History Shorts

Following Ulysses S. Grant's dismal presidency and failed investments in later life, the former president fought against death itself to ensure his wife was financially taken care of after he was gone - the help to make that possible came from the most unlikely place, the renowned American novelist, Mark Twain. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Did you know that apart from their sophisticated cities, monumental architecture, and complex social systems, the Mayan civilization was also known for believing in the realm of the dead, accessible through a cave in modern-day Belize? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President LBJ took a deep breath, looked up, and spoke very slowly: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president." The road to the tumultuous National Democratic Convention had begun. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1860, posters went up in Sacramento: Wanted: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over 18, Must be expert riders… orphans preferred. Pony Express was about to become a reality - or was it just a fad? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you ever wonder what happened to John Smith, Pocahontas, and her true love, John Rolfe, after the events often presented in history and popular culture? I'll give you a hint—it does not really end all that well. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James C. Nelson has written five books about the American experience in World War I. His newest release, The York Patrol: The Real Story of Alvin York, has been called one of the most realistic depictions of a man most Americans recognize only from the silver screen. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not many maritime mysteries are equal to the mystery of Mary Celeste, an American merchant brigantine who was discovered adrift and abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean in December 1872. Was it piracy, mutiny, weather… or perhaps a curse? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that if it had not been for one woman's courage to throw herself against a crazed would-be assassin during a rally in 1933, none of the feats that made Franklin D. Roosevelt great would have ever happened? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that another 13th Amendment was proposed in 1861, striving to forever protect the very institution that the 1865 Amendment abolished? In retrospect, the vote was too close for comfort.  https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that in 1921, when Lenin's socialist order and plans for a world-scale communist revolution seemed to be coming apart in Russia, the so-called father of Soviet communism retreated from the very ideology he so desperately tried to impose on his people? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most recent shocking events out of Pennsylvania point to another example of how history is often circular and not linear. And while everyone undoubtedly remembers learning in history class of the terrible and history-changing presidential assassinations, the failed attempt on former President Donald J. Trump's life is not the only time in American history that an assailant has failed to take the l...

Some might be familiar with the story of how the man from Scotland invented the telephone. Still, the story of Bell shortly after that behaving quite strangely for a man who had just invented a revolutionary new technology worth millions of dollars is often lost to history. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

British author and historian Andrew Pettegree is a distinguished professor at the University of St. Andrews and an expert on the history of books and media. His extensive body of work includes titles such as "The Invention of News" and his most recent "The Book at War: How Reading Shaped Conflict and Conflict Shaped Reading," https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad...

We have heard someone say, "This is a free country, and I have the freedom of speech." But did you know that the concept and practice of freedom of speech underwent significant changes in the United States history in 1917, and you may be stuck referring to its outdated meaning? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tower of London has a long and storied history as a site of imprisonment, torture, and execution, dating back over a thousand years. But did you know that the last person to be executed in the Tower was a German spy, not during the medieval time but as recently as August 14, 1941? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many rulers in history stand out for their cruelty, violence, and the profound impact their actions had on their subjects and the world at large. But did you know that history's deadliest monarch, King Leopold II, does not belong to antiquity but to early modern times? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

William the Conqueror is perhaps best known for defeating King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. But did you know that after a freak horse accident, he then suffered a slow and painful death that culminated in one of history's most disastrous royal funerals? https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever wondered what happened to the famed Olympic athlete Jesse Owens after the 1936 Berlin Olympics, in which he won four gold medals? Look no more. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kate Andersen Brower is renowned for her best-selling books that give us an unprecedented look into the lives of the people living in and around the White House. Her works, including The Residence , First Women , and Team of Five , provide a rich, intimate portrait of the American presidency and those who support it from behind the scenes. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more...

There was once a time before Clinton and Trump when the tabloids refused to carry stories of the American President's sex scandals, yet that certainly does not mean that there weren't any. Let us revisit some of the lesser-known ones in history. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 1924 murder mystery surrounding the death of Thomas H. Ince, Tinseltown's most prominent and known movie producer of the time, on William Randolph Hearst's yacht, the Oneida, is one of Hollywood's most enduring and intriguing scandals. Here is what might have happened. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that the history of milk is one of controversy, propaganda, and even death? It was even once referred to as "liquid poison."  https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mr. Martin Dugard is the historian and author of the upcoming Taking London and the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Killing series. His books on history have sold more than 19 million copies, making him one of the best-selling historians of his time. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There have been many made-up stories about Columbus over the years, and recent reexaminations of the man's less savory actions have definitely led to a significant diminishing of his legacy. But did you ever think about what happened to Columbus after he made his discovery? Well, you came to the right place. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Harold Holzer is a prominent American historian, author, and lecturer whose work has significantly impacted the understanding of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War in academic circles and the general public. In 2008, President George W. Bush presented him with the National Humanities Medal for his contributions to the field of history and American culture. https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPod...