American History Tellers

The new book from American History Tellers, The Hidden History of the White House: Power Struggles, Scandals, and Defining Moments, is available now from William Morrow.

Click here to order your copy!

On today’s show, host Lindsay Graham speaks with author Corey Mead about the stories behind the book, and the building that’s become synonymous with presidential power and American democracy. Later, journalist Kate Andersen Brower joins to share what she’s learned from her extensive reporting on the White House, and how it’s evolved over the years. 

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Allan Pinkerton started the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to catch robbers, counterfeiters and spies. For a time, Pinkerton detectives enjoyed their good image, carefully crafted by Pinkerton himself. But, that image tarnished as the Pinkertons increasingly took on paid work breaking up strikes for Gilded Age industrialists. Today, Lindsay is joined by S. Paul O’Hara, an Associate Professor of History at Xavier University, to discuss Allan Pinkerton’s determination to build the company brand and cultivate his own mythology. O’Hara is the author of, Inventing the Pinkertons. 

Pre-order your copy of the new American History Tellers book, The Hidden History of the White House, for behind-the-scenes stories of some of the most dramatic events in American history—set right inside the house where it happened.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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May 27, 1943: A B-24 bomber crashes in the Pacific Ocean, beginning a two year ordeal at sea and in Japanese captivity for former Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini.

You can listen ad-free in the Wondery or Amazon Music app. Or for all that and more, go to IntoHistory.com

History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

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By the late 1800s, the Pinkerton Detective Agency faced public criticism for their anti-labor practices. So the company pivoted, sending Pinkerton detectives out to do what they did best, traveling throughout the west in search of the nation’s most audacious and elusive bank-robbing desperados. 

In time, the Pinkertons also faced competition from a new Federal crime-fighting bureau, and one of their operatives would draw on his experience to write some of the most iconic detective novels in the English language.

Pre-order your copy of the new American History Tellers book, The Hidden History of the White House, for behind-the-scenes stories of some of the most dramatic events in American history—set right inside the house where it happened.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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In the mid-1870s the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s fame was growing, and founder Allan Pinkerton began to pen bestselling books that promoted his and the agency’s crime-fighting image even more. But after Pinkerton died in 1884, his sons took over and expanded the business, providing guards and watchmen to protect railroads, mines, and factories. By the early 1900s, Pinkertons had become feared labor spies and strike-busters. It wasn’t long before their brutal and deadly methods began to attract scrutiny from the press and federal regulators.

Pre-order your copy of the new American History Tellers book, The Hidden History of the White House, for behind-the-scenes stories of some of the most dramatic events in American history—set right inside the house where it happened.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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May 13th 1981: Pope John Paul II is shot in a mysterious assassination plot with potential ties to the KGB.

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History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

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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 bandits. His business grew quickly and in 1861 he was enlisted to prevent an attempted assassination of President Lincoln. 

The Pinkerton Detective Agency soon established itself as America’s most innovative and aggressive private police force, spying for the Union during the Civil War, and sending agents out to hunt the nation’s most notorious Wild West outlaws.

Pre-order your copy of the new American History Tellers book, The Hidden History of the White House, for behind-the-scenes stories of some of the most dramatic events in American history—set right inside the house where it happened.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, America scrambled to assemble boot camps across the country to train a fighting force to send to Europe. The training was fast, with recruits using old weapons, and sometimes even broomsticks as rifles. The new soldiers then embarked from Hoboken, New Jersey, on a trip across the Atlantic to bolster exhausted French and British forces. Today, Lindsay is joined by Christopher Capozzola, author and professor of history at MIT, to discuss what recruits went through as they prepared for war. His book is called Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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April 29, 1996. New musical Rent premieres on Broadway, only a few months after the death of the show’s creator.

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History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

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In the summer of 1918, the U.S. successfully led a critical offensive in northern France, finally giving the Allies the upper hand in the battle against Germany and the other Central Powers. And as the war reached its final months, President Woodrow Wilson hoped to use his 14 Point vision for peace to reshape the world in the United States’ favor. But his ambitious plan would encounter heavy opposition, from both America’s allies and Wilson's political opponents at home.

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In January 1918, after months of preparation and planning, American troops finally started to arrive in Europe in significant numbers. But the U.S. was still far from combat ready. Its economy was struggling to adapt to the demand for war supplies and the U.S. forces in Europe were still heavily reliant on British and French support. But America and the Allies were running out of time. Germany was preparing to launch an all-out assault on the Western Front in the hope of finally securing victory for the Kaiser.

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April 15, 1989: A crowd crush at a soccer game at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England leads to the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.

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History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

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In the spring of 1917 the U.S. moved closer to entering the Great War. German submarines resumed attacks against American ships, and a secret German telegram urging Mexico to wage war on the U.S. came to light, enraging the public. As he prepared to lead the nation into the conflict, President Woodrow Wilson faced daunting challenges. He would have to transform the Army, reshape the economy and crack down on internal dissent. And for German-Americans, U.S. entry into the war would leave them caught between home and heritage.

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In June 1914, a gunman assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This event set off a chain reaction that plunged Europe’s major powers, and the wider world, into all-out war. President Woodrow Wilson was determined to keep the United States out of the conflict, but when German submarine attacks put American lives at risk, the American people would become divided over how to respond to the increasing threat.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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April 1, 1997. The Hale-Bopp Comet reaches the closest point to the sun on its long loop through space, presenting a magnificent spectacle to stargazers on Earth.

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History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

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After 18 months and over two thousand miles, Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery had reached the Pacific Ocean. Now, they would have to find their way back. And in a last-ditch bid for glory, they would split up the Corps into smaller groups, hoping to map more river routes and make contact with more Native American tribes. But the plan would backfire, putting the entire expedition at risk, even as the end of their journey was finally within reach.

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In the spring of 1805, Lewis and Clark resumed their journey up the Missouri River in search of the Pacific. But to reach the ocean, they would have to cross the towering Rocky Mountains. It was a forbidding task, and one they couldn’t achieve alone. They would need the help of their young interpreter, Sacagawea, and her tribe, the Shoshone. But first, they had to locate the elusive Shoshone – and with winter fast approaching, time was running out.

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March 18, 1314. Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.

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History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

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In 1803, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began a westward journey that would transform America. Their mission was to head up the Missouri River and find a route through the uncharted west to the Pacific Ocean. The journey was full of risk. But no danger loomed larger in their minds than the Sioux – the powerful Native American confederacy of the plains. And it wouldn't be long before the two crossed paths.

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In 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped her enslaver in Maryland and freed herself. Over the next several years she took great personal risks, traveling back below the Mason-Dixon line at least a dozen times to free family and friends as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Today, Lindsay is joined by Angela Crenshaw, Director of the Maryland State Park Service, who helped lead the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park. Crenshaw shares her deep admiration for Tubman and provides insights into her life – from trapping muskrats in the swamps as a child to leading a raid behind Confederate lines during the Civil War.

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In December 1850, Harriet Tubman saved three family members from an auction block in a daring rescue in Cambridge, Maryland. It was the start of one of the most legendary careers in the annals of the Underground Railroad.

Underground activists like Tubman faced enormous danger under the newly passed Fugitive Slave Act. But they refused to accept a law they deemed unjust. In the 1850s, they brazenly defied slave hunters and federal officials, sparking a series of violent clashes.

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On the morning of April 16th, 1848, dozens of Washington, D.C. slaveowners woke up to find that their slaves were gone. The previous night, 77 enslaved men, women, and children had quietly run away and boarded a ship docked in the Potomac River.

It was the largest single escape attempt by enslaved people in American history. And it sparked riots in the streets of Washington and heated battles in government. Slaveowners and their allies in Congress grew more determined than ever to stem the tide of fugitive slaves.

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February 19, 197 CE. Septimius Severus' victory at the Battle of Lugdunum finally establishes him as the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.

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History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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In the 1830s, abolitionism became a political force to be reckoned with. In the face of harassment and mob violence, Black and white abolitionists staged rallies, published newspapers, and flooded Congress with antislavery petitions. Increasingly, they made up the rank and file of the Underground Railroad.

But pro-slavery forces emboldened kidnappers to roam the streets of northern cities, hunting for fugitive slaves and free Black people, many of them children. In New York City, Black activists fought back with a radical new self-defense organization.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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In the early 1800s, slavery rapidly expanded across the American South. But each year, thousands of courageous enslaved men, women, and children fled their owners in search of freedom. And in Philadelphia, secret allies came to their aid. Quaker abolitionists collaborated with free Black people to bring the freedom seekers to safety. 

It was the start of the Underground Railroad, a clandestine network of activists, safe houses, and escape routes that would help tens of thousands of enslaved people flee bondage in the decades before the Civil War and challenge the very roots of American slavery.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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Following the success of the Manhattan Project, the U.S. sought to develop a potentially more powerful and deadly weapon – the Hydrogen Bomb. Despite having led the team at Los Alamos, J. Robert Oppenheimer became an outspoken opponent of the H-Bomb. His stance made him enemies who sought to undermine his influence, and soon his security clearance came into question. Today Lindsay is joined by Pulitzer prize-winning biographer, Kai Bird, to examine Oppenheimer’s life, and eventual fall from grace. His book, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, was the basis for Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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In Spring of 1945, the tides of World War 2 turned. Germany surrendered to the Allies, but Japan vowed to keep fighting. To prevent further casualties, America knew they would have to demonstrate their power, and force Japan to surrender quickly. At Los Alamos, J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team raced to get ready for the first physical test of an atomic bomb. 

But as the scientists grew closer to seeing their creation in action, new questions arose about how, and if, such a powerful weapon should be used. Unleashing their creation might deliver a critical turning point in the war, but could also open the door to a dangerous and complicated new era for humanity.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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January 22, 1879. After years of displacement, the northern Cheyenne, led by Chief Morning Star, face off against the U.S. Army in an attempt to return to their ancestral lands.

You can listen ad-free in the Wondery or Amazon Music app. Or for all that and more, go to IntoHistory.com.

History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. 

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In Spring of 1943, hundreds of scientists and technicians moved to a remote location in the mountains of New Mexico to work at a secret laboratory. Under the guidance of their leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, they rushed to figure out how to channel the power of an atomic chain reaction to create a bomb. Meanwhile, secret plants in Tennessee and Washington sprung up overnight to produce the uranium and plutonium that would fuel the weapon.

But the leaders of the Manhattan Project faced another challenge: how to keep such a sprawling enterprise hidden from enemies and prevent the designs from falling into the wrong hands.

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In December 1938, a team of German physicists achieved an astonishing scientific breakthrough: they split the nucleus of a uranium atom. In the United States, news of the discovery sparked fear in the scientific community. Atomic fission could power a devastating new weapon, and Adolf Hitler’s Germany had a head start.

In response, President Roosevelt launched an unprecedented mobilization of American science and industry. The race was on to assemble the team that would design and build the first atomic bomb.

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In 1948, James Baldwin left for France, hoping to find an escape from the racism he experienced in America. But Baldwin returned to the U.S. frequently, to witness and write about the struggle of the Civil Rights movement. Today, Lindsay is joined by Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Professor of African American Studies at Princeton. When Dr. Glaude experienced his own crisis of faith in America, he turned to the works of James Baldwin to reconnect with the hope that a better America is possible, if we only reckon with its past. Dr. Glaude is the author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now.

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In 1949, aspiring writer Nelle Harper Lee moved from her home in small-town Alabama to New York City. She was following in the footsteps of her childhood friend, author Truman Capote. Within a few years she had penned a novel of her own, and called it To Kill a Mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird catapulted Harper Lee to the heights of literary fame. But just as she found success, she withdrew, overwhelmed by being in the public eye, and the pressure to produce another book as good as her first. Decades would pass before anyone mentioned the possibility of her publishing again - and this time, people wondered how much of a voice she really had in the publication of her second book.

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Born into poverty in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin rose to become a celebrated novelist, essayist, playwright, and poet, and a leading voice in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. In his debut novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and in his essay collections, Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time, Baldwin wrote eloquently and provocatively about race, religion, sexuality, politics and class. 

To distance himself from the racial hatred and discrimination at home, Baldwin spent much of his adult life in France, helping to create a vibrant community for other Black artists, such as Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Josephine Baker. But he returned to America often to provide a fearless and incisive testimony to the events that defined his tumultuous era.

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December 18, 1972. After peace talks break down, US President Richard Nixon announces the start of the “Christmas Bombing” of North 

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Growing up in the Salinas Valley of Northern California, John Steinbeck dreamed of becoming a professional writer. In his youth he took on odd jobs and worked amongst ranch hands and migrant workers, who would inspire some of his greatest work, including The Grapes of Wrath. Published in 1939, the book captured the struggles of everyday Americans during the Great Depression, and Steinbeck became famous for his empathetic portrayal of the working class.

Steinbeck would go on to become one of the most decorated authors of the 20th Century, winning the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he was plagued by marital struggles and chronic illness that threatened to cut short his writing career

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In the late 1850s, a young man named Samuel Clemens started out piloting steamboats on the Mississippi River. Within a few years, he embarked on a writing career, adopting the pen name that became famous: Mark Twain. Armed with a wry sense of humor and a natural flair for storytelling, Twain gained wide acclaim for his short stories, travel sketches, and novels.

In 1885, he published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a story of two runaways on a quest for freedom. It would become one of the most celebrated, and controversial, books in American literature. But at the height of his popularity, his risky business ventures and his critiques of American policy abroad threatened to ruin his legacy.

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December 4, 1991. After 64 years dominating the skies, a series of poor financial decisions forces Pan American Airways to shut down.

• You can listen ad-free in the Wondery or Amazon Music app. Or for all that and more, go to IntoHistory.com

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In 1840, eight-year-old Louisa May Alcott moved to the small town of Concord, Massachusetts with her family. There, she spent her days wandering through the woods, putting on plays with her sisters, and learning from famed writers and philosophers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

For years, Alcott struggled to achieve success as a writer. Then in 1868, she drew inspiration from her youth to write her beloved coming-of-age novel Little Women. ​​By exploring the aspirations and challenges faced by young women, she defied 19th century norms that sought to confine women in both life and literature.

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In February 1826, 17-year-old Edgar Allan Poe was a promising student at the University of Virginia. But within a few months, gambling debts forced him to abandon his studies. It was just one of many setbacks Poe endured in a life marked by financial struggle, alcoholism, and personal tragedy.

But Poe launched a remarkable career in writing, helping to establish American literature with a bold, new voice. From short stories including “The Fall of the House of Usher,” to the poem that made him famous, “The Raven,” he transformed the horror genre by delving into the dark recesses of the human subconscious and pushing the boundaries of fiction and verse.

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November 20, 1992. After a year of bad press for Britain's royals, Windsor castle catches fire, raising questions about the cost and future of the British monarchy.

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After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire reduced the city to rubble and ash, reporters fanned out across the burning landscape. The San Francisco Chronicle, along with several other papers,] continued to publish amidst the chaos. Today, Lindsay is joined by San Francisco Chronicle culture critic Peter Hartlaub. His office is in the paper’s archive, which he mines for stories to share in his history column called “Our SF.”

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In the wake of a devastating earthquake that rocked the city of San Francisco, thousands of people were left homeless. The military set up temporary camps in western parts of the city to house the destitute, as far as possible from the fires continuing to rage downtown. 

But chaos continued to rule. Overzealous National Guard troops on the lookout for troublemakers shot innocent people attempting to scavenge much needed food and water. Army troops rousted people trying to save their homes from the fires, determined to dynamite any building they could to halt the blazes.

By the time a soft rain extinguished the final flames, the devastation to San Francisco was immeasurable.

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Less than 24 hours after a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, fires were raging across the city. Firefighters watched helplessly as the flames devoured homes and businesses, unable to draw water from cracked cisterns and empty hydrants.

Mayor Eugene Schmitz formed an emergency committee to orchestrate relief efforts and soon issued a shoot-to-kill order to prevent widespread looting. Meanwhile, U.S. Army General Frederick Funston ordered troops to create firebreaks by dynamiting buildings in the path of the fires, desperate to prevent the reminder of the city burning to the ground.

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In the early morning hours of April 18th, 1906, residents of San Francisco were awakened by the violent shaking of a massive earthquake. People on the streets watched in horror as entire city blocks were reduced to rubble. Those who had survived the initial quake began rescue efforts, pulling people from destroyed buildings and rushing to aid the wounded and displaced.  

The earthquake also sparked fires that quickly began to spread. But as firefighters rushed to put them out, they discovered that the city’s water mains had cracked, and hydrants had run dry.

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In the midst of the public hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials, a respected Puritan woman named Rebecca Nurse was accused of using witchcraft to “afflict” girls in Salem. Despite her status as a pious church member, Nurse became one of the many innocent people to stand trial and be executed. Today, Lindsay is joined by one of Rebecca Nurse’s descendants, historian Margo Burns, to discuss the fate of her ancestor and other victims of the witch hunt.

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October 16, 1869. An American trickster masterminds the discovery of a mysterious petrified giant in upstate New York.

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By September 1692, the witch panic in Salem, Massachusetts had sent 11 women and men to the gallows. Dozens more languished in jail awaiting trial.But that fall, growing public doubt began to cast a shadow over the proceedings. Several elite Puritans raised questions about the Court’s reliance on so-called “spectral evidence” – claims that witches had sent forth their spirits to torment their victims. With the death toll climbing and the stability of the colony at stake, pressure mounted on Governor William Phips to act.

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In May 1692, William Phips, the new royal governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, sailed into Boston Harbor and was immediately faced with an unprecedented crisis. The colony was in the throes of a full-blown witchcraft panic. Dozens of accused witches had been jailed, new accusations continued to surface, and the colony was without a legal system to handle the cases.

Phips quickly established an emergency court, and in June, the Salem witch trials began. As the first suspects took the stand, controversial evidence about apparitions and visions soon played a key role in sending innocent men and women to their deaths.

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By the first week of March 1692, three Salem women had been jailed for witchcraft, and accusations continued to spread. Authorities publicly questioned people suspected of witchcraft, turning legal proceedings into dramatic spectacles. Witnesses cried out in pain, stamped their feet, and claimed to be haunted by invisible specters.

The circle of suspicion quickly widened from servants and social outcasts to respected village elders, including the prosperous farmer John Proctor, and a former minister of Salem Village, George Burroughs. Soon no one was safe from the fear and paranoia sweeping Salem.

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In January 1692, two young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts began behaving strangely. They screamed, barked like dogs, and writhed on the floor. A doctor concluded that the girls had been bewitched.

Under pressure from their elders, including Reverend Samuel Parris, the girls accused three local women of witchcraft. Soon, the bizarre symptoms began spreading throughout the small Puritan village, marking the start of the most lethal witch hunt in American history.

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