Episodes

May 8, 1886. American pharmacist John S. Pemberton sells the first glass of his new cure-all tonic, known as Coca Cola.

On today’s Saturday Matinee, a Short History Of the Crown Jewels, being used today in the coronation of King Charles III. Link to Short History Of…: https://podfollow.com/short-history-of/view Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

May 5, 1862. Following the French invasion of Mexico, Mexican soldiers succeed in defending the town of Puebla, sealing a victory that will be commemorated by the national holiday, Cinco de Mayo.

May 4, 1904. Automotive pioneers Charles Rolls and Henry Royce meet in Manchester, England and decide to go into business, forming Rolls-Royce.

May 3, 1979. After climbing through the ranks of the Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s first ever female Prime Minister.

May 2, 1963. Amid struggles over segregation in the southern United States, all eyes turn to Birmingham, Alabama where an unlikely group of foot soldiers joins the fight against racial discrimination: children.

May 1, 1941. Orson Welles’s revolutionary debut “Citizen Kane” premieres in New York after a bitter battle to suppress the film.

On today's Saturday Matinee, come on a trip with us to Nepal to explore the complicated story behind the most mystical and mythologized strains of marijuana, Purple Haze. Link to Underworld:  https://podfollow.com/1529370760 Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

April 28, 1967. At the height of his boxing career, Muhammad Ali refuses induction into the US army, a choice that will turn the renowned athlete into one of the decade’s most prominent antiwar activists.

April 27, 1993. An airplane carrying the Zambian national soccer team crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all thirty people on board.

April 26, 1986. A safety test goes wrong at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, causing the worst nuclear disaster in history.

April 25, 1983. After writing a letter to the Soviets during the Cold War, US schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union — a diplomatic feat that earns the ten-year-old the moniker of “America’s Youngest Ambassador.”

April 24, 1915. Leaders of the Armenian community in Constantinople are arrested by Ottoman authorities, marking the start of the Armenian Genocide.

On today’s Saturday Matinee: Marilyn Monroe’s place in history is likely fixed in part due to the mystery of her death. What really happened? Accident? Suicide? Murder? Link to History Uncovered: https://podfollow.com/1485610570 Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

April 21, 1918. Manfred von Richthofen, the World War One fighter pilot better known as the Red Baron, is shot down and killed.

April 20, 1862. French biologist Louis Pasteur invents a process of heating a liquid to kill potentially harmful bacteria and names it after himself: pasteurization.

April 19, 1989. When a female jogger is brutally attacked in New York’s Central Park, five Black and Hispanic youths are wrongfully convicted and sentenced to several years in prison, despite a complete lack of DNA evidence.

April 18, 1906. San Francisco begins a rapid rebuild after an earthquake and fire destroys over 80% of the city’s buildings.

April 17, 1975. Cambodia falls to the Khmer Rouge after the radical communist insurgency captures the nation’s capital.

On today’s Saturday Matinee, pack your bags and get ready for international adventure: we’re traveling to the East with the History of China Podcast. Link to The History of China: https://podfollow.com/741606139 Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

April 14, 1865. At Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C., the actor, John Wilkes Booth, assassinates U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

April 13, 1970. An oxygen tank explodes on Apollo 13 leaving the spacecraft crippled, and the lives of the crew in peril.

April 11, 1951. Four months after it was stolen by Scottish nationalists from Westminster Abbey, the Stone of Destiny — used in the coronation of British monarchs for centuries — is found in the ruins of Scotland’s Arbroath Abbey.