History

The annual Courir de Mardi Gras in Mamou, La., in February 2008. In the Cajun country tradition, revelers go house to house, collecting ingredients for gumbo from local families. Here, the host tosses a live chicken from a rooftop for the participants to

Forget Beads: Cajun Mardi Gras Means A Grand, Drunken Chicken Chase

6:38pm February 17, 2015

by Eve Troeh

Courir de Mardi Gras is an old tradition in rural Louisiana. From early morning on, costumed revelers go house to house, drinking, singing and collecting ingredients for a big ole pot of gumbo.

King Charles I was sentenced to death on Jan. 27, 1649, and executed three days later.

Books
Arts

King, Tyrant, Beheaded Traitor: The Many Trials Of Charles I

10:10am February 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

The British monarch ruled at a time of civil war — and was blamed for much of the bloodshed. In Killers of the King, Charles Spencer tells the story of the men who signed the king's death warrant.

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National

Quiz Time! Take A Guess At These Presidential Tech Firsts

7:35pm February 16, 2015

by Kelly McEvers

On Presidents Day, we consider some presidential firsts when it comes to new technologies. Play along: Who was the first president to have a telephone? How about the first to ride on a steamboat?

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Presidents Day Deal: Pass Our Quiz, Win Nothing

5:25pm February 16, 2015

by Laurel Dalrymple

They've all helped create our nation, but do you know who they are?

Stargazy Pie, a Cornish dish named for the way the fish heads poke through the crust toward the sky.

Arts

Fake Food George Washington Could've Sunk His Fake Teeth Into

1:51pm February 16, 2015

by Lydia Zuraw

Herring with mustard sauce, ham hocks, hog jowls: Sandy Levins re-creates the Founding Father's meals for America's historic houses. Just don't try to eat them; they're sculpted replicas.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt drinks a glass of wine at a fundraising dinner in 1938. FDR fancied himself quite the skilled mixologist; many of his colleagues disagreed.

'Party Like A President' Recalls Mixology, Mischief Inside Oval Office

7:57am February 16, 2015

by Samantha Raphelson

In his new book, author Brian Abrams chronicles the drinking habits and debauchery of former presidents.

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Virginia Searches For A New State Song

6:43pm February 12, 2015

Robert Siegel speaks with Professor James "Bud" Robertson about his campaign to help his home state of Virginia find its missing state song.

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German youths wave flags as they celebrate the country's reunification at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in 1990. One Russian lawmaker recently referred to West Germany's "annexation" of East Germany and said it was less legitimate than Russia's "reunific

World News

With New Moves, Russia's Parliament Looks To Rewrite History

4:25pm February 12, 2015

by Corey Flintoff

Russia's seizure of Crimea has been widely criticized. But what if Crimea was given away illegally to Ukraine back in 1954? Russian lawmakers are hard at work on their own version of history.

National

Newly Discovered Footage Shows Sinking Of SS Eastland

8:53pm February 10, 2015

Robert Siegel speaks with grad student Jeff Nichols about his recent find of footage from the 1915 SS Eastland disaster in Chicago.

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David Carradine played a Shaolin monk and martial arts expert in Kung Fu.

National

A Brief, Weird History Of Squashed Asian-American TV Shows

10:54am February 09, 2015

by Kat Chow

With Fresh Off The Boat making waves, we look back at a colorful crop of shows with Asian-American leads that most of us have forgotten.