Not Your Century

As the Union nears victory in the Civil War, a constitutional amendment that would ban slavery wins a close vote. All that's needed now is ratification by three-quarters of the states. But do states at war with the U.S. count?

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An 8-part miniseries about slavery told from the point of view of the slaves? ABC acted like it was afraid its adaptation of Alex Haley's novel was going to flop. It became the biggest hit in TV history. 

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After a circus of a trial, the leader of a murderous "family" and three female followers are guilty on all charges in the Tate-Labianca Murders, which claimed the lives of Sharon Tate and six others.

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When Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi of the Imperial Japanese Army is captured on Guam, the first thing he asks is whether FDR has died yet. Well, yes, 27 years earlier, just before the end of World War II.

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Britain mourns its longest-reigning monarch, who dies after nearly 64 years on the throne. Her screw-up, playboy son Bertie is about to be crowned King Edward VII — and all he'll do is save the monarchy. | Related: Edward VII Dies

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It's one of the most dramatic capers in San Francisco history, and San Francisco has no idea it's going on. The media agrees to clam up so the bad guys won't know the cops are on the case. Related: Patty Hearst

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Teenage founders Charles and Michael de Young have big ambitions for the daily theater program and newspaper they've founded with $20 borrowed from their landlord. In the first edition, they're already itching for a fight.

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Nothing so sweet — and so ridiculous-sounding — has ever been so deadly. A storage tank bursts, sending a 15-foot wave of the sticky stuff through the streets of the North End at 35 mph, killing 21. 

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When he died, the old Wild West lawman wasn't yet the legend of "Tombstone" or "Gunfight at the OK Corral." He was a guy who'd fixed a famous boxing match in San Francisco. The mythmaking kicked in later.

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It's a strike that will transform Texas and pave the way for the industrial and transportation revolutions of the 20th century. Four million gallons a day shoot 200 feet into the air for nine days, and the oil industry is born.

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