November 23, 1936 was a good day for recorded music. Two men, an ocean apart, sat before a microphone and began to play. One, Pablo Casals, was a cello prodigy who had performed for the Queen of Spain. The other, Robert Johnson, played guitar and was a re

Conspiracy theories are nothing new in American society. Back in the 1960s, an organization built a movement around them.

The story of a woman who was part of one of the largest migrations in American history.

In the spring of 1981, the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings met for a minor league baseball game of little importance. But over the course of 33 innings 8 hours and 25 minutes the game made history. It was the longest professional basebal

Ever since Texas became a state, the Rio Grande has been the border between the U.S. and Mexico. But rivers can move and that's exactly what happened in 1864, when torrential rains caused it to jump its banks and go south. Suddenly the border was a diff

This week we're featuring a story we loved from the StoryCorps podcast.In 1964, a 12-year-old paperboy from suburban Long Island spent nearly two weeks hiding among the gleaming attractions of the New York World's Fair. His adventure caused a media sensa

A special, hour-long episode featuring four stories from our series The Unmarked Graveyard.

When it comes to the space race, we all know names like Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin. But in most moments in history, there are a few names that fall through the cracks. One of those names was Ed Dwight.When Ed was selected to train to become an astron

Humanity isn't great at eradicating diseases. But there is one disease that humanity has managed to eradicate: smallpox.Smallpox was around for more than 3,000 years and killed at least 300 million people in the 20th century. Then, by 1980, it was gone.Ra

Most beauty pageants promote the fantasy of the ideal woman. But for 35 years, one contest in New York City celebrated the everyday working girl: Miss Subways.Each month starting in May 1941, a young woman was elected Miss Subways, and her face gazed d