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Tuesday

National

Holocaust Database Helps Families Complete Stories

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Ancestry.com's World Memory Project allows people to sift online through hundreds of thousands of documents that previously required a painstaking manual search.

Holocaust Database Helps Families Complete Stories

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Friday

Health

A Tale Of Two Addicts: Freud, Halsted And Cocaine

In his book An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine, medical historian Howard Markel tells the story of how Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, and Halsted, the acclaimed surgeon, fell under the addictive spell of cocaine.

A Tale Of Two Addicts: Freud, Halsted And Cocaine

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Technology

Building 'The Big Roads'

In his new book The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways writer Earl Swift looks at the history and people behind the world's largest public works project — the U.S. interstate superhighway system.

Building 'The Big Roads'

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Science

Science Diction: The Origin Of 'Stethoscope'

The first stethoscope, invented by the French physician René Laennec, was simply a hollow wooden or ebony tube. Laennec named the device using the Greek roots stethos, or chest, and skopein, to look at or to observe. Medical historian Howard Markel discusses how Laennec came up with the invention. Unlike the stethoscope familiar to patients today, the original device was a simple tube.

Science Diction: The Origin Of 'Stethoscope'

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Wednesday

Humor & Fun

A Broken Record, And Other Sounds Kids Don't Know

Phones today beep and buzz. MP3s don't scratch. Noises that were once familiar, such as the clacking of manual typewriter keys or the ding of the gas station driveway bell, have all but vanished. Kara Kovalchik of MentalFloss.com shares these and other sounds your kids have probably never heard.

A Broken Record, And Other Sounds Kids Don't Know

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Oyster Ice Cream: A Thanksgiving Tradition Mark Twain Could Get Behind

Serve this for T-Day, and you'll be in sync with history. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

The Salt

Oyster Ice Cream: A Thanksgiving Tradition Mark Twain Could Get Behind

Oyster ice cream may be more traditional fare than many of the dishes we serve for Thanksgiving, says chef José Andrés. He's showcasing American food history in his collaboration with the National Archives. But modern diners can appreciate this briny treat, too.

Oyster Ice Cream: A Thanksgiving Tradition Mark Twain Could Get Behind

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Small Book, Big Story: Bronte Manuscript Discovered

Charlotte Bronte's recently discovered manuscript contains more than 4,000 words painstakingly crammed onto 19 pages, each measuring approximately 35-by-61 millimeters. Courtesy of Sotheby's hide caption

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Courtesy of Sotheby's

Book News & Features

Small Book, Big Story: Bronte Manuscript Discovered

The Bronte siblings created elaborate fantasy worlds. A recently discovered childhood manuscript by Charlotte Bronte reveals how vividly the worlds were imagined — and may provide clues to the later work.

Small Book, Big Story: Bronte Manuscript Discovered

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Friday

Tuesday

'Cherokee Patriots': Planning The Trail Of Tears

John Ridge, a prominent member of the Cherokee nation, thought voluntary migration was the best way for American Indians to retain their culture as U.S. settlers expanded westward in the 1830s. Library of Congress hide caption

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Library of Congress

Author Interviews

'Cherokee Patriots': Planning The Trail Of Tears

The forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans in the 1830s is taught in most classrooms, but few know the story behind the story. In An American Betrayal: Cherokee Patriots and the Trail of Tears, Daniel Blake Smith documents the series of decisions leading up to the relocation.

'Cherokee Patriots': Planning The Trail Of Tears

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Sunday

How Berlusconi Created A Country In His Image

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi acknowledges applause before leaving parliament's lower chamber in Rome on Saturday. Berlusconi resigned after the lower chamber passed an austerity package. Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images

Europe

How Berlusconi Created A Country In His Image

Silvio Berlusconi's resignation as prime minister marks the end of a political career that tainted Italy's international image and helped bring its economy to the brink of bankruptcy. A fraction of the scandals he endured would destroy political careers elsewhere, but Berlusconi held unprecedented control through a media empire.

How Berlusconi Created A Country In His Image

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Saturday

Opposition To Nazis Binds French Women In 'Train'
HarperCollins Publishers

Author Interviews

Opposition To Nazis Binds French Women In 'Train'

In January 1943, 230 women of the French Resistance were sent to Auschwitz. Only 49 of them came back. Journalist Caroline Moorehead's latest book chronicles the bond between the women that enabled them to make it through.

Opposition To Nazis Binds French Women In 'Train'

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Friday

How A Protest Led To The GI Bill

On July 28, officials sent in the Washington police to evict the marchers. The action was peaceful until someone threw a brick, the police reacted with force, and two bonus marchers were shot. The situation quickly spiraled out of control. The National Archives hide caption

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The National Archives

Radio Diaries

How A Protest Led To The GI Bill

When World War I veterans returned from overseas, they were promised a cash bonus for their service — but they wouldn't get their money until 1945. Then the Great Depression struck. Desperate for relief, in 1932 a group of veterans from Portland, Ore., went to Washington to demand early payment. The protests led to violence — and eventually the GI Bill.

How A Protest Led To The GI Bill

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Living To Tell The Horrible Tale Of Pearl Harbor

Battleships USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941.The attack initiated U.S. participation in World War II. National Archives hide caption

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National Archives

Opinion

StoryCorps

Living To Tell The Horrible Tale Of Pearl Harbor

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Thousands of Americans were killed that day. But Frank Curre, who was just a teenager when he enlisted in the Navy, survived the onslaught. He was assigned to the USS Tennessee.

Living To Tell The Horrible Tale Of Pearl Harbor

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