History

Independence Day Presidential Traditions

5:33pm June 08, 2019

President Trump plans to deliver a public address at the Lincoln Memorial on July 4. NPR's Michel Martin speaks with journalist Donald Shafer about how past presidents have spent Independence Day.

World News

Exhibit Highlights Women's Role In D-Day Operation

8:31am June 08, 2019

by Eleanor Beardsley

A new exhibit near the site of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, highlights the contributions of female service members and spies.

World News

Sun Yat-sen's Connection To China And The U.S.

5:33am June 07, 2019

We look at the life of Sun Yat-sen, a founder of modern China, who spent time in exile in the United States.

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At StoryCorps in June 2015, Alexei Romanoff remembers an inspirational figure who helped him feel proud to be a gay man.

National

'I Will Never Lie About Being Gay Again': LGBT Activist Remembers Source Of Pride

5:19am June 07, 2019

At StoryCorps, Alexei Romanoff, an 82-year-old gay activist, recalls lessons he learned as a teenager from a proud gay elder — and which resonated as an adult.

Trump And French President Macron Commemorate 75th Anniversary Of D-Day

5:07pm June 06, 2019

by Eleanor Beardsley

In Normandy, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, President Trump and French President Macron hailed the heroes of the invasion and celebrated the post-war peace and prosperity they secured.

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D-Day veteran C-47 Placid Lassie sits on the flight line at England's Imperial War Museum Duxford.

'Ready! Go!': I Jumped Out Of A Vintage WWII Plane For D-Day

4:50pm June 06, 2019

by Luke Sharrett

Photographer Luke Sharrett marked the invasion's 75th anniversary by parachuting out of a plane in Normandy. This was his way of honoring World War II veterans.

Leslie Cruise, a World War II veteran, pays his respects to Pvt. Richard Vargas during a wreath-laying ceremony at Lorraine American National Cemetery and Memorial, St. Avold, France, on June 2, 2014.

National

World War II Paratrooper On Commemorating D-Day: 'Show Some Citizenship'

2:38pm June 06, 2019

by Josh Axelrod

Leslie Cruise served as a paratrooper during the D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944. The 95-year-old veteran reflects on his survival often and believes he has an obligation to share his story.

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Pablo Picasso and Francoise Gillot in 1951.

'Life With Picasso' Stands As An Invaluable Work Of Art History

11:44am June 06, 2019

by Lily Meyer

Newly reissued, the intellectual heft of Françoise Gilot's now classic memoir is in its art criticism, even as its emotional arc lies in Picasso and Gilot's unequal romance.

'The Plaza' Is A Nostalgic Look At The History Of New York's Most Famous Hotel

6:01am June 06, 2019

by Genevieve Valentine

Julie Satow's book reads like the biography of a distant relative as much as the history of a landmark building; the author argues that no other building so directly reflects the city itself.

National

D-Day Veteran Remembers Deadly Battle

6:19pm June 05, 2019

Ray Lambert, one of the few living veterans who fought in the 1944 battle, was in the first wave of U.S. troops to hit Omaha Beach. The army medic returns to Normandy to mark 75 years since D-Day.

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