History Analyzed

Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 until he died in 1953. He was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people; tortured additional millions; annihilated cities and entire countries; and caused suffering that lasted for a half century after he died. Most of his victims were from his own country. But he also spread misery and fear around the world.

On April 19, 1995, an enormous bomb in a rental truck was parked outside of a Federal office building in Oklahoma City. At 9:02 AM, the homemade bomb exploded. It literally destroyed the front third of that building and killed 168 people (19 were children). The terrorists were 2 U.S. Army veterans. Find out why they did it and how they were caught - along with an explanation of the militia movement of the 1990s. 

A succession of terrible American presidents in the 1850s, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan, did so much to provoke the U.S. Civil War. Their disastrous policies exacerbated the sin of slavery to lead to the greatest catastrophe in American history.

This episode is a synopsis of the war in the European Theater of Operations. World War II was the biggest catastrophe in the history of the world. Between 1937 and 1945 an estimated 60 to 75 million people were killed. Enormous areas were destroyed. For those who know about certain events, this episode explains how the overall war in Europe occurred.

Amelia Earhart was the most famous female pilot in history. She was breaking the glass ceiling decades before anybody had coined that term. In the 1920s and 1930s she was setting records - not just for women, but for everybody. In 1937, she and her navigator Fred Noonan tried to circumnavigate the Earth. After making it most of the way around the world, on July 2, 1937, they disappeared someplace in the Pacific Ocean. Find out what most likely happened.

Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence; he was a driving force in America's religious freedoms and the separation of church and state; and he doubled the size of the U.S. with the Louisiana Purchase. He also owned approximately 600 people in his lifetime. This episode explores his great achievements, as well as the failings in his personal life, particularly regarding slavery.

Instead of a regular History Analyzed episode, we are doing a crossover with another podcast: History Daily. Every weekday, History Daily presents a "this day in history"; meaning they explore a momentous event that happened on that date. This episode covers one of the greatest speeches by any American: the Gettysburg Address. You can find History Daily on all podcast apps or simply go to historydaily.com. Or click here: https://www.historydaily.com/ 

Because of the Electoral College, individual Americans do not directly vote for their president. This episode explores: what is the Electoral College; why slavery was the main reason for this system; some bizarre and undemocratic election results; an analysis of whether the Electoral College is a fair system; and the structure of the Federal government.

On May 6, 1937, the hydrogen filled zeppelin known as the Hindenburg exploded as it was landing in New Jersey. Surprisingly, 62 of the 97 people on board survived. Experts still argue as to what caused an airship the size of the Titanic to be destroyed in approximately 34 seconds.

For a few months in 1898, the United States was at war with Spain. This essentially marked the end of the Spanish Empire and the beginning of the U.S. as a world power. As a result of this brief war, Theodore Roosevelt became president, Cuba became an independent country, Puerto Rico and Guam became American territories, and the U.S. occupied the Philippines for 48 years. That occupation led to the much longer Philippine-American War (1899-1902).