American History Tellers

By the late 1800s, the Pinkerton Detective Agency faced public criticism for their anti-labor practices. So the company pivoted, sending Pinkerton detectives out to do what they did best, traveling th...

Allan Pinkerton started the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to catch robbers, counterfeiters and spies. For a time, Pinkerton detectives enjoyed their good image, carefully crafted by Pinkerton hi...

May 13th 1981: Pope John Paul II is shot in a mysterious assassination plot with potential ties to the KGB. You can listen ad-free in the Wondery or Amazon Music app. Or for all that and more, go to ...

May 27, 1943: A B-24 bomber crashes in the Pacific Ocean, beginning a two year ordeal at sea and in Japanese captivity for former Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini. You can listen ad-free in the Wonder...

In June 1914, a gunman assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This event set off a chain reaction that plunged Europe’s major powers, and the wider wo...

In the spring of 1917 the U.S. moved closer to entering the Great War. German submarines resumed attacks against American ships, and a secret German telegram urging Mexico to wage war on the U.S. came...

In January 1918, after months of preparation and planning, American troops finally started to arrive in Europe in significant numbers. But the U.S. was still far from combat ready. Its economy was str...

In the summer of 1918, the U.S. successfully led a critical offensive in northern France, finally giving the Allies the upper hand in the battle against Germany and the other Central Powers. And as th...

After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, America scrambled to assemble boot camps across the country to train a fighting force to send to Europe. The training was fast, with recr...

April 15, 1989: A crowd crush at a soccer game at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England leads to the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans. You can listen ad-free in the Wondery or Amazon Music app. Or for...