History

When Disney World opened on Oct. 1, 1971, tickets for adults were just $3.50. Here, William Windsor Jr. carries his son Lee, past Cinderella's castle on opening day.

Politics & Government

1971: The Year That Gave Us Starbucks, Disney World — And A Lower Voting Age

9:04am June 19, 2021

by Josie Fischels

What a big year 1971 was. Here, we break down the 50th anniversaries of some of the biggest health initiatives, some serious industry game-changers, and more.

President Joe Biden is joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Congress at the signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law in the East Room of the White House on June 17, 2021.

National

Opinion: Juneteenth As A National Holiday Is Symbolism Without Progress

7:58am June 19, 2021

by Robert A. Brown

There is a growing discontent in the African American community with symbolic gestures that are presented as progress without any accompanying economic or structural change.

National

Juneteenth Commissioner In Texas Reacts To The Holiday Going National

4:35pm June 18, 2021

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Byron E. Miller, Juneteenth Commissioner for the Fiesta Celebration in San Antonio, about the holiday's cultural significance and what the new federal recognition means.

National

How The Pentagon Papers Changed Public Perception Of The War In Vietnam

1:51pm June 18, 2021

by Terry Gross

Fifty years ago, Daniel Ellsberg leaked classified information about U.S. policy in Vietnam to the press. We listen back to archival interviews with Ellsberg and Ben Bradlee of The Washington Post.

Queue Listen Now

President Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in the East Room of the White House on Thursday.

Juneteenth Is Now A Federal Holiday

6:03pm June 17, 2021

by Alana Wise

June 19 is a commemoration of the end of chattel slavery in the United States, marking the day enslaved people in Texas were finally freed — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

National

Juneteenth Is Now A Federal Holiday, Commemorating Slavery's End

4:52pm June 17, 2021

by Adrian Florido

President Biden signed a law Thursday making June 19 a federal holiday. Juneteenth, as the day is known, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

Some institutions have scrapped Columbus Day or switched to celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day. One New Jersey school district came up with a new solution: eliminate all holiday names.

This School District Erased All Holiday Names After Dropping Columbus Day

7:50pm June 16, 2021

by Joe Hernandez

Some institutions have dropped the name Columbus Day or switched to celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day. One New Jersey school district came up with a new solution: eliminate all holiday names.

How A Bunch Of Boys Changed Ballet Forever

4:26pm June 16, 2021

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with director Chana Gazit and dancer Peter Anastos about the new film Ballerina Boys, which details the history of an all-male ballerina troupe founded in the '70s.

Visitors walk around the outside of the Alamo in San Antonio.

'Forget The Alamo' Author Says We Have The Texas Origin Story All Wrong

2:22pm June 16, 2021

by Dave Davies

In a new book, Bryan Burrough and co-writers Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford challenge the historical lore of the Alamo — including the story that Davy Crockett refused to surrender.

People observe a moment of silence at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington on June 19, 2020, to mark Juneteenth.

National

Companies Making Juneteenth A Paid Holiday Say It's The Right Thing To Do

11:43am June 16, 2021

by Marisa Peñaloza

Companies are responding to a social movement fueled by the killing of George Floyd, a 47-year-old Black man who died on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis while in police custody.