History

Take A Second To Salute Anna Jarvis, The Mother Of Mother's Day

5:18pm May 08, 2016

The first official Mother's Day services took place in May 1908 in West Virginia, to honor Anna Jarvis' mother. Olive Ricketts, director of the Anna Jarvis Museum, discusses the day's origins.

The Forgotten History Of African-American Jockeys

5:07pm May 07, 2016

Many of the early jockeys in the Kentucky Derby's history were black — unlike today, as Professor Pellom McDaniels of Emory University explains.

Before The Races, Test Your Kentucky Derby Knowledge

7:59am May 07, 2016

NPR's Lynn Neary speaks with author and trivia master A.J. Jacobs about everything you always wanted to know about the Kentucky Derby.

Mother and daughter at a Woman's Day festival in Durbar Square, Kathmandu. On the day of the festival, people pay homage to their mothers and perform rituals in temples or by the river.

Celebrating Mother's Day? Make Sure You Have The Date Right

7:01am May 07, 2016

by Zhai Yun Tan

Many countries in the world celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May, but it's not the global norm. Turns out it has to do with the origins of the celebration, historical events and culture.

Newly Released Documents Detail Traumas Of China's Cultural Revolution

1:44pm May 05, 2016

Historian Frank Dikötter says newly opened archives offer fresh details about the chaos China experienced in the 1960s, when Chairman Mao urged students to take to the streets.

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U.S. service members raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima, Japan, on Feb. 23, 1945. The Marine Corps is investigating whether some of the men in the photo have been misidentified.

National

Marines Investigating Possible Mistaken Identity In Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Photo

8:34pm May 03, 2016

by Dana Farrington

Analysis by amateur historians has called into question the identity of some of the men depicted in the iconic World War II image and statue. Now the Marine Corps is taking another look.

A replica of Capt. James Cook's Endeavour sails into Sydney Harbour in 2012. Researchers believe they may have found the wreckage of the original ship in Rhode Island.

Wreckage Of Capt. Cook's HMS Endeavor May Be In Rhode Island Port

3:48pm May 03, 2016

by Dana Farrington

Researchers think they have located the vessel, later named the Lord Sandwich, that the British explorer sailed to Australia, saying it may have been part of a blockade during the American Revolution.

The sign, a private marker placed by the NAACP, and approved by the National Park Service, as it now stands in Army Park.

Do The Words 'Race Riot' Belong On A Historic Marker In Memphis?

8:03pm May 02, 2016

by Christopher Blank

On May 1, 1866, Memphis was home to a massacre that killed 46 African-Americans and injured many others. Now a historical marker shows an ongoing rift between white historians and black activists.

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Eugene V. Debs Museum Explores History Of American Socialism

4:26pm May 02, 2016

by Will Huntsberry

Eugene Debs was the first major Democratic Socialist in American history, running for president five times in the early 1900s. NPR goes on a tour of his home in Terre Haute, Ind., ahead of that state's primary with Benjamin Kite, an avid Bernie Sanders supporter. Kite, one of the home's caretakers, says Debs laid the groundwork for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal, and likewise Bernie Sanders may be laying the groundwork for a major shift left in American politics.

National

Words You'll Hear: Gentrification

5:06pm May 01, 2016

This week is the 100th birthday of Jane Jacobs, who resisted gentrification in New York and became a respected thinker on urban planning. Author Roberta Brandes Gratz talks about Jacobs' legacy.