Showing results by narrator "Dan Gallagher" in All Categories

The Unification of Germany: The History and Legacy of the German Empire’s Establishment looks at the life and work of Germany’s most famous politician and how Germany was unified. You will learn about German unification like never before.

It is often claimed that Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany through democratic means, and while that is a stretch, it is true that he managed to become an absolute dictator as Chancellor of Germany in the 1930s through a mixture of politics and intimidation. Ironically, he had set such a course only because of the failure of an outright coup attempt known as the Beer Hall Putsch about a decade earlier.

Shortly after World War II, Congress' House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) began investigating Americans across the country for suspected ties to communism. The most famous victims of these witch hunts were Hollywood actors, such as Charlie Chaplin, whose "un-American activity" was being neutral at the beginning of World War II, but at the beginning of the Cold War, many Americans had the Red Scare.

On January 25, 1952, British forces in the Suez Canal region took aggressive action when it ordered a police post in Ismailia to surrender for alleged support of anti-British activities. When the commander of the police post refused and mounted defenses, the British attacked, killing approximately 40 and injuring 70 Egyptian policemen. Outrage spilled out onto the streets in the form of protests and riots. This coup had begun with the limited objective of overthrowing King Farouk, but it became a far larger, anti-West, anti-imperialist and non-aligned nationalist movement.

Nearly a century after the first unified resistance against the British, strife over slavery widened to the point of civil war, and the condition of slaves in America was in several aspects worse than at any time during the 18th century. As the nation tried to sort out its most intractable political issue, politicians and advocates on each side of the divide became increasingly more passionate, and vocal.

While the Bronze Age is recognized as one of history’s most important phases, it’s been hard for historians to precisely date. The idea of the Bronze Age comes from a three-age system developed in the 19th century. These three ages are the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, and the concept of the system stems from the simultaneous development of museums in Europe during that time.

Start a sentence with "Get your kicks on..." and most Americans will immediately complete the sentence with "Route 66". Route 66 conjures up visions of a fun road trip across the United States, whether it was a bird's eye view from a snappy convertible or from a station wagon hauling a trailer. There was fun to be had around every turn. For thousands, Route 66 was far from fun. Route 66 was the way to a better life.

Some hailed him as the "Lion of the North", others called him the "Golden King", and a few knew him by the affectionate nickname "Hook-nose". Today, Swedish, Finland, and Estonian citizens alike continue to celebrate Gustavus Adolphus Day on the sixth of November each year. But who exactly was Gustavus Adolphus the Great? Gustavus Adolphus: The Life and Legacy of Sweden’s Most Famous King explores the early life of the Swedish king, his ascension to power, and his greatest achievements, as well as the revolutionary military tactics he used to shape modern warfare.

North Korea would be horrific enough if it was a fictional place, but its nuclear weapons program is all too real. Meanwhile, rumors regarding Iran's nuclear capabilities have understandably left many nations on the edges of their seats. Experts insist that the Iranian propaganda program is chiefly responsible for entrenching into its masses a resentment of the West, unlike North Korea, which proudly walls itself off from the rest of civilization.

America was still undergoing plenty of social turmoil, much of it the result of sweeping changes made via the Civil Rights Movement of the previous decade and the Vietnam War, which helped spark the counterculture. Students had been shot at Kent State by the National Guard the year before, and protests were still prominent across the country.

The beauty of a spider web cannot be appreciated if only one single strand thereof is seen; nor can only one piece of a jigsaw puzzle make the whole thereof understood. It is only when all the pieces are fitted that the significance and importance of each part can be appreciated. Even so the covenant that God established with Abraham has its prelude far in the past, and its development and consummation reach far into the future.

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

The US Census Bureau defines the Midwest as consisting of a dozen states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Outsiders often deride the region, and for many who have never been there, America's heartland is just a bunch of "flyover states" with little influence, little history, and little interest.

Submarines exercised a decisive impact on the outcome of the Pacific Theater in World War II. The US submarine fleet, largely though not exclusively under the overall command of Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, strangled the supply lines and shipping traffic of the Empire of Japan. Their commerce raiding crippled both Japan's ability to keep its frontline units supplied and to manufacture the weapons, vessels, and vehicles needed to successfully carry on the struggle.

Shortly after World War II, Congress' House Committee on Un-American Activities began investigating Americans across the country for suspected ties to Communism. The most famous victims of these witch hunts were Hollywood actors, such as Charlie Chaplin, whose "Un-American activity" was being neutral at the beginning of World War II. By the late 1950s, the hysteria had waned, recognized in large measure as an overreaction.

Given the prominence of scouting culture in the United States, many assume that the movement is rooted in North America. On the contrary, the movement was initiated in and spread forth from the United Kingdom, more specifically in England. It was the brainchild of the 1st Baron Baden-Powell, a beloved and decorated war veteran armed with not only Martini-Henry rifles and Lee-Enfield carbines but a vision that would one day be espoused by every nation on earth except Andorra, China, Cuba, North Korea, and Laos.

The American South has given birth to many of the nation's great stories and legends. From the earliest Colonial times, it's been a place of mystery, replete with disappearing colonies and strange apparitions in the woods, but the South's long and proud history has always had a darker, and stranger, side to it. One of America's most famous mysteries was its first. Despite the fact he had left over 100 colonists at the island of Roanoke in 1587, John White returned to literally nothing, with all traces of the settlement gone.

Although Du Bois’ name is still (and inexplicably) less well-known than that of Washington, his prolific writings serve as a bedrock to the modern social engines at work in the pursuit of racial equality in America. In his life and experience of nearly a century, he spanned the administrations of Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Baines Johnson, dying only one day before King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. W. E. B. Du Bois: The Life and Legacy of Early 20th Century America’s Most Famous Civil Rights Activist chronicles the life and work of one of America’s most influential men.

It is impossible to conduct a war without atrocities occurring, primarily because war itself is an atrocity, but when those who win the war write the histories, as they almost always do, they typically ignore or seek to explain away their own malevolent acts while exaggerating those of their defeated enemy. This goes a long way in explaining why the name Andersonville immediately conjures up visions of horrific suffering for many Americans while the name Camp Douglas means almost nothing to those who aren’t intimately familiar with the Civil War.

Danger prowled under both the cold gray waters of the North Sea and the shimmering blue waves of the tropical Atlantic during World War II as Adolf Hitler's Third Reich attempted to strangle Allied shipping lanes with U-boat attacks. German and British submarines combed the vast oceanic battlefield for prey, while scientists developed new technologies and countermeasures.