Shaking America

At the height of the Cold War the US government developed a plan to launch a nuclear warhead into the moon as a show of military strength.   Named Project A119, this absurd program was spearheaded by the Air Force in 1958 and has since been declassified. 

 Abraham Lincoln is one of the most lauded presidents in American history.  But could he fight? We take an in-depth look into Honest Abe's fighting ability. 

Led by a woman named Elizabeth Peratrovich, Alaskan Natives campaigned for civil rights in 1945 -- twenty years before Martin Luthor King Jr.  

During World War II more than six thousand Alaska Natives volunteered to serve as the eyes and ears of the US military in the northern territory.  They were instrumental in defending America against a new type of weapon: Japanese balloon bombs being floated across the Pacific.

Cheng Chui Ping, known in the New York criminal underworld as Sister Ping, was a human smuggler.  She moved thousands of Chinese immigrants into America using her grocery shop as a front.

A vicious and powerful figure in organized crime, Ping controlled a multi million dollar snakehead smuggling ring, earning her the moniker “The Mother of All Snakeheads”.

Lincoln Ellsworth was a wealthy polar explorer who surveyed Antarctica by air in 1935.  He and his men attempted to map the last uncharted continent by in a single engine plane even as massive storms and brutal conditions pushed them to their limits.

During the War of 1812 the British army captured Washington, D.C. and began burning the city to the ground.  They were interrupted by an act of nature unlike anything seen before or since in the Capitol.

A massive hurricane and tornado combination hit Washington, dousing the fires and crippling the British forces.  Interpreted by the American civilians as an act of God, this powerful storm helped push the British out of the region and is remembered as one of the more unusual events in US history.

Isadore Blumenfeld, also known as Kid Cann, was an organized crime boss who operated out of Minnesota.  After the passing of Prohibition in 1920 Blumenfeld used the newly created black market to make himself a fortune in illegal liquor sales, becoming the region’s most successful bootlegger.    He was known for his flashy personality and way of dressing and for his reputation for violence.

His forty year career was one of the most successful reigns of a crime lord in America.

During World War II a select group of Japanese American soldiers were chosen for a bizarre secret military experiment.  Convinced that Japanese people had a distinctive scent, the US Army attempted to train dogs to recognize and hunt down those with Japanese blood.  To accomplish this strange mission they used new recruits as dog bait -- forcing the dogs to seek out and attack the soldiers.

The title of first European to discover the Americas is credited to Icelandic sailor Leif Erickson, but the first actual attempt by Europeans to settle the New World was led by a woman named Gudrid.

Gudrid and her husband would found an outpost and explore the continent, eventually causing a series of violent encounters with the native peoples.

She would go on to earn the title of "The Far Travelled" and would become one of the preeminent explorers of her era.