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This Week in History

This Week in History

YesOui 8 Episodes Aug 24, 2026

This Week in History explores remarkable events, turning points, and forgotten stories from across the centuries, all connected to the current week. Each episode covers dramatic and world-changing moments, from ancient conquests to modern breakthroughs, drawing vivid connections between past and present. The podcast is designed for curious minds, history enthusiasts, and lifelong learners.

Episodes

Amelia Earhart, MLK's Dream, Krakatoa & First Oil Well | Aug 24–29
Amelia Earhart, MLK's Dream, Krakatoa & First Oil Well | Aug 24–29 Aug 24, 2026 492 This week in history is one of the most extraordinary on the calendar — a single week that gave the world its first solo transcontinental female aviator, the birth of the modern petroleum industry, and one of the most consequential speeches ever delivered.On August 24, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop and solo, touching down in Newark after a gru
Old Ironsides, the Mona Lisa Stolen & Women Win the Vote | Aug 17–23
Old Ironsides, the Mona Lisa Stolen & Women Win the Vote | Aug 17–23 Aug 17, 2026 516 This week in history spans eight centuries and five continents, delivering ten extraordinary moments that shifted the course of civilisation. On August 17, 1807, Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat made commercial steam travel a reality on the Hudson River. A day later — sixty years on — astronomer Pierre Janssen detected helium in the sun's spectrum during a solar eclipse, discovering a new ele
Magellan Sets Sail, Hip-Hop Is Born & Social Security Signed | Aug 10–14
Magellan Sets Sail, Hip-Hop Is Born & Social Security Signed | Aug 10–14 Aug 10, 2026 537 This week in history delivers one of the most extraordinary seven-day stretches in the historical calendar — a week that gave the world its first circumnavigation, modern surgery, hip-hop, and the American social safety net.On August 10, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan led five ships out of Seville on the voyage that would prove the world was round and crossable — though only eighteen of his crew would l
Columbus Sets Sail, Hiroshima & Anne Frank Arrested | Aug 3–7
Columbus Sets Sail, Hiroshima & Anne Frank Arrested | Aug 3–7 Aug 3, 2026 547 This week in history is one of the most consequential stretches on the calendar. From the 15th century to the middle of the 20th, the days of August 3rd through 7th have delivered moments that changed warfare, science, civil rights, and human exploration in ways still felt today.On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus departed Palos de la Frontera with three ships and roughly ninety men, beginning
Siege of Jerusalem, Telstar & America the Beautiful | Jul 20–26
Siege of Jerusalem, Telstar & America the Beautiful | Jul 20–26 Jul 20, 2026 522 This week in history stretches from ancient Jerusalem to the peaks of the Peruvian Andes, from a Chicago riverbank disaster to a fragile monoplane crossing the English Channel. Eight events, spanning nearly two millennia, all connected by the same seven days on the calendar.In July 70 AD, Roman general Titus stormed the Fortress of Antonia, beginning the brutal endgame of the Siege of Jerusalem. I
Bastille Day, Trinity Test & Nadia's Perfect Ten | Jul 13–18
Bastille Day, Trinity Test & Nadia's Perfect Ten | Jul 13–18 Jul 13, 2026 482 This week in history spans five centuries of triumph, tragedy, and turning points — and it may be the most consequential calendar week of the year.On July 14, 1789, a Paris crowd stormed the Bastille fortress, firing the opening shot of the French Revolution. That same date in 1865, Edward Whymper reached the summit of the Matterhorn — only for four of his companions to die on the descent. And on
Vasco da Gama, the Beatles' First Meeting & Sliced Bread | Jul 6–12
Vasco da Gama, the Beatles' First Meeting & Sliced Bread | Jul 6–12 Jul 6, 2026 521 This week in history stretches from ancient Jerusalem to the Space Age, with stops in Lisbon, Liverpool, and a Missouri bakery along the way. In this episode, we cover eight significant historical events that all share the same calendar week across the centuries.On July 8, 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon on the voyage that would open a direct sea route to India and transform global trade fo
Globe Theatre Burns, Einstein's Relativity & Canada Is Born | Jun 29–Jul 4
Globe Theatre Burns, Einstein's Relativity & Canada Is Born | Jun 29–Jul 4 Jun 29, 2026 556 This week in history stretches from a burning theatre in Elizabethan London to the corridors of American democracy — and barely pauses for breath along the way. On June 29, 1613, a misfired cannon set the Globe Theatre ablaze, reducing Shakespeare's iconic playhouse to ash in hours. That same date in 1971 brought the darkest moment of the Space Race: three Soviet cosmonauts — Dobrovolsky, Volkov,
Galileo's Recantation, Operation Barbarossa & a River on Fire | Jun 22–28
Galileo's Recantation, Operation Barbarossa & a River on Fire | Jun 22–28 Jun 22, 2026 505 This week in history delivers one of its most extraordinary lineups yet — a week so packed with turning points it barely seems possible they share a calendar. We begin on June 22, 1633, when Galileo Galilei knelt before the Holy Office in Rome and was forced to renounce the heliocentric model of the solar system under threat of torture. Three centuries later, on the same date in 1941, Nazi Germany
Magna Carta, Juneteenth & the Birth of the Blockbuster | Jun 15–21
Magna Carta, Juneteenth & the Birth of the Blockbuster | Jun 15–21 Jun 15, 2026 447 This week in history delivers ten landmark moments stretching from 1215 to 1991, bound together only by the days of June 15 to 21.We begin at Runnymede in 1215, where rebellious barons forced King John to seal the Magna Carta — the document that first declared no ruler stood above the law. From there we trace Francis Drake's audacious 1579 landing on the California coast, claimed for Queen Elizabe
Viking Raid, Loving v. Virginia & the First Pacific Flight | Jun 8–13
Viking Raid, Loving v. Virginia & the First Pacific Flight | Jun 8–13 Jun 8, 2026 543 This week in history stretches across more than a millennium, from the shores of a holy island in Northumbria to the corridors of the United States Supreme Court. On 8 June 793, Norse raiders struck the monastery at Lindisfarne, shocking the Christian world and launching the Viking Age in the British Isles. On the same date in 1311, the citizens of Siena paraded Duccio's Maestà through their stree
Anne Boleyn's Crown, D-Day & the First AIDS Report | Jun 1–6
Anne Boleyn's Crown, D-Day & the First AIDS Report | Jun 1–6 Jun 1, 2026 527 This week in history delivered some of the most consequential moments ever recorded — across politics, war, science, exploration, and medicine.On June 1, 1533, Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey, a triumph that had already cost Henry VIII his break with Rome. On June 2, 1946, Italians voted to abolish their monarchy and birth a republic, sending King Umberto II into perm

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