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The Most Expensive American War is...
Most people say World War II is the most expensive war in American history — $4.5 trillion in today's money. But that's only direct military spending…
1 week, 3 days ago
Eight Days that Ended the Gilded Age
On September 6th, 1901, President McKinley was shot twice at a World's Fair in Buffalo. His first instinct was to protect his attacker and spare his …
1 week, 4 days ago
Poland: What Does it Take For a Nation to Survive, w/ Norman Davies
What does it take for a nation to survive after the state is gone?
For 123 years, from 1795 to 1918, Poland did not exist on the map. It had been par…
1 week, 5 days ago
The Search for the Last Rebel Yell
The rebel yell — the Confederate battle cry that terrified Union soldiers across four years of war — was never recorded during the Civil War. The pho…
1 week, 6 days ago
From Burnsides to Sideburns
Every time you use the word sideburns, you're accidentally commemorating one of the worst generals of the Civil War. Ambrose Burnside told Lincoln tw…
2 weeks ago
Thucydides Invents History
In 424 BCE, an Athenian general arrived too late to save a city from a Spartan attack. Athens exiled him for it. In that exile, he invented something…
2 weeks, 1 day ago
Why did Hitler Declare War on America?
On December 11th, 1941 — just four days after Pearl Harbor — Adolf Hitler stood before the Reichstag and declared war on the United States. He wasn't…
2 weeks, 2 days ago
The Dreyfus Affair
In 1894, French Army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason and sentenced to imprisonment on Devil's Island.
Dreyfus was Jewish. The evidenc…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
The Nixon v. Khrushchev Kitchen Debate
In July 1959, Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev stood inside a model American kitchen in Moscow and started arguing.
The subject? Washing machines,…
2 weeks, 4 days ago
The Rise of American Air Power in WWII, w/ A.J. Baime
Bestselling author A.J. Baime joins History Shorts for a full conversation about his upcoming book, Bird Men: The Rise of American Airpower and the M…
2 weeks, 5 days ago