Episodes
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Season 8, Episode 11
S8 E11 - 55m 10s
Chicago Clock: How could one clock regulate time for an entire region, and is this it? Universal Friends: A document seems connected to an early controversial religion, the first founded by an American-born woman. War Dogs: What went wrong during a WWII dog-training program on Cat Island?
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Season 8, Episode 10
S8 E12 - 55m 10s
WB Cartoons:This box of cartoon drawings and cels tells an unexpected story about animation's early days. Galvez Papers: Why did a regional governor care enough about a slave to sign her emancipation papers? Mussolini's Dagger: Did this dagger once belong to Benito Mussolini?
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Season 8, Episode 7
S8 E7 - 56m 10s
St.Valentine's Day Massacre: Family lore says their shotgun played a role in the Chicago St. Valentine's Day Massacre. G. Washington Miniature: Why is this miniature of Washington more than a piece of art? Stalag 17 Portrait: A portrait sketched in a WWII prison leads to a meeting 65 years later.
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Season 8, Episode 4
S8 E4 - 53m 9s
Barton Letter: Why did Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, write a letter about a Civil War soldier? Andrew Jackson's Mouth: The reunification of two halves of a vandalized sculpture of President Andrew Jackson? Spybook: Does a Pennsylvania man have a notebook that once belonged to a World War I spy?
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Season 8: Episode 1
S8 E1 - 55m 9s
Was this magnetic boot designed to allow walking in space? Could a three-inch square of metallic material be part of America's first satellite program? Did the Apollo 12 space mission smuggle Andy Warhol's artwork to the moon?
Extras + Features
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Universal Friends
S8 E11 - 17m 41s
Our contributor has inherited a most unusual document. The yellow, three-page record dates 1791 and reads, "Act of Incorporation of the Universal Friends." The Universal Friends were an early, controversial religious group with a woman leader named Jemima Wilkinson, the first religion founded by an American born woman. Gwen Wright unravels the mysteries of this short-lived religious community.
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Chicago Clock
S8 E11 - 15m 24s
Our contributor wonders if her family clock kept time for the entire Midwest during the 19th century. According to the story, the clock sat in the family jewelry store in Chicago and regulated time in other towns via telegraph signals. Elyse Luray takes on the case, and discovers how regulating time became critical as America moved into the industrial age.
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Web Extra: Bosko the Talk Ink Kid
S8 E12 - 7m 51s
Watch the original animation of Bosko "the Talk Ink Kid", the very first Looney Tune in 1930.
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Jackie Robinson Scorecard
S8 E9 - 16m 26s
Our contributor has a scorecard for a game between two unusual teams: the Majors' All Stars and Robinson's All Stars. Jackie Robinson's team is made up of both black and white players, yet this game appears to have occurred before Robinson became the first black major league baseball player in 1947. Could this game have been a test to find out how America would react to integrated baseball?
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Modoc Basket
S8 E9 - 17m 6s
Our contributor believes she has a basket woven by a woman who played a pivotal role in the Indian Wars that helped define the settlement of the West. The weaver worked the name "Toby" into the pattern of the basket. Could this be Toby Riddle, the woman who thrust her body into the line of fire to save the life of a peace negotiator? Wes Cowan investigates.
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Special Agent Five
S8 E9 - 15m 38s
The intrigue on the brittle pages of this 1930s radio script reaches beyond the suspenseful plot line. From the text we gather that J. Edgar Hoover himself endorsed the creator to reveal the details of a true story. What does J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI have to do with this radio script? And how accurate are the events in the play? Gwen Wright finds out.
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Face Jug
S8 E8 - 14m 48s
Our contributor has a startling piece of art - a ceramic jug with eyes, nose, ears and teeth bared in a grimace. She suspects African Americans made this face jug during the Civil War era and wonders if it came to Philadelphia on the Underground Railroad. Gwen Wright investigates the who, what, when and where of this curious jug.
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Hot Town Poster
S8 E8 - 17m 37s
The words and images on this poster draw battle lines. We see a photo of what looks like a stern police officer, a clenched fist, and the wording: "Hot Town - Pigs in the Streets... But the streets belong to the people! Dig it?" Who made this poster and why? Tukufu Zuberi brings all the pieces together.
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Lost City of Gold
S8 E8 - 18m 15s
Our contributor has long pondered an inscription on a rock wall. Written in Spanish it translates as: "Fray Marcos de Niza crowned all of New Mexico at his expense, 1539." If this date is accurate, then de Niza was the first European in the Phoenix area. Is the inscription authentic? Eduardo Pagan investigates.
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Lookout Mountain Painting
S8 E6 - 14m 27s
Our contributor inherited a watercolor he believes was painted by a soldier, John F. Gisch, during the Civil War. He wants to know more about the artist, John Gisch, and about the painting itself. Wes Cowan learns more about the crucial battle over a strategic vantage point, Lookout Mountain and visits the Rock Island Arsenal Museum to find out more about the lives of soldiers imprisoned there.
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Diana
S8 E6 - 17m 52s
Our contributor has a book published in 1939 titled Diana: A Strange Autobiography, which tells a sympathetic story of how one woman discovers that she is a lesbian. Experts call this book groundbreaking as one of the first works of gay literature with a happy ending. History Detectives sets out to find the author. Who is Diana Fredericks? And is this story true?
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Korean War Letter
S8 E6 - 18m 14s
Our contributor needs help solving a mystery in a letter she found from the father she never met. Ron Bradley is among the soldiers declared Missing In Action during the Korean War. The letter tells of a firefight that nearly cost her father his life. Bradley names another soldier who saved his life by jumping on a live grenade. Eduardo Pagan helps find closure in the story of this mystery hero.
Schedule
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