History

Tom Rivett-Carnac speaks as part of TED2020: The Prequel. April 22, 2020. Photo courtesy of TED.

Tom Rivett-Carnac: How Can We Shift Our Mindset To Fight Climate Change Together?

9:54am May 22, 2020

by NPR/TED Staff

It's easy to feel powerless against looming challenges we cannot control — like climate change. So what should we do? Political strategist Tom Rivett-Carnac says the power is in our mindset.

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Staff Sgt. Emilio DiPalma (right) stands on guard at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945.

National

Remembering Her Father, A WWII Veteran Who Stood Guard At The Nuremberg Trials

5:07am May 22, 2020

At StoryCorps, a daughter cherishes memories with her dad, WWII veteran Emilio "Leo" DiPalma, who died of COVID-19 last month at age 93. "I'm honoring his life, not how he died," Emily Aho said.

Health & Safety

What People Can Learn From The Discovery Of A Polio Vaccine

5:59pm May 21, 2020

by Joe Palca

People in the 1950s anxiously waited for scientists to come up with ways to protect children from polio. The road to a polio vaccine might contain some lessons for today's health crisis.

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National

How One Woman Inspired The Design For The N95 Mask

6:03am May 21, 2020

NPR's history podcast Throughline tells us the story behind the N95 mask.

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A judge in Virginia has ruled that a salvage company may cut into the remains of the Titanic to retrieve the ship's wireless telegraph machine. Artifacts from the sunken vessel are sit on shelves at a storage facility in Atlanta in this Feb. 18 photo.

National

Expedition To Salvage Titanic's Wireless Telegraph Gets The Go-Ahead

11:18pm May 20, 2020

by Vanessa Romo

A federal judge said retrieval of the technology "will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking."

Health & Safety

How The 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic Is Similar To The 1918 Flu Pandemic

4:16pm May 18, 2020

by Tim Mak

Close examinations of the 1918 flu pandemic may give some clues as to what could happen in 2020. The U.S. is already seeing impatience with restrictions similar to ones experienced in 1918.

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An aerial view of the Plinian eruption column, Mount St. Helens, on May 18, 1980.

'It Seemed Apocalyptic' 40 Years Ago When Mount St. Helens Erupted

10:19am May 18, 2020

by Howard Berkes

Howard Berkes covered the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens for NPR and has returned to the volcano for multiple stories over the years. He recalls the massive blast and its aftermath.

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Former Mayor Calls On Philadelphia To Apologize For MOVE Bombing

5:22pm May 17, 2020

NPR's Michel Martin talks with former mayor of Philadelphia, W. Wilson Goode, Sr., about his recent op-ed calling for the city to apologize for the MOVE bombing, which took place 35 years ago.

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Unemployed people wait outside the state Labor Bureau in New York City in 1933. The current economic crisis has drawn comparisons to the Great Depression, but experts say this downturn should be shorter.

'A Lot To Be Hopeful For': Crisis Seen As Historic, Not Another Great Depression

8:00am May 17, 2020

by Scott Horsley

The speed and scale of the economic crash have drawn comparisons to the Great Depression. But this downturn should be shorter, former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and other economic historians say.

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'Saturday Night Live' Skips A Census Sketch For 1st Time In History

9:08pm May 15, 2020

by Hansi Lo Wang

For the first time since Saturday Night Live's debut in 1975, the show ended its season during a census year without doing a sketch about the national head count.

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