15-Minute History

The old man lay in his bed surrounded by courtiers and family members. He had traveled from Rome to visit the place where his father had died many years ago, and now his own life was nearing its end. History records his last words as, “Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.” Caesar Augustus, the first citizen of Rome and the founder of an empire that outlasted him by over fourteen hundred years, departed this life peacefully. But his rise and reign had been anything but peaceful. Join us as we teach you about Ceasear Augustus, his life, and how his actions directed the rise of one of the largest empires in the history of the world. 

Join us as we answer your questions and discuss Joan of Arc. 

Arrows filled the sky above the battlefield and rained down on the French knights as they slogged through the mud in heavy armor. Their effect was devastating, and hundreds of France’s noblest men fell screaming as the English longbowmen poured fire into their ranks. The French commander urged his men forward, while at the other end of the field the King of England, Henry V, watched the battle with a smile on his scarred face. Soon, the English celebrated their great triumph at Agincourt on St. Crispin’s Day. It was perhaps the high-point in the long war between the two countries that had begun nearly a hundred years earlier over who would sit on the throne of France. England stood on the threshold of victory, and as its soldiers tended the wounded and drank to their fallen, no one in Henry’s army could know that a three-year-old girl living far to the southeast would one day turn the tide of war against them. Join us as we teach you about Joan of Arc and how she changed the course of history forever. Be sure to send us your questions for our discussion segment next week and if you feel so inclined, support the show by going to https://anchor.fm/15minutehistory/support. 

Join us as we discuss Mark Twain, his writings, his life, what we can learn from him, and his effect on history. 

The steamboat passed the port and he looked out at the brown, muddy water. The heat was failing and the humidity began to soak his clothes. Soon it would be twilight and the lighting bugs would begin to flash on the shoreline. As the boat moved downriver, he saw an old wooden raft hitched to a tree near the shore. It had a battered steering rudder, and the logs that were tied together looked so beaten he would have guessed it impossible to serve any function other than kindling. He watched the water move the raft back and forth and smiled to himself, thinking about the hands that made it and what possible experiences someone might have on a craft like that. He turned to the north in the direction they were heading and wondered how a craft like that could get up the river without capsizing. He wondered what would have happened if he had a craft like that. It didn’t make sense now, but it would have been wonderful for his youth. He wondered how he might have used it. He wondered, and he dreamed. Join us as we teach you about Mark Twain, his life, and his contribution to the literary world. 

In August 2019, The New York Times commemorated the four hundred-year anniversary of the first black Africans arriving in the New World by launching a long-form journalism project called the 1619 Project. Developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the project was designed to shift the focus of American history away from the American Revolution and hone in on the experiences of black Americans both before and after the Civil War. The 1619 Project immediately attracted both praise and criticism from historians and pundits alike and became another partisan football in the ongoing culture war that rages in the United States. There isn't time to address the many controversies that arose from the project in this episode, though I expect Joe will ask me about several in our discussion. Instead, for this final "what if" bonus episode, I want to look at how American history might be changed if what the 1619 Project's authors believe was factually true—what our country might have done differently if, as Nikole Hannah-Jones and others believe, the United States of America was actually founded to protect slavery and promote white supremacy.   What if, as the authors of the 1619 Project suggest, the United States was founded on oppression and slavery? Join us for our final episode in the "What if?" series as we explore this question.   Season Five of 15-Minute History will begin on Monday, October 4. 

Join us as we discuss the final episode in our "What if?" series, "The 1619 Project". 

From 1531-1532, Pizzaro and his group conquered and destroyed the Inca Civilization. Climbing the Andes Mountains, they probably never questioned the ability of the Inca Empire to feed itself in the absence of cattle and wheat. That was, by most estimations, the farthest thing from the mind of the conqueror. Amongst the riches they stole and the mining they conducted, a resource emerged that McNeill believes would have altered history had it not been discovered and transplanted throughout the world. That discovery was the potato.   What if Pizzaro hadn't brought the potato to Europe?    Join us as we continue asking "What if", discuss what might have happened if the conquistador had left the potato behind in the ruins of his conquest, and how such a decision would have changed the world we know today.    

Join us as we discuss, "What if" | Pizzaro and the Potato.

"Cortés and his men leapt across the breach in the causeway to pursue the fleeing Aztecs, only to see them turn and attack. Drawn into the trap, Cortés and sixty-eight other Spaniards were captured and dragged off, leaving scores of others dead on the road. Ten captives were killed immediately, and…the remaining fifty-eight were taken to the towering Great Temple, which could plainly be seen from the Spaniards' camp, made to dance before the statue of the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, and then, on by one, they were sacrificed…Cortés escaped this fate only through the intervention of Cristóbal de Olea, who sprang to his defense, killed the four Aztecs who were dragging him off, and freed his leader at the cost of his own life. The very conquest of Mexico hung on this single act." — Ross Hassig, "The Immolation of Hernán Cortés    What if Cortés had died on the causeway or at any other point in his dangerous career? Join us as we continue asking "What if", speak to what might have happened if the conquistador had met his end at the hands of those he sought to conquer, and how our world might be different today.