History for Kids / History's Not Boring: The Kids History Podcast

Imagine dangling 500 feet in the air from a tiny cable... right in front of a giant stone nose! Welcome to the massive story of Mount Rushmore! In this episode, Mira and Finn travel back to 1927 to find out how four American presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln—were carved into a mountain in South Dakota. Did you know 90% of the monument was carved using actual dynamite? Boom! Learn how 400 workers blasted away 450,000 tons of rock and dangled from dizzying cliffs to smooth out faces the size of six-story buildings. Amazingly, not a single person died during the 14 years it took to build! We'll also uncover the fascinating secrets behind the monument, from a hidden room meant to hold America's most important documents, to why the mountain is deeply sacred to the Lakota Sioux people, who call it the Six Grandfathers. Grab your hard hat and get ready for an explosive adventure through history!

Have you ever wondered how deep the ocean really goes? In 1960, two explorers named Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh decided to find out! They squeezed into a tiny, freezing cold steel ball attached to a giant underwater blimp called the Trieste. Together, they sank nearly 7 miles down to the deepest, darkest place on Earth: the Mariana Trench! It took almost five hours to slowly descend through pitch-black water. The crushing weight of the ocean was so heavy that a window suddenly cracked with a terrifying BANG! But they didn't give up! When they finally touched the ocean floor, they found something completely shocking: actual living sea creatures swimming where scientists thought absolutely nothing could survive! Their incredible discovery proved the deep ocean was full of amazing mysteries and completely stopped dangerous plans to dump toxic waste down there! Believe it or not, no human returned to this extreme depth for another 52 years! Join Mira and Finn as they eat chocolate bars and sink to the very bottom of the sea!

Batter up! Have you ever wondered how baseball began? Long before superstars played in giant stadiums, people played wild stick-and-ball games where you could actually throw the ball at runners to get them out! Ouch! Join Mira and Finn as they step up to the plate to uncover the incredible history of America's national pastime. You'll travel back to 1845 when a bank clerk named Alexander Cartwright finally wrote down the official rules and created the famous baseball diamond. Discover the amazing story of the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the very first professional team that went completely undefeated (and wore bright red socks to show off!). Then, dive into the wild chaos of the first-ever World Series in 1903, where thousands of rowdy fans literally stood on the playing field during the game! From early folk games to inspiring legends like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and the heroic Jackie Robinson, find out how a simple children's game grew into a massive sport watched by 70 million fans every single year. Play ball!

Have you ever had a secret diary? Meet Anne Frank, a completely normal girl who loved playing games, chatting with friends, and collecting pictures of movie stars. But when World War 2 broke out, her life changed forever. To escape the dangerous Nazis, Anne and her family had to hide in a tiny secret apartment in Amsterdam called the "Secret Annexe"—hidden completely behind a movable wooden bookcase! Can you imagine having to whisper and walk in thick socks without ever flushing the toilet for nine whole hours every single day?

For over two years, Anne and seven others hid in total silence while brave helpers like Miep Gies secretly brought them food. During this time, Anne wrote down all her fears, dreams, and hopes in a little red-and-white checkered autograph book. Even in the darkest of times, Anne believed that people were truly good at heart. Today, her diary is one of the most famous books in the entire world, read by over 30 million people in more than 70 languages! Join Mira and Finn as we explore the incredible life, unbelievable courage, and powerful words of Anne Frank.

Grab your flashlights and step through the time door, because Mira and Finn are heading deep underground for a very special BONUS interview! In this exciting episode, we travel back to London in the year 1940 to meet one of the most famous leaders in world history: Prime Minister Winston Churchill!

Did you know that the man who helped lead Britain through its toughest times used to completely hate math? Or that as a young reporter, he once made a daring escape from a prison camp by hopping onto a moving freight train? Mr. Churchill shares his most incredible adventures with us, straight from his secret underground map room!

But it's not all serious business down in the bunker. You won't believe what this world leader wore to stay comfortable during air raids (hint: it's a giant green velvet onesie!), or the name of his favorite dinner companion—a big grey cat!

Join Mira and Finn as they learn why words are like magic, how painting helps chase away giant worries, and the most important lesson of all: to never, never, never give up! Tune in now for an unforgettable chat!

Did you know one of the most famous leaders in history used to be a terrible student who got awful grades? Meet Winston Churchill! Born in a massive 187-room mansion, Winston didn't like school much, but he absolutely loved history and action. As a young man, he traveled the world as a soldier and war reporter. He even got captured in a war zone in South Africa! How did he escape? He jumped a tall fence and traveled 300 miles across enemy lines with nothing but four slabs of chocolate in his pocket!

His biggest adventure came later. At age 65, when most people retire, Winston became the Prime Minister of Britain during World War II. When things looked completely hopeless against Adolf Hitler, Churchill used his powerful, booming speeches to give the whole country courage to fight back and win the war!

He wasn't just a tough leader, though. Winston painted over 500 landscapes, won a Nobel Prize for his amazing writing, and absolutely adored animals. His favorite was a little marmalade cat named Jock who attended top-secret government meetings! Tune in to discover the brave and brilliant life of Winston Churchill!

Imagine you have huge news to share with your best friend, but instead of sending a quick text, you have to wait four whole days for a horse messenger to deliver it! That's exactly how life was in the 1830s before a painter named Samuel Morse changed the world forever. After missing a terribly important message about his sick wife because the mail was too slow, Samuel decided there had to be a faster way to communicate. Teaming up with brilliant inventor Alfred Vail, they created the amazing electric telegraph! Instead of sending letters on slow horses, they sent pulses of electricity zooming down miles of copper wire in a fraction of a second! But how do you read electrical zaps? You invent a brilliant language of short dots and long dashes! Join Mira and Finn as they uncover the electrifying history of Morse code. We'll find out what the very first instant message said in 1844, how this invention shrank the world, and why the famous emergency signal S.O.S. doesn't actually stand for "Save Our Ship" at all! Get ready to tap into an awesome adventure from the past!

Have you ever heard the incredible story of the Sword in the Stone? Grab your armor and get ready to travel back to medieval Britain to uncover the amazing legend of King Arthur! When the Roman army left Britain unprotected in the 5th century, the people needed a superhero. Enter Arthur, a young boy who pulled a magical sword from a solid marble block to become king! But that’s just the beginning.

Join Mira and Finn as they explore the magical kingdom of Camelot! You'll meet the mysterious shape-shifting wizard Merlin, discover how Arthur got the famous glowing sword Excalibur from an arm in a swampy lake, and learn the secret of his magical invincible scabbard. Why did Arthur build a massive Round Table for 150 knights? Because giant grown warriors kept fighting over who got to sit at the head of the dinner table! We'll talk about brave knights, dragon quests, and epic battles. But here is the biggest mystery of all: did King Arthur actually exist, or was he completely made up? Grab your shield and tune in to find out if this famous king is history or magic!

Imagine walking into a store with ten dollars to buy a bicycle, and the owner says you can have the bike, the entire store, and the whole city block for just fifteen dollars! That is exactly what happened to the United States in 1803 in the greatest real estate bargain in human history: the Louisiana Purchase! Back then, America was only 27 years old and stopped right at the Mississippi River. President Thomas Jefferson was nervous because the powerful French ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte, controlled the river and the important port city of New Orleans. Jefferson sent diplomats to Paris with 10 million dollars just to buy the city. But Napoleon, desperate for cash to fund his wars and defeated by freedom fighters in Haiti, made a shocking offer. For 15 million dollars, he would sell the ENTIRE western territory! With one quick signature, the diplomats bought 828,000 square miles of land, doubling the size of the United States overnight! It cost roughly three cents an acre! Join Mira and Finn as they uncover this massive shopping trip, the crazy bank loans that made it happen, and the epic journey of explorers Lewis and Clark!

Get ready for the loudest, brightest, and most explosive birthday party on Earth! Have you ever wondered why we celebrate the Fourth of July with massive fireworks, parades, and eating millions of hot dogs? Join Mira and Finn as we travel back in time to the year 1776 to uncover the wild true story behind American Independence Day! You'll step inside a boiling hot room in Philadelphia where 56 sweaty men were battling giant, biting horseflies while trying to make the biggest decision of their lives. Discover how a single 1,320-word piece of paper called the Declaration of Independence was written to tell Great Britain's King George III that the 13 American colonies were finally free! But the drama didn't end there—learn how regular people reacted by tearing down a massive lead statue, how the first-ever celebrations featured earth-shaking 13-cannon salutes, and how fireworks originally came from an ancient Chinese tradition. From eating 150 million hot dogs to lighting up the sky with over 16,000 firework displays, find out how a hot summer day changed history forever!