The Jim Crow Era: A Stain On America’s Past

Wondrium: "An African American named Homer Plessy predated Rosa Parks' famous refusal to comply with racist transportation laws by more than 60 years. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction for sitting in a whites-only train car in Plessy v. Ferguson, leading to the Jim Crow era. Discover hard history and how "separate but equal" was …

How WWI Created the Middle East Conflicts

The Great War: "The modern Middle East is a region troubled by war, terrorism, weak and failed states, and civil unrest. But how did it get this way? The map of today’s Middle East was mostly drawn after the First World War, and the war that planted many of the seeds of conflict that still …

Kevin McCarthy’s Ouster As Speaker Echoes Revolt Against Joe Cannon and GOP Split 1910-12

Kevin McCarthy lasted eight months, longer than many predicted he would as House Speaker....1910 was the last time a revolt was partially successful against a House Speaker. But it backfired on Republicans, Gillian Brockell wrote in The Washington Post. They rebelled against what they viewed as the tyranny of Speaker Joe Cannon, who ruled the House with …

Empire of the Tsars: 300+ Years of Romanov Russia

This splendid three-part documentary from the BBC is best watched on a large screen to evoke a "you are there" feel for Russia during the "road to the 1917 revolution." Narrated by British historian Lucy Worsley, it's a three-hour survey of critical events in 300+ years of Russian history. That's inevitably an over-simplification but a …

What Happened to Portugal’s Monarchy?

History Matters: "Have you ever wondered how Portugal became a Republic? What happened to the monarchy which had been a part of Portuguese history throughout its rise and fall? We'll find out in this short, simple animated history documentary." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYgd3P0DyK4 Sources: The Portuguese Revolution of 1910 by Douglas L. Wheeler A Concise History of Portugal …

On Anniversary of Titanic Disaster, Recalling Survivor Stories and Movies That Immortalized It

Friday marks the 111th anniversary of one of history's deadliest maritime disasters, the sinking of the Titanic on April 14, 1912. King5.com television in Seattle, WA posted an interview from 1996 with a 100-year-old survivor who lost her father in the sinking. Survivors Give Their Impressions of 'Titanic' Movies. The 1958 movie, "A Night to Remember" …

Classic Movies About Russian Revolution: Nicholas and Alexandra; Dr. Zhivago; Reds

Three classic movies about the run-up to the Russian Revolution beginning at the turn of the 20th century, into 1917 and the aftermath in the 1920s. Nicholas and Alexandra, 1971: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbwqgfnh2-Y Dr. Zhivago (1965) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw25XFLwAzw Reds (1981) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO_JRFXvMpk

Founder of the Soviet Secret Police and KGB

Felix Dzerzhinsky was considered the founder of the Soviet KGB. From 1917 until his death in 1926, Dzerzhinsky led the first two Soviet state-security organizations, the Cheka and the OGPU, establishing a secret police for the post-revolutionary Soviet regime. He was one of the architects of the Red Terror and decossackization. He was widely known …

How The Austro-Hungarian Empire Destroyed Itself – The Fall Of The Habsburgs – History Documentary

I LOVE DOCS: The Habsburg Dynasty had ruled large parts of Europe and the world for 650 years. During World War I, however, the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire sowed the seeds of its own demise. When Charles I (1887-1922) inherited Franz Joseph's throne in November 1916, he embarked on a single-handed mission to make peace. He …

How Britain Started the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Free History Documentaries: "The bitter struggle between Arab and Jew for control of the Holy Land has caused untold suffering in the Middle East for generations. It is often claimed that the crisis originated with Jewish emigration to Palestine and the foundation of the state of Israel. Yet the roots of the conflict are to …