The HistoryNet Podcast

This British Colonel Traveled with Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. He?d Already Had His Share of Surprises..mp3

Nobody wanted the A-10 Warthog — now It's the military's most beloved plane

The A-10 Warthog has survived repeated attempts to put it out to pasture. Now its time may finally be up.

They were sent on a suicide mission at Cedar Creek. Their victory rallied the Union.

The fierce clash proved to be a fitting coda for the resolute 8th Vermont.

They say he burned down the Reichstag. But was he drugged into confessing?

Mystery surrounds the infamous burning of the Reichstag in 1933.

Kars fortress stands as a monument to a turbulent past

For centuries Armenian residents of the Transcaucasian stronghold of Kars watched invaders come and go—until its final betrayal.

This journalist risked his life to reveal the horrors of lynching in the South

Lynching investigator Walter White risked everything to tell Americans the truth.

John Fetterman isn't the first ill politician to serve. Here are examples from history

From the Founding Fathers to the present day, illness has impacted politics.

The death of Crazy Horse: Fables and forensics

Just who killed the Lakota fighting man remains in dispute.

The Ercoupe is easy to fly — but you better not be in a hurry

It was supposed to be an airplane for the people.

These Civil War warriors fought with the pen, and not the sword

Partisan poets stoked the fire to keep the South’s combat spirit alive.

The mysterious death of Johnny Ringo

The gunman’s body was found beneath a tree, pistol in hand—but was it suicide?

Minié ball: The Civil War bullet that changed history

What's a Minié ball, and why was this type of bullet—which is actually conical—used extensively during the American Civil War?

What if the Marines had skipped Iwo Jima

What would have happened if the U.S. hadn't sent men to take this small atoll, site of that iconic photo? Would it have cost the war?

This German baroness dodged cannonballs during the American Revolution

Hessian officer's wife Frederika von Riedesel and her children were nearly shot during the battle of Saratoga.

'Weary of So Much Suffering': Letters from the Sheridan Field Hospital

Nurse Jane Boswell Moore wrote poignant letters about her interactions with the patients of this Winchester, Va., hospital.

'Medicine Flower' Brought the West East

Ethnologist Frank Cushing embraced Zuni culture right down to his Indian name.

Kidnapped during World War II, these German corpses proved a headache for the U.S. Army

Four dead Germans traveled on a wild journey, resulting in what the Monuments Men called "Operation Bodysnatch".

This Supreme Court ruling on prayer in public schools made America go nuts

On June 25, 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court declared prayer in public schools unconstitutional.

Robert E. Lee endured a precipitous reset in Maryland

Though the Lost Orders forced the Confederate commander to fight on unfavorable ground at Sharpsburg, he survived the bloody clash with his army intact.

Meet the man who sent the world's largest flying machine to its doom

Christopher Birdwood Thomson was determined to fly the R101 airship to India, whether it was ready for the trip or not.

One of this Western director's scenes looked so real that it provoked actual gunfire

In 1902, Harry Buckwalter teamed with William Selig to make short-reel Westerns.

Zap! American railroads go electric

After 70 years of steam and smoke, American rail began to plug in.

Joe Hooker was an ineffectual general, but does he deserve credit for transforming the Union cavalry?

Hooker had his shortcomings, but what he did in revitalizing his army’s cavalry corps was monumental.

Napoleon's imperial guard tells of his fight for the emperor

An infantry captain who served in Napoleon's elite troops tells of the army's quest for glory.

Sharpshooter Billy Dixon owes his legacy to his widow

Olive Dixon spent 40 years making sure Texans would always remember her heroic husband.

This German general made a deal with the devil

German General Ludwig Beck supported the Nazis—until he didn’t. He paid with his life.

WWI American pilots wanted a great fighter plane. Instead, they got the Nieuport 28

The Americans flying in World War I wanted the Spad XIII. They got the Nieuport 28 instead.

One family, 10 sieges: How Spain's Guzman family spent centuries battling for Gibraltar

The Guzman family’s quest to dominate the Rock of Gibraltar gives the phrase “family feud” a whole new meaning.

The Turkestan Incident

How two F-105 pilots and their commander got entangled in the geopolitics of the Vietnam War.

The Arikara War: avenging Americans

Entrepreneur William Ashley’s attempt to trade for Arikara horses led to a ‘beach’ battle that inflicted 30 percent casualties on his brigade and inspired an outraged Colonel Henry Leavenworth to punish the Missouri River tribe.