250 Most Impactful Moments in American History
History isn't just what we read in textbooks - it's the story of us, the United States. As America celebrates its 250th birthday, Bill Hemmer brings listeners compelling interviews with historians, experts, and eyewitnesses who detail the triumphs, trials, and breakthroughs that defined our nation. In order to understand where the country's heading, it's important to know where we've been. New episodes available every Wednesday.
Episodes
50–46: Highways, High Stakes, and New Frontiers
50: President Eisenhower signs the Federal Aid Highway Act, allocating $25 billion to build 40,000 miles of interstate roads.
49: President Kennedy navigates the Cuban Missile Crisis, negotiating a secret deal with Khrushchev to avert nuclear war.
Guest: Dr. Graham Allison, Harvard Kennedy School professor and author of Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Guest: Dr.
55-51: Tear Down This Wall
55: Harriet Tubman emancipates herself and begins freeing slaves via the Underground Railroad.
54: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies of a brain hemorrhage; Vice President Harry S. Truman assumes the presidency.
53: At the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, President Reagan challenges Soviet leader Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall." ft. speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, Murdoch Dist
60-56: Hamilton vs. Burr
60: The Galveston Hurricane makes landfall, killing anywhere from 6,000 to 12,000 people. It remains the deadliest natural disaster in American history.
59: Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting for the first time in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
58: War of 1812: Americans defending the key city of Baltimore mark a turning point in the war, inspiring Francis Scott Key to pen "The St
65-61: The Watergate Scandal
65: Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel is victim of a break in. The burglars are captured. The ensuing scandal would result in President Richard Nixon becoming the first U.S. President to resign from office following the Watergate Scandal. Vice President Gerald Ford is sworn in as President ft. History Professor at Chapman University Luke A. Nichter, co-author of The Nixon Tapes series
70-66: The Last Days of Martin Luther King Jr.
70: WWI: The RMS Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat, killing 1,198. Two years later, in 1917, the U.S. declares war on Germany (they would later declare war on Austria-Hungary) ft. Historian, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, & Author of The First World War, Sir Hew Strachan.
69: Martin Luther King Jr. gives his "Mountain
75-71: The Challenger Disaster
75: Robert F. Kennedy is shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan after a victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, CA
76: President Andrew Johnson's attempt to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin Stanton results in his Impeachment by the House. He is acquitted by the Senate by one vote
77: The Great Chicago Fire, as well as three others, displaced nearly 100k people, while
80-76: Assassination Attempt in Butler
80: 52 American hostages are released from Iran after 444 days in captivity ft. Fox News Contributor and Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent James Gagliano.
79: President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law. The most impactful of the New Deal initiatives
78: President Trump is shot while campaigning at an outdoor rally in Butler, PA. The former president
85-81: Roe v. Wade Overturned
85: Former President Theodore Roosevelt is shot on his way to a speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Not only did Roosevelt survive but he gave (an abridged version of) the speech
84: The Supreme Court decides in Roe v. Wade that states could no longer ban abortions
83: The Supreme Court rules that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion this decision overrules 1973's
90-86: The Forgotten War
90: The infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped and later found murdered
89: Korean War: North Korean forces invade South Korea, America sends troops to intervene ft. President of Geopolitics and Foreign Policy at CSIS, Georgetown University Professor, & author of China's Weaponization of Trade .
88: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white person
95-91: “Oh, The Humanity”
95: German airship The Hindenburg bursts into flames while mooring in Lakehurst, New Jersey killing 35
94: President Reagan is shot by John Hinckley Jr - Reagan would survive the attempt along with two others that were injured in the attack ft. Emeritus Professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval War College, Dr. Stephen F. Knott.
93: War in Afghan
100-96: Breaking The Color Barrier
100: Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier, becoming the first Black man to play Major League Baseball ft. President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Bob Kendrick.
99: Zachary Taylor dies in office. Millard Fillmore becomes President
98: The USS Maine explodes off the coast of Cuba killing 266 escalating tensions that lead to the Spanish-American War ft. Walton
105-101: The Peaceful Transfer Of Power
105: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of espionage and sentenced to death ft. Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research & author of Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy, Anne Sebba.
104: Alaska is purchased by Secretary of State William Seward from Russia for $7.2M. It is lampooned as Seward's Folly
103: In
110-106: What Hath God Wrought
110: President Johnson signs The Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law abolishing racial segregation
109: Samuel Morse demonstrates electric telegraphy for the first time. Six years later in 1844 - "What hath God wrought" Samuel Morse sends his first telegraph message from Washington to Baltimore ft. Curator of Electricity Collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
115-111: Operation Desert Storm
115: Andrew Carnegie consolidates all of his business under one umbrella with the Carnegie Steel Company
114: President Roosevelt signs an executive order directing the internment of Japanese Americans
113: President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland ft. Executive Vice President & Provost at UT Austin and Author of The P
120-116: The Right To Vote
120: Homegrown terrorists Timothy McVeigh and accomplice Terry Nichols set of a bomb at the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK killing 168 people including 19 children
119: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill setting off the California Gold Rush ft. Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Anthea Hartig.
125-121: Lady Liberty
125: Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer is killed by Native American forces led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at the Battle of Little Bighorn ft. Author of Vengeance: The Last Stands of Custer, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull, Tom Clavin.
124: President Lincoln signs the National Banking Act into law establishing plan for a national currency backed by securities
123: T
130-126: Cops And Robbers
130: The 18th Amendment authorizing Prohibition is passed. Prohibition would be repealed in 1933 with the passage of the 21st Amendment
129: Gangland: A shootout between policemen led by Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow end in the deaths of the bank robbers. Gangster and Public Enemy No. 1 John Dillinger is killed by FBI agents outside the Biograph Theater in Ch
135-131: Socially Distant
135: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery
134: Four Black students in Greensboro, NC begin a sit in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter
133: America's fourth largest bank Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11, kicking off a month of possible worldwide economic collapse ft Former US Attorney, Senior Partner at Jenner & Block, & Court-Appointed Ban
140-136: The Wild West
140: Jesse James and his gang commit the first train robbery in the American West in Adair, Iowa. In 1876 Lawman Wyatt Earp begins work as a peace officer in Dodge City, KS. The same year outlaw Wild Bill Hickok is shot dead during a poker game in Deadwood, Dakota. In 1881 Tombstone, AZ is sight of the gunfight at the OK Corral. And in 1882 the legendary Jesse James is killed by fellow outlaw Robe
145-141: Peace With Honor
145: Vietnam War: The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war ends
144: President Eisenhower sends federal troops to Arkansas to escort Black students into a newly integrated Little Rock Central High School. Three years later in 1960 Ruby Bridges becomes the first Black child to attend an all white elementary school. ft. Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas at Little Ro
150-146: The Golden Spike
150: Whiskey Rebellion - President Washington mobilizes a federal army to put down an insurrection in western Pennsylvania ft. Historian, Lecturer at Robert Morris University, Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Revolution, and author of The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis, Brady J. Crytzer
149: Truck bombs kill 241 American servicemen in Beirut, Leban
155-151: Miracle On The Hudson
155: US Airways Flight 1549 loses both of its engines after striking a flock of birds. Pilot Chesley Sullenberger successfully lands the plane in the Hudson River saving all 155 passengers. ft. Resilience Partners Group’s Chief Strategy Officer, Best-selling author, & Last Passenger off US Airways Flight 1549, Dave Sanderson.
154: U.S. Supreme Court finds Standard Oil to be a monopoly and ord
160-156: The Gold Standard
160: Black Monday - DJIA falls 508 points - 22.6%, its largest single day percentage drop in history
159: The Land Act of 1820 lowers prices in the Missouri and Northwest territories with the goal of encouraging western movement ft. Director of The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Professor Emeritus of History, & Author of The Public Lands in Jacksonian Politics, Dr. Daniel Feller.
158: Members
165-161: Trial of the Century
165: The first televised presidential debate takes place between Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon ft. Author of Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail, Alan Schroeder
164: Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murdered in Los Angeles. The prime suspect former running back O.J. Simpson evades capture by leading police on a low-speed chase before his even
170-166: The Perfect Crime
170: Al Qaeda suicide bombers crash a small craft into the USS Cole killing 17 sailors ft. Former USS Cole Commander Kirk Lippold
169: The last draft lottery for the US military is held
168: Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization - a process to strengthen rubber
167: In a crime that outraged the nation, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb murder 14 year old Bobby Franks ft Pro
175-171: The Rough Riders
175: Bleeding Kansas escalates as anti and pro slavery forces take up arms in the Wakarusa War
174: Amelia Earhart disappears after taking off from New Guinea
173: The FBI raids a compound in Waco, Texas led by cult leader David Koresh. A fire breaks out during the raid killing 76 Branch Davidian members including at least 20 children ft Retired FBI Special Agent and former HRT Operator, C
180-176: Ike’s Farewell Warning
180: President Eisenhower in his farewell address warns against the power of a "military industrial complex" ft. Founding Director of the Eisenhower Institute and Author of How Ike Led, Susan Eisenhower
179: The Donner Party becomes snowbound
178: Riots break out in Los Angeles following the not guilty verdict in the Rodney King case. 63 people were killed 12k people arrested and $1B worth
185-181: Bush v. Gore
185: Samuel Colt receives a patent for his revolver
184: The Missouri Compromise becomes law: admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state
183: 2000 Presidential Election ends in controversy with numerous lawsuits in the state of Florida and ending with a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. George Bush defeats Al Gore for the Presidency ft. FOX News Contributor and former White Ho
190-186: The iPhone Empire
190: Apple CEO Steve Jobs announces the first iPhone ft. former Senior Vice President of Apple Computer, & author of best-selling books The Steve Jobs Way, & Leading Apple with Steve Jobs, Jay Elliot
189: Simultaneous bombings at US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania kill 224 and injure 4,500. The bombings are attributed to the al Qaeda terror network led by Osama bin L
195-191: Empire State of Mind
195: Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger
194: George Eastman founds the Eastman Kodak Company
193:The Empire State Building is completed displacing the Chrysler Building as the world's tallest ft. Architectural Historian & Author, Anthony W. Robins
192: Radical abolitionist John Brown leads a raid on the Harper's Ferry Armory. The
200-196: I’m Lovin’ It
Featured Moments:
200: Entrepreneur Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Illinois, ft. biographer and author of Ray & Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald's Fortune and the Woman Who Gave it all Away, Lisa Napoli
199: An American U2 spy plane is shot down over the Soviet Union. Pilot Gary Powers successfully ejects and is captured.
198: Hurricane Katrina slams into the Gul
205-201: The Four Faces
Featured moments:
205: Somali rebels shoot down two US Black Hawk helicopters. The ensuing firefight sees 18 US soldiers dead
204:Twenty children aged 6 and 7 and six teachers are killed in a school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT ft. Molly Line, Fox News Correspondent and onsite reporter during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
203: NASA announces its
210-206: Terror Over Lockerbie
Featured moments:
210: 46 year old George Floyd is killed by police during an arrest in Minneapolis, MN - the bystander video sparks nationwide outrage resulting in the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement resulting in social justice protests, but also riots, looting and deaths
209: January 6th: Supporters of President Trump storm Capitol Hill while Congress was attempting to certify th
215-211: A House of Cards
Featured moments:
235: The Coors Brewing Company begins producing beer in Golden, CO. Three years later Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, MO markets their pale lager for the first time.
234: President Trump becomes the first sitting US president to set foot on North Korean soil during a meeting at the DMZ
233: Former Beatle John Lennon is murdered in front of his New York City apart
220-216: A Miracle On Ice
Featured moments:
220: FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia ft. Eric O'Neill, lawyer, cybersecurity expert, former FBI counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence operative
219: US National Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union in the "Miracle on Ice". Americans would go on to win Gold in the event ft. Mike Eurzione, former Captain of the USA Olympic Hockey
225-221: The Whole World Is Watching
Featured moments:
225: Oil tanker Exxon Valdez spills roughly 240k barrels of oil after running aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound ft. Climate journalist and author, Charles Wohlforth
224: A bomb explodes at Northwestern University injuring a security guard. This would be the first Unabomber attack by Ted Kaczynski
223: The Democratic National Convention in Chicago turns violent a
230-226: Boston Strong
Featured moments:
230: Against protests in the South, President Theodore Roosevelt invites Booker T. Washington to the White House ft. Brian Kilmeade, Co-host of Fox & Friends, Host of The Brian Kilmeade Show, Author of Teddy and Booker T.
229: Western Union is founded
228: Activist Malcolm X is assassinated in New York by members of the Nation of Islam
227: Two deadly explosions a
235-231: The Chicago Way
Featured moments:
235: The Alien and Sedition Acts become U.S. law making it a crime to transmit malicious statements against the government
234: Google Inc is founded in Menlo Park, CA by Larry Page and Sergey Brin
233: Space Shuttle Columbia explodes upon reentry over Texas killing all on board ft. Former Shuttle Launch Director at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, Michael Leinbac
240-236: You've Got Mail!
Featured moments:
240: Iraq War: President Obama announces an end to combat operations as the last combat troops leave Iraq
239: America Online or AOL becomes the world's most dominant online service with over 34 million subscribers ft. Chairman and CEO of Revolution and Co-Founder of AOL, Steve Case
238: Charles Dow publishes the first version of The Dow Jones Industrial Average
2
245-241: A Really Big Show
Featured moments:
245: Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time
244: Anne Sullivan begins teaching Helen Keller
243: The Liberty Bell is cracked while being rung on George Washington's birthday
242: ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is killed in a US Special Forces raid ft. Former CENTCOM Commander, General Frank McKenzie
241: Beatlemania begins, "I Want
250-246: Breaking Barriers
Featured moments:
250: Less than a month after his concerning debate with former President Trump, President Biden drops out of the 2024 presidential race and endorses Vice President Kamala Harris ft. Anchor of The Story and Host of The Untold Story podcast, Martha MacCallum
249: The final episode of M*A*S*H becomes the most watched television broadcast in American history
248: The Boston
Trailer
History isn't just what we read in textbooks - it's the story of us, the United States. As America celebrates its 250th birthday, Bill Hemmer brings listeners compelling interviews with historians, experts, and eyewitnesses who detail the triumphs, trials, and breakthroughs that defined our nation. In order to understand where the country's heading, it's important to know where we've been. New epi
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