History Analyzed

A lot of elements contributed into winning World War II: Britain refusing to make peace with Nazi Germany after the fall of France along with the Chinese and Soviets willingness to suffer millions of deaths. But World War II was a war between the factories; whichever side could produce the most military equipment would win. The deciding factor in World War II was the fantastic industrial output of...

Polio was one of the scourges of the 20th century. And it mainly struck children. All of a sudden a person contracted polio and suffered terribly for several days; sometimes they recovered, sometimes they died, and sometimes they were left permanently disabled. The most famous polio victim of all time, Franklin Roosevelt, hid his disability from the public. But this story has a true hero: Jonas Sa...

Wars are never solely military questions. They always involve politics and the will of the people. This episode outlines America's war in Vietnam and explains why the U.S. lost, including the limitations imposed by the American public and the realities of the Cold War. 

The story of the Vietnam War usually starts with President John Kennedy being assassinated and new President Lyndon Johnson getting the U.S. into a long, unwinnable war from 1964 through 1973. This episode explores what happened before that war: the collapse of the French colony of Indochina, why Vietnam was split into 2 countries of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, why the communists tried to tak...

The Vikings are history's best example of an irresistible force. They were raiders from Scandinavia that pillaged and slaughtered across much of Europe. They founded Iceland, lived in Greenland, and were the first Europeans in North America. They changed Britain and most of mainland Europe. Find out what made them so formidable and how they reshaped the western world.

In the 1950s, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy led a hunt for Communists in the American government. His brand of persecution based on lies, rumors, and innuendos ruined many lives but did not send a single subversive to jail. He set the standard for politicians who wish to be bullies and demagogues. 

In the year 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii. We have an eyewitness account describing the horrors of an event which certainly seemed like the end of the world. The volcanic ash preserved the city for centuries. Now most of Pompeii has been excavated and we can see how the ancient Romans lived. 

There are many reasons why the Union won the American Civil War: the brilliance of Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman as generals, the much larger population in the free states, and the industrial capacity of the North. But the number 1 reason the Union won was Abraham Lincoln. His governing style, his fantastic temperament, and his political genius tipped the balance.

On December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. What appeared to be a stunning success actually spelled the end of Japan's dreams of empire and led to the defeat of the Axis Powers in World War II.

In 1846, a wagon train which became known as the Donner Party was headed to California. They became trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and resorted to eating those who died. Out of 87 people only 46 survived.

On August 2, 1943, a Japanese destroyer rammed and cut in half an American PT boat captained by a young John F. Kennedy. Due to the determination of JFK, the bravery of his crew, the assistance of some Solomon Islands natives, and some good luck, most of the PT-109 crew survived. 

In 1519 Magellan set sail with five ships to find a southwest passage — a strait through South America. Three years later, only one ship returned to Spain with just 18 of the original 240 men. They had sailed around the entire earth. The voyage was eventful  with mutinies, scurvy, battles, and many discoveries.

The 18th Amendment, which banned the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol within the U.S., might be the best example of unintended consequences. Prohibition helped start women's liberation, propelled the Jazz Age, and essentially created Organized Crime in the U.S. 

Most people only know one thing about Hannibal — that he brought elephants over the Alps to attack Rome. But there is so much more to the story. Carthage and Rome fought three wars over a period of 118 years to determine who would become the dominant people in the Mediterranean. Hannibal's loss led directly to the Romans being the ones to shape Western civilization and the modern world.

Most people know that Watergate was the biggest scandal in American history but few know many details. Listen to what actually occurred at the Watergate complex, how it was only part of a much broader campaign of corruption, and why Richard Nixon became the only U.S. president to resign from office. 

On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot the heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Hear how this assassination sparked World War I, ended four empires, created many new countries, and led to World War II.

Hear how famous lawman Wyatt Earp and his best friend Doc Holliday became legends of the Wild West and inspired many of the cliches and movies you know today. 

For 28 years the Berlin Wall stood as a testament to the cruelties and failures of communism. While Berlin became the epicenter of the Cold War, West Berlin became an island of freedom behind the Iron Curtain. Hear why Germany was divided into two separate countries and how it finally reunited. 

What would it be like to witness the end of the world? Europeans in the 1340s reasonably believed they were seeing the apocalypse. In only 4 years, the Black Death killed approximately half the population. Find out what caused this plague, and what people did to try to survive.

Everybody is familiar with the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, the Hollywood sign, the Gateway Arch, and the Space Needle. But do you know the stories behind these landmarks and how they tie into the histories of their cities?

Find out why the Olympics Games were hosted by the world's worst regime. Hear how track and field star Jesse Owens won multiple gold medals, destroying the Nazi theories of racial superiority and humiliating Adolf Hitler in the process.

Starting in 1848, hundreds of thousands of people made the treacherous journey to California seeking easy riches. Hear how the Gold Rush not only created the state of California, but also changed the U.S. in unforeseen ways and even contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.

In 1519 Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes landed in what is now Mexico with less than 600 men and conquered an empire with millions of people in two years. Hear about the Aztec's sophisticated city of Tenochtitlan, their religion based upon human sacrifice, and explore the fate of their civilization and Emperor Montezuma. 

This episode explores the arguments for and against the use of the atomic bombs on Japan. Part 1 explains why and how the atomic bomb was created as well as how it was utilized on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

This episode explains why and how the atomic bomb was created as well as how it was utilized on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Part 2 explores the arguments for and against the use of the atomic bombs on Japan.