Episodes

September 7, 1876. A failed bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota sparks the downfall of outlaw Jesse James.

September 6th, 1901. After being elected for a second term, President William McKinley is shot at the World’s Fair in Buffalo, New York.

September 5, 1774. Amid growing tensions over taxation, delegates from the American colonies unite in Philadelphia to coordinate resistance to the British Crown.

September 2, 1666. The Great Fire of London begins in a bakery, before quickly spreading and reducing one third of London to ashes.

September 1, 1807. Former Vice President Aaron Burr is acquitted on charges of treason against the United States Government.

August 31, 1997. Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash after a tumultuous and highly publicized marriage and divorce.

August 30, 1918. Socialist revolutionary Fanya Kaplan sets off the Red Terror when she tries, and fails, to assassinate the new leader of Soviet Russia, Vladimir Lenin.

August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina hits southeastern Louisiana, sparking one of the worst humanitarian disasters in U.S. history.

On today’s Saturday Matinee, revolution at sea, with General Benedict Arnold making a name for himself (that isn't "turncoat"). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

August 26, 1907. In a death-defying stunt, Harry Houdini escapes from chains underwater in 57 seconds in San Francisco Bay, California.

August 25, 1944. After four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is finally liberated by an Allied force of British, French and American troops during World War II.

August 24, 79 AD. Mount Vesuvius erupts in southern Italy, burying the thriving Roman city of Pompeii in volcanic ash.

August 23, 1305. Scottish rebel leader William Wallace is executed in London.

August 22, 1964, Activist Fannie Lou Hamer delivers one of the most important speeches in civil rights history at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

On today’s Saturday Matinee, we look into the space between black and white with Grey History. Link to Grey History: https://greyhistory.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

August 19, 1991. A group of Communist Party hardliners attempt to save the collapsing Soviet Union by staging a coup against party leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.

August 18, 1920. The United States Congress ratifies the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.

August 17, 1846. Commodore Robert F. Stockton of the US Navy annexes California during the Mexican-American War.

August 16, 1501. The famed Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarroti is awarded a contract to create the statue of David at Florence Cathedral.

August 15, 1969. Over 400,000 people attend one of the most pivotal events in popular music history: the first day of Woodstock. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

August 12, 1898. The signing of a peace pact in Washington brings an end to the fighting in the Spanish-American War.

August 11, 1950. The alleged traitor Ethel Rosenberg is arrested on allegations of spying for the Soviet Union.

August 10, 1993. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Court’s 107th justice, becoming only the second woman in history to serve on the country’s highest court.

August 9, 1945. Three days after the first atomic bomb falls on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, the U.S. drops a second bomb on Nagasaki.