History Loves Company

By the 1950s, the law known as separate but equal had become second-nature to Southern Blacks. Having originated in the aftermath of the American Civil War, it was proposed by Southern Democrats to maintain continued oppression over the newly-emancipated African Americans. Though there was some opposition in the near-century that followed, it wasn't until 1955 that the fight against it finally gai...

African Americans have fought in all of America's major conflicts since the inception. By the outbreak of World War Two, they'd more than proven themselves as skilled fighters, though they faced a new challenge. The racist misconception that Blacks were incapable of flying or learning how to operate aircraft led them to enlist in President Franklin Roosevelt's civilian flight program, which he exp...

African American literature as we know it came about just prior to, during and after the American Civil War, but did you know that, a century before, a Black woman became the first international literary sensation? Phillis Wheatley was a slave who was given the rare opportunity of receiving an education from her owners. She soon displayed amazing prowess as a wordsmith and became a household name...

The practice of slavery in the United States was as old as the country itself. The first African slaves arrived in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia in 1619. Even then, there were stories of runaway or escaped slaves, but it wasn't until the late 18th Century that a concerted effort arose to lead them to safety. For about seventy years, the Underground Railroad served to help fugitive slaves seek f...

Despite its unstable beginnings, the Weimar Republic eventually took hold, ushering in a period of prosperity unlike any other in Europe at the time. The German capital of Berlin became the center of this thriving burst of creativity, rivaling Paris as the place to be for art and culture. Conditions improved immensely and it seemed that nothing could stop the growth the country was experiencing. B...

Germany in the aftermath of World War One was a rough-and-tumble place. Having lost the war and in financial dire straits, it could barely keep itself afloat. In these difficult times, political factions vied for power over the fractured state and the common people suffered a great many hardships and struggles. And yet, from the ashes of such conditions rose the Weimar Republic, the first republic...

Considered the indigenous Europeans, the Basques have called Northeastern Spain and Southwestern France home since the dawn of civilization. And yet, until recently, their origins have remained unknown. Who are these pastoral people who live along the Spanish/French border? Where did they come from? And what is their standing in Modern European society? Find out in this week's episode!

For nearly eight hundred years, much of the Iberian Peninsula (that is, Spain and Portugal) was ruled over by the Muslims. In that time, they built magnificent cities and beautiful structures that were meant to stand the tests of time. Then, by the late 15th Century, it was nothing more than a memory. Who were the Arabs who came to rule Spain? What did they accomplish in that country? And what rem...

Just five months into World War One in December 1914, fighting along the Western Front came to a stalemate when both Allied and German forces made it to the shores of the North Sea in Belgium. Then, just before Christmas, the unthinkable happened. Troops from both sides made an unofficial ceasefire in order to celebrate the holiday together. What triggered the so-named Christmas Truce of 1914 and...

The Jewish Diaspora has seen the Jewish people scattered throughout the globe, sometimes in the remotest of places, namely as a result of continued persecution. Of all the places they've settled, however, perhaps none is as unique as the city of Kaifeng in Eastern China, which is the home of a rich and vibrant Jewish community dating back over a thousand years. Who are the Jews of Kaifeng? How did...

The Battle of Thermopylae is considered to be a defining moment not just in Greek history, but in the entirety of Western Civilization. In 480 BC, the Greeks, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, fought valiantly to stop the threat of invasion by one of the largest and most powerful empires in the Ancient World: Persia. What led up to this decisive battle? What was the outcome? And how might Western so...

In the 244 years since the United States was founded, it has come to control fifty states and sixteen overseas territories. Of the fifty states, however, how many can claim the distinction of having been formerly independent nations? Perhaps the most impressive of these was Texas which, between 1836 and 1845, was its own sovereign state before ultimately being annexed by the United States. What wa...

For centuries, what was known of Nubia and the Nubians came down to us from Ancient Egyptian records and sources, leading some (including seasoned archaeologists in the early 20th Century) to assume that they had been founded and influenced by that great civilization. This, however, could not be farther from the truth. Just who were the Nubians and what was their distinct culture and society like?...

It's generally accepted among Canadians that the 16th Century French explorer, Jacques Cartier, was the first European to set foot on Canadian soil. However, nearly five hundred years before, another European, the Viking explorer, Leif Erikson, had, in fact, arrived first and even set up a community on the northernmost tip of what's now the island of Newfoundland. But was Erikson's discovery an ac...

It's long been believed that Japan is a racially homogenous country. However, what if I told you that it's home to an indigenous population that predates the arrival of the Japanese people? Since the last Ice Age, the Ainu people have called the East Asian archipelago home, only to be displaced when the ancestors of the modern Japanese came. The greatest mystery surrounding the Ainu, however, are...

Since at least the 19th Century, pirates have been both romanticized and immortalized in various forms of entertainment. However, the real, larger-than-life figures from the so-named Golden Age of Piracy were decidedly more frightening and vicious than popular culture leads on. The most fearsome of these was Edward Teach, better known by his given name, Blackbeard, who became the scourge of both t...

Dodge City has garnered the reputation of being the most violent and vicious town in the Wild West. From its humble beginnings as just another stop along the Santa Fe Trail, it quickly rose to prominence based on trade, an industry in buffalo pelts and notoriety. But was its penchant for violence even true or based on gross exaggeration? Find out in today's all-new episode!

The Mongol Empire holds the title of the largest contiguous land empire in history. At its height, it stretched from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Carpathian Mountains in the west, as far north as the Russian steppes and as far south as the arid plains of India. Perhaps most amazing, however, is that it conquered so much land in less than a hundred years. Then, within 150 years of its found...

With anywhere between seven and eight million visitors annually, the Taj Mahal is one of the most recognizable and beloved landmarks the world over. Perhaps it's the gorgeous architecture that draws people to its gates or maybe it's the love story behind its inspiration and construction that continues to captivate and win the hearts of all who visit it. Join me as we take a look at the man and wom...

Timbuktu has entered the English language as a synonym for a place as mysterious as it is remote. Located within the interior of Africa, it has garnered the reputation of being a distant backwater south of the Sahara Desert. However, at its height, it was the undisputed center of trade and knowledge in the Islamic World, thanks in great part to the university that was founded there. But when and w...

Few civilizations in the ancient world were as impressive as Rome. Beginning as a republic in 510 BC, it later became a vast empire (one of the largest in history), ruled by a great many emperors, from the beloved to the most hated. Of all the hated rulers, however, perhaps none was as loathsome as Heliogabalus...or at least, that's how history wants us to remember him. But was he really as bad as...

In 1925, renowned explorer and adventurer Percy Fawcett embarked on a journey into the Amazon rainforest...never to be seen again. What he was searching for, a lost city he called Z, people had long believed to be a myth, but was he right? Has his lost city been found at last? Find out in today's episode!

"Lizzie Borden took an axe..." So begins a disturbing nursery rhyme that has immortalized the crimes of the titular subject who, to this day, continues to intrigue and fascinate, but the question remains: What exactly happened on that hot August morning in 1892? Tune in to find out!

Throughout history, the Gypsies (or Romani, as they prefer to be called) have wandered the world in search of a home. They've faced persecution and adversity, but have nonetheless persisted, but where did they come from? Find out in this week's episode.