HISTORY This Week returns with new episodes starting September 16th! In the meantime, listen to a favorite classic from the archives.
September 11, 2001. On a clear and sunny day, Captain Richard Thornton is piloting his ferry boat back and forth between New Jersey and New York City. But when he hears an airplane flying too low to the ground, he knows somet ... Show More
Today
A Meteorite Hits Ann Hodges
November 30, 1954. At about 12:45 in the afternoon, a space rock comes plummeting through the roof of a house in Sylacauga, Alabama. It bounces off a stand-up radio, ricochets around the living room, and collides with the thigh of Mrs. Ann Hodges, who’s been napping on the couch. ... Show More
37m 23s
Nov 17
Ken Burns Reimagines the American Revolution | A Conversation with Ken Burns & Sarah Botstein
November 16, 1776. George Washington rows toward Manhattan to inspect the fort that bears his name, only to meet a full-scale British assault already underway. By afternoon, Fort Washington has fallen, and General Washington is forced to abandon New York City.
The Continental A ... Show More
38m 45s
Nov 10
The Grinnell 14 Take On the Bomb (feat. Peter Coyote)
November 16, 1961. Fourteen college students from Iowa have driven nearly a thousand miles to the White House. They’re fasting, protesting, and calling for an end to nuclear bomb testing. These students, later known as the Grinnell 14, will help ignite the student peace movement ... Show More
27m 56s
Sep 2024
Encore: USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea I Abandon Ship | 1
<p>In the final weeks of World War II, the Navy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine in the middle of the Philippine Sea. The nine hundred survivors found themselves stranded in the middle of the open ocean, many without rafts or life vests, w ... Show More
43m 54s
Dec 2024
Pearl Harbor: The Man Who Spied For Japan
<p>On 7th December, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy struck the United States. In an action which killed 2,403 Americans and destroyed 21 US warships and 188 aircraft, they also brought the US into the Second World War.</p><br><p>But it may not have been possible without the inpu ... Show More
39m 44s
Sep 2024
The Titanic | Orphans of the Deep | 3
<p>On April 16, 1912, shocked survivors of the Titanic made their way to New York aboard the rescue ship, <em>RMS Carpathia,</em> and news of the tragedy began to spread around the world. Congress and the British Board of Trade both launched investigations into maritime safety re ... Show More
36m 50s
Mar 2025
The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
<p>A little past midnight on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis, a US Navy cruiser, had just delivered the uranium that would be used in the first nuclear bomb dropped on Japan, and was returning to the Philippines when it was struck by a Japanese torpedo. The ship was badly dam ... Show More
1h 24m
Jan 2025
The Mystery of The Confederate Sub
Submarines are the silent hunters of the deep. From the large nuclear-powered boats of today’s navies, to the German U-Boats of the First and Second World Wars, these machines hidden beneath the waves can change the course of history. In the United States, the first submersible w ... Show More
35m 18s