History

World News

Group Dedicated To Honoring Robin Hood Attracts New Followers After GameStop Incident

8:00am January 31, 2021

A small group in Nottingham, U.K., which honors the legend of Robin Hood, was mistaken for the stock trading app, Robinhood. Now their merry band has gone from 350 to 60,000 Twitter followers.

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An engraved portrait of William Belknap, a secretary of war who was impeached in 1876 after he tearfully resigned.

Politics & Government

There Is Precedent For Trying A Former Government Official, Established 145 Years Ago

7:16am January 29, 2021

by Domenico Montanaro

Some Republicans are arguing that former President Donald Trump should not face a Senate impeachment trial because he's a private citizen. That was argued before — and rejected narrowly — in 1876.

Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia, by Thomas Healy

In 'Soul City,' One Man Envisions A Place Where Black People Have Power, Opportunity

7:10am January 29, 2021

by Michael Schaub

Author Thomas Healy chronicles how, in 1969, Floyd McKissick went about building a city from scratch, only to have his dreams dashed by a combination of prejudice and bureaucracy.

The San Francisco school board has voted to consider removing the names of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln from public schools, such as Abraham Lincoln High School.

San Francisco May Rename Schools Named After Washington, Lincoln And Others

12:37pm January 28, 2021

by Merrit Kennedy

The move to potentially change the names of 44 schools, approved by the school board this week, has sparked debate in San Francisco about its timing and whether the list is overly broad.

Vera Gissing, shown above at age 6, was one of 669 children from Prague whom Nicholas Winton helped save in the lead-up to World War II.

Books
Arts

He Saved 669 Children From Nazis — A New Book Tells His Story To Kids

6:04pm January 27, 2021

by Elizabeth Blair

In Nicky & Vera, Peter Sís chronicles the work of Nicholas Winton, who helped hundreds of kids escape Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939.

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Religion

90-Year-Old Auschwitz Survivor Shares Her Story

9:10am January 26, 2021

by Lisa Weiner

Ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday, we hear from Ruth Cohen, an Auschwitz survivor, about her message to young people about the importance of the phrase: never forget.

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Several brands of cereal boxes fill the shelves at a grocery store.

Is Your 401(k) Colluding To Make Cereal More Expensive?

6:31am January 26, 2021

by Greg Rosalsky

A new study investigates whether common ownership of cereal makers by institutional investors is leading them to become a kind of stealth monopoly.

'Throughline': The Rise Of The Modern White Power Movement

6:21am January 25, 2021

NPR's history podcast Throughline examines the evolution of the modern white power movement, starting at the end of the Vietnam War.

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Books
Arts

The Trojan Women — And Many More — Speak Up In 'A Thousand Ships'

9:38am January 24, 2021

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Natalie Haynes's new book tells the epic story of the Trojan War from the perspectives of the women involved in it. And that means all the women — from Troy and Sparta, goddesses, Amazons and more.

Sports
Arts

Museum Exhibition Explores The History Of Surfing In Hawaii

7:59am January 24, 2021

by Heidi Chang

Honolulu's Bishop Museum is hosting an exhibition on the history and culture of surfing, from Polynesian, African, and South American predecessors to the home of modern board surfing in Hawaii.