland and Virginia would donate a total of 100 square miles …
Podcast Transcript On September 6th, 1901, in Buffalo, New York, the President of the United States, William McKinley was shot twice in the torso. Seven days later, he passed away due to an infection. For the third time in only 36 years, a US president had been assassinated. Yet, few people remember this event, or …
Transcript Located on a peninsula off of Southern Spain, best known for the massive rock which dominates its landscape, Gibraltar is one of the most strategic locations in the world. It has been fought over for millennia, been the focus of many sieges, and is still the subject of diplomatic disputes in the 21st Century. …
Transcript World War II was unquestionably the greatest bloodletting in world history. Never before had so many people lost their lives in such a short period of time. Of all of the many tragedies which took place during the war, one of the largest actually took place after the war. It was the largest single …
Transcript Every year, on the last Monday in May, the United States honors its war dead. It is often celebrated with parades, cookouts, and ceremonies at military cemeteries. While many people just think of it as a three-day weekend and the beginning of summer, it is a tradition that extends back over 160 years. Learn …
Transcript Every 17 years one of the grandest spectacles in nature takes place. Billions of insects in a seemingly coordinated fashion will emerge from the ground and cover the skies and the trees. This is all part of their extremely unusual life cycle which consists of an extremely long juvenile period and very short adulthood. …
Transcript During World War II, the United States had a fleet of over 1,200 combat ships. Each of them had a unique story and service record. With so many ships, there would be many stories of heroism, stories of tragedy, and some stories of total incompetence. One ship, in particular, was so bad, it became …