On August 6, 1890, a prisoner named William Kemmler became the first man executed in the electric chair. It was designed to be a more humane form of execution, but the gruesome scene in the death chamber that day revealed the device to be anything but.
Still, the chair stuck around. And Kemmler’s execution proved to be a pivotal moment in the history of ca ... Show More
Nov 2019
The Modern Ambulance | S22-E1
<p>Today, if you or someone you know experiences a medical emergency, you dial 9-1-1 and a squad of trained medical professionals arrives at your door. But just 55 years ago, that was not the case.</p><p>Emergency calls were generally dispatched to funeral homes simply becau ... Show More
43m 17s
Nov 2019
Kodak Roll Film: As Convenient as a Pencil | S23-E1
<p>Today, if we want to take a photo, we unlock our phone, aim, and click. It can be done on a whim, without a second thought. We document everything from new haircuts to latte art, cute cats to baby’s first smile. But prior to the 1900s, photography was the exclusive d ... Show More
35m 48s
Jan 2020
Electronic Television: The Picture Radio | S24-E1
<p>The invention of the electronic television was uniquely complicated for its time. So complicated, in fact, that the prevailing narrative is that it couldn’t have been invented by a single person -- let alone Philo Farnsworth. </p><p><br></p><p>After all, some of the most ... Show More
38m 57s
May 2018
History Through Innovation | Interview with Steven Johnson | 7
<p>The phone in your hand is more powerful than all of the computers that put a man on the moon, combined. In the age of supercomputers, driverless cars, and mail-order DNA testing it’s easy to forget that the journey to these incredible innovations was a lot of surprising moment ... Show More
40m 41s
Dec 2022
Presidential Assassinations | Murder for Spoils | 1
<p>On April 14th, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Lincoln died hours later, shocking the war-torn nation and becoming the first President to be assassinated in office. But he would not be the last.</p><p>Sixteen years l ... Show More
41m 21s
Jul 2017
Introducing Tides of History
<p>History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, said Mark Twain. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the rise of the modern world: history ebbs and flows over the centuries, driven by great tides of economic, social, political, religious, and cultural change that shap ... Show More
1m 49s
May 2024
The Pinkerton Detective Agency | "We Never Sleep" | 1
<p>In the early 1850s, Scottish immigrant Allan Pinkerton stumbled upon a counterfeiting operation while gathering wood for his barrel-making business. After helping the authorities arrest the criminals, he was inspired to form a detective agency, to chase bank robbers and train ... Show More
41m 9s