There have been an incredible number of wars, genocides, conquests and natural disasters that have killed a staggering number of people throughout human history. Conquests and genocides can often be accompanied by disease and starvation and number of fatalities can be difficult to ascertain. Ther...

Watch to learn the history of the Wide Awakes and find out who started them, what was their purpose, who would be a typical member, and why the torches! Thank you to the Waterloo Area Historical Society in Michigan for providing an amazing setting at twilight.

History is never as simple as the stories we're told. In this video, we talk about the process of researching history — and why finding the truth is often harder than it seems. History is written by the victors, but what happens to the stories from the losing side? Propaganda, simplified narrativ...

The story of a 'superweapon' designed to break the stalemate of siege warfare in the Crimea using all the industrial might Victorian Britain had to offer. This massive 36in mortar could fire a 2900lb shell nearly two miles - built in 1854 as a Crimean War superweapon by Robert Mallet, an Irish g...

The concept of brainwashing is often discussed, but rarely understood. Originating from the Chinese term Xinao, which literally means ‘wash brain’, the word first entered circulation in the west in the 1950s. However, to this day, few understand the origins of brainwashing, and to what purpose it...

During the Cold War, high tensions between east and west resulted in many close calls. Some of these close calls involved nuclear weapons, and given the tense atmosphere, any mistake would have likely resulted in global war.
Among all of these stories is one which stands out both for its extremel...

Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, there was a strong temptation toward communism in the West. And this persisted through the first half of the 20th Century, even as evidence grew of the huge failures within the Soviet Union and China. Despite the damning evidence from communist stat...

The French and Indian War lasted from 1754-1763. This conflict between the British colonies in North America, and the French colony in Canada changed the imperial makeup of the continent. The most obvious outcome of this war was the expulsion of France from Canada, but many events that followed c...

Learn about the heavy guns of the Civil War and the artillerymen than manned them. Civil War artillery includes everything from mortars and siege guns to rifled cannons and Columbiads. Learn about the heavy artillery, the logistics behind them, and also hear about the "red-legged infantry" regim...

Take your study of science, engineering and history to the pioneers of America’s space race. Learn from engineers who designed and built the Gemini capsule and the space systems that made it work. Hear how the Gemini program made the successes of the Apollo program possible.