History

From shutdown threats to debt ceiling showdowns, Washington has made high-stakes budget fights a familiar part of politics. David Thomson traces that pattern back to the 1840s, and explains what it can teach us about today’s budget battles.

Few people know the real story of "The Star-Spangled Banner," the flag that inspired the lyrics of the national anthem.

Two hundred fifty years ago this year, the United States was born. It was written into existence with the Declaration of Independence. A new work by journalist Walter Isaacson focuses on the power of one specific sentence in that historic document and how it shaped a new nation. WSHU’s Culture Critic Joan Baum read it and has this review.

A thrift store in Canada was selling a collection of antique rings and medallions for about 20 US dollars when it learned the jewelry was from ancient times.

Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton's crew famously survived after the Endurance became stuck in ice in 1915. A researcher says the ship was ill-equipped for the voyage and Shackleton was aware.

It took 10 years of work to prepare a Viking longship for a trip no longer than a football field. How it got to that spot goes back even further — over a millennium.

George E. Hardy was the youngest Red Tail fighter pilot at 19 years old and completed 21 missions across Europe during World War II.

WSHU's Ebong Udoma spoke with Sacred Heart University politics professor Gary Rose to discuss his new book, James Madison, Public Servant: A Biography, ahead of a Constitution Day talk on Madison’s enduring influence on American democracy.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Tracy Slater, author of "Together in Manzanar," which tells the true story of a family of mixed heritage sent to a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

Carol Moseley Braun is no stranger to stepping into new territory. She was the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate now she shares that experience a new memoir.