Not Your Century

Latest Episodes:

1953: Robin Hood Is a Commie! Nov 13, 2019

Show notes

Steal from the rich and give to the poor? That sounds like communism! And an Indiana official says the Prince of Thieves should be banned from textbooks. He isn't, but the controversy spawns the Green Feather Movement, an important moment in college campus activism.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1936: Bay Bridge Opens Nov 12, 2019

Show notes

Emperor Norton ordered a bridge to be built between San Francisco and Oakland via Yerba Buena Island in 1872. Now, more than a half-century later, that bridge opens in the most appropriate way: With a massive traffic jam.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1918 World War I Ends Nov 11, 2019

Show notes

The world erupts in celebration as Germany signs the Armistice, ending the fighting in the War to End All Wars. Hundreds of thousands pour into the streets all over the Bay Area, delirious with joy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1923: The Beer Hall Putsch Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and 600 of his followers take over a beer hall where Bavaria's military leader is speaking. The leader gives way, but the coup fizzles, and Hitler decides on a new strategy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1917: The Bolshevik Revolution Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

The Bolsheviks storm the Winter Palace and overthrow the Provisional Government in the second Russian Revolution of the year. A bloody civil war remained to be fought before the Soviet Union was established.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1968: Strike at San Francisco State Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

The Black Students Union and the Third World Liberation Front call a student strike to protest the lack of representation for people of color in the curriculum, faculty and administration. The strike will last into March and have a profound impact on American higher education.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1967: Ronald Reagan's "Gay Ring" Nov 05, 2019

Show notes

Washington columnist Drew Pearson accuses California's conservative governor of doing nothing about a gay sex scandal in his administration. Reagan denies it. But you'll never guess where the columnist got his information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1979: Iranians Storm U.S. Embassy Nov 04, 2019

Show notes

It's the start of the Iran Hostage Crisis, a 444-day episode that would convulse American politics and culture: Students loyal to revolutionary Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran and take more than 60 hostages.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1950: Assassins Target Truman Nov 01, 2019

Show notes

A pair of well-dressed men walk up to Blair House — the temporary presidential residence — and open fire. They're Puerto Rican nationalists, trying to assassinate President Harry Truman, who pokes his head out the window to check on the commotion.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1926: Death Shackles Houdini Oct 31, 2019

Show notes

The King of Magicians dies on Halloween. Of course he does. Joe Posnanski, author of the new biography "The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini," talks about what made Houdini great — which also might be what killed him.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected