15-Minute History

During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on April 22, 2024.
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"In the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning, I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and started toward the west.
One can never forget the sadness and solemnity of that morning. Chief John Ross led in prayer, and when the bugle sounded and the wagons started rolling, many of the children rose to their feet and waved their little hands goodbye to their mountain homes, knowing they were leaving them forever. Many of these helpless people did not have blankets and many of them had been driven from home barefooted." - From the Journal of Private John Burnett, 2nd Regiment.
Join us as we teach you about the Trail of Tears, its root causes, and its effects.

During the Gilded Age, companies paid employees in scrip redeemable at corporate stores instead of in hard cash. Is this similar to modern job benefits like health insurance and pensions?
Join us every Thursday for new pop quizzes, and stay tuned for the start of our new season in just a few weeks!

During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on March 22, 2022.
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Samuel Colt’s name is forever linked to the company he founded and the revolver he called the “Peacemaker.” Born in Connecticut in 1814, he was steeped in America’s gun culture from an early age. His grandfather had served in George Washington’s army, and Samuel inherited an old flintlock pistol from the family hero when he was only six. At the age of fifteen, while working in his father’s textile plant, he built a galvanic cell (basically an early battery) and used it to set off explosives beneath the surface of a nearby pond during the Fourth of July. He continued to experiment with chemicals and combustion—as many young men do—and became fascinated by inventors’ work to create a firearm that could shoot more than bullets before needing to reload.
Join us as we teach you about Samuel Colt, Richard Gatling, and John Browning. In this episode, you'll learn about their work, their impact on history, and how their names are culturally relevant - beyond the brand - in our world today.

What was the Bank of the United States, and why did Andrew Jackson work so hard to destroy it?
And why is Eva Braun always referred to as Adolf Hitler's "mistress" even though he was not married?
Find out the answer to both questions on this week's pop quiz!

During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on October 4, 2021.
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The steamboat passed the port and he looked out at the brown, muddy water. The heat was failing and the humidity began to soak his clothes. Soon it would be twilight and the lighting bugs would begin to flash on the shoreline. As the boat moved downriver, he saw an old wooden raft hitched to a tree near the shore. It had a battered steering rudder, and the logs that were tied together looked so beaten he would have guessed it impossible to serve any function other than kindling. He watched the water move the raft back and forth and smiled to himself, thinking about the hands that made it and what possible experiences someone might have on a craft like that.

He turned to the north in the direction they were heading and wondered how a craft like that could get up the river without capsizing. He wondered what would have happened if he had a craft like that. It didn’t make sense now, but it would have been wonderful for his youth. He wondered how he might have used it. He wondered, and he dreamed.
Join us as we teach you about Mark Twain, his life, and his contribution to the literary world.