Episodes

December 22, 1849. Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky is saved from execution by a last-minute reprieve, an event that shapes the novelist’s greatest works.

December 21, 1968. Apollo 8, the first crewed spacecraft to successfully orbit the Moon and return to Earth, launches from the Kennedy Space Center.

December 20, 1989. President George H.W. Bush launches a US invasion of Panama to depose the country's dictator, and former CIA informant, Manuel Noriega.

December 19, 1675. During King Philip's War, colonial militias wage a devastating attack against the Narragansett tribe in Rhode Island.

On today’s Saturday Matinee, the Podcast “Based On A True Story” focuses on James Cameron’s Titanic.  How much of Jack and Rose’s story from the movie was based on real history, and how much of it was fiction? Link to Based On A True Story: https://www.basedonatruestorypodcast.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

December 16, 1905. Rugby Union’s "Match of the Century" is played between Wales and the undefeated New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.

December 15, 1890. Native American chief Sitting Bull is killed by Indian police on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota.

December 14, 1926. An 11-day nationwide search ends when crime novelist Agatha Christie is discovered living under a false identity at a hotel in Harrogate, England after disappearing from her home.

December 13th, 1643. The tide of the English Civil War turns against King Charles I at the Battle of Alton.

December 12, 1936. During the Chinese Civil War, Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek is kidnapped, sparking a political reckoning that unites the Chinese against a common enemy: Japan.

On today’s Saturday Matinee, a rivalry between two Shakespearian actors triggers a deadly riot in the streets of Manhattan. Link to Where There’s A Will: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/where-theres-a-will-finding-shakespeare See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

December 9, 1967. The Doors singer Jim Morrison is arrested in the middle of a performance in New Haven, Connecticut. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

December 8, 1953. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his famous "Atoms for Peace" speech amid the escalating nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

December 7th, 1941. The Imperial Japanese Navy launches its attack on Pearl Harbor.

December 6, 1976. After evading punishment for decades, Pieter Menten, one of the Netherlands' most notorious Nazi war criminals, is arrested in Switzerland.

December 5th, 1848: US President James K. Polk triggers the California Gold Rush by confirming discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill.

December 2, 1908: In a lavish enthronement ceremony, two-year-old Puyi becomes the Emperor of China, a title he will subsequently abdicate on three separate occasions.

December 1, 1934. Leningrad mayor Sergei Kirov is assassinated by a lone gunman, prompting Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin to purge the Communist Party of his rivals.

November 30, 1932. The infamous outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde, rob their first bank.

November 29, 1781. The crew of a British slave ship murders 54 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance, beginning the Zong massacre.

November 28, 1925. A radio station in Nashville, Tennessee launches the first live broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry, popularizing country and western music across the United States, and turning Nashville into the country music capital of the world. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On today’s Saturday Matinee, the first episode from a two-part series from the podcast Redacted History on Mary Bowser, an enslaved Black woman from Virginia who was granted her freedom. But instead of taking that freedom, she decided to fight back against slavery by becoming a spy for the Union Army. Link to Redacted History: https://pod.link/1609909822 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

November 25, 1863. During the American Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant defeats General Braxton Bragg's Confederate forces at the Battle of Missionary Ridge.

November 24, 1971. An unidentified man, known only as DB Cooper, hijacks a Boeing 727, extorts $200,000 in ransom money, and parachutes to an uncertain fate.