Excerpts of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I've Been to the Mountaintop' speech
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, we play excerpts from one of his acclaimed speeches.
History
Remembering Rabbi Israel Dresner, a Freedom Rider in the civil rights movement
One of the original Freedom Riders has died. Rabbi Israel Dresner was arrested and jailed multiple times for his activism. He was among those who answered Martin Luther King Jr.'s call.
How a WWII veteran's act of voting inspired a teenage Martin Luther King Jr.
In 1945, U.S. Army veteran Maceo Snipes returned home to Taylor County, Ga., where he became the first African American to cast a vote in his county's primary. A day after he voted, he was murdered.
Scientists determine age of some of the oldest human bones
Some of the oldest human remains ever unearthed are the Omo One bones found in Ethiopia. For decades, their precise age has been debated, but a new study argues they're around 233,000 years old.
The poet Maya Angelou is the first Black woman to be featured on a U.S. quarter
The Maya Angelou design is the first quarter in the "American Women Quarters Program" — a four-year program that will feature prominent women in U.S. history.
The key to Nelson Mandela's Robben Island prison cell is returning to South Africa
New York auction house Guernsey's has postponed the sale of some of the South African leader's belongings, including the key to his cell and the shirt he wore when he was released from Robben Island.
5 takeaways from the Capitol riot criminal cases, one year later
NPR has been tracking every criminal case related to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. One year after the riot, here are some of the key patterns that have emerged from the cases.
8 ways teachers are talking about Jan. 6 in their classrooms
A year after a pro-Trump mob invaded the U.S. Capitol, teachers say they want students to grapple with the uncomfortable facts of the day.
Homer Plessy has been pardoned for arrest that led to 'separate but equal' ruling
The state of Louisiana has granted a posthumous pardon to Homer Plessy, the Creole man who refused to leave a "whites only" train car in 1892. The case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
All audio recorded before 1923 — like possibly the 1st soda ad — enters public domain
On Jan. 1, all sound recordings before 1923 entered the public domain, due to the Music Modernization Act. The release is a treasure trove of opera, vaudeville, marching bands and spoken word.