Stuff You Missed in History Class

Jerry, a Sears scholar and history teacher, joins Holly in the studio to talk about the historical significance of the building where HowStuffWorks is headquartered, as well as the company that built it.

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After a bombing attack on his home, Attorney General Palmer launched a series of raids on perceived threats to national security. Thousands of people were rounded up, many without cause or warrant, and kept in horrifying conditions.

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After WWI, there was a great deal of social unrest in the United States. Additionally, there was a fear that Communist revolutionaries would try to take over the country. Adding fuel to the fear were two bomb plots in 1919.

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Wallace was one of the most prominent voices against the Civil Rights Movement and its objectives. He spent multiple campaigns for both governor and president on an explicitly pro-segregation platform.

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Author and illustrator Jason Porath joins Tracy and Holly in the studio to talk about women from history featured in his new book, including the Mancini sisters, Sayyida al-Hurra, Tomyris and Noor Inayat Khan.

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In 1862, murder led to war between the Dakota and the United States. What followed was a campaign of retribution against multiple indigenous peoples, many who had nothing to do with the prior conflict, ranging from Minnesota into Dakota Territory.

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People are often surprised to learn that the namesake for the James Webb Space Telescope wasn't a scientist or engineer, but a lawyer and a bureaucrat. He was NASA's second administrator, and led the agency through incredibly difficult times.

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The riot at Attica Correctional Facility in September 1971, demanding better living conditions and basic human rights, remains a significant moment in the history of the U.S. prison system. But many of the problems that catalyzed it persist.

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Attica Correctional Facility originally opened in rural, upstate New York in 1931. In 1971, conditions at the prison were at a point where they were humiliating, dehumanizing and counterproductive to rehabilitation.

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Establishing a submarine telegraph cable to connect North America and Europe took ingenuity, but more than anything else, it required tenacity. There were numerous stumbling blocks before there was finally a direct connection across the Atlantic.

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