Accessibility links
History History

History

Wednesday

The handheld video game console Game Boy manufactured by Nintendo in 1989.

The handheld video game console Game Boy manufactured by Nintendo in 1989. Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images

Moments in history

In 1989, a big gray brick with a tiny monochrome screen became gaming's new smash hit

In 1989, a big gray brick with a tiny monochrome screen became gaming's new smash hit. Nintendo's Game Boy revolutionized portable gaming. As part of NPR's special series of historical moments, a NPR reporter spoke to business executives turned Game Boy fans in 1990.

In 1989, a big gray brick with a tiny monochrome screen became gaming's new smash hit - NPR App

Monday

Edith Bouvier Beale at her home "Grey Gardens" in January 1972 in New York.

Edith Bouvier Beale at her home "Grey Gardens" in January 1972 in New York. A 1975 documentary by that name explores the reclusive lives of Beale and her mother, living in their dilapidated house with over 50 cats. Tom Wargacki/WireImage hide caption

toggle caption
Tom Wargacki/WireImage

Pop Culture

JD Vance went viral for ‘cat lady’ comments. The centuries-old trope has a long tail

Vance lamented the country being run by "a bunch of childless cat ladies," including Vice President Harris. The trope has dogged women since the Middle Ages.

Sunday

6-year-old Leona Tate is escorted by US Marshals from McDonogh 19 Elementary School in New Orleans on Nov. 15, 1960.

Six-year-old Leona Tate is escorted by U.S. Marshals from McDonogh 19 Elementary School in New Orleans on Nov. 15, 1960. AP hide caption

toggle caption
AP

National

Desegregation pioneer Leona Tate preserves civil rights history in New Orleans

One of the first Black students to attend an all-white school in the Deep South is preserving the Lower 9th Ward elementary school she helped integrate in 1960 as a civil rights center.

Desegregation pioneer Leona Tate preserves civil rights history in New Orleans

Listen · 9:11
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5034298/nx-s1-8347841a-b33b-47f9-8b47-02e259657710" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
On the left side of this photo, James Baldwin's face is painted on a decorative bookcase inside the Baldwin & Co. bookstore in New Orleans. On the right are books arranged on rows of bookshelves.

James Baldwin's face is painted on a decorative bookcase inside the Baldwin & Co. bookstore in New Orleans. Neda Ulaby/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Neda Ulaby/NPR

Books

A bookstore named for James Baldwin is counting down to his 100th birthday

James Baldwin died in 1987. Baldwin & Co. is a Black-owned bookstore and community hub in New Orleans. "His literature, his perspective, his insight ... have changed my life," says owner DJ Johnson.

A bookstore named for James Baldwin is counting down to his 100th birthday

Listen · 3:58
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5020708/nx-s1-955af89c-3880-495d-a333-c884b2c0ee6e" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

We The People: Free Speech
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Throughline

We The People: Free Speech

The First Amendment. Book bans, disinformation, the wild world of the internet. Free speech debates are all around us. What were the Founding Fathers thinking when they created the First Amendment, and how have the words they wrote in the 18th century been stretched and shaped to fit a world they never could have imagined? It's a story that travels through world wars and culture wars. Through the highest courts and the Ku Klux Klan. Today on Throughline's We the People: What exactly is free speech, and how has the answer to that question changed in the history of the U.S.? (Originally ran as The Freedom of Speech)

We The People: Free Speech

Listen · 48:52
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198909039/1256166447" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

The Creeping Coup
AFP via Getty Images

Throughline

The Creeping Coup

Sudan has been at the center of a deadly and brutal war for over a year. It's the site of the world's largest hunger crisis, and the world's largest displacement crisis.

The Creeping Coup

Listen · 50:25
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198909021/1255850345" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Workmen search the debris of what was the carpenter shop on the pier at Port in Chicago, Calif., on July 18, 1944, after the building was leveled by the explosion of two munition ships on the evening of July 17. Other buildings on the waterfront and in the town itself were shattered by the blast, which was felt 50 miles from the scene.

Workmen searched through the debris of what was the carpenter shop on the pier at Port in Chicago, Calif. on July 18, 1944, after the building was leveled by the explosion of two munition ships the evening of July 17. Other buildings on the waterfront and in the town itself were shattered by the terrific blast, which was felt 50 miles from the scene. EKB/AP hide caption

toggle caption
EKB/AP

National

The Navy exonerates 256 Black sailors unjustly punished over 1944 WWII port explosion

The blast that happened at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California killed 320 people and injured 400 more.

Tested: Questions of a Physical Nature
Dani Pendergast for NPR

Embedded

Tested: Questions of a Physical Nature

Episode 2: We go back almost 100 years, to the beginning of women's inclusion in elite sports. It turns out that men had an odd variety of concerns about women athletes. Some doubted these athletes were even women at all. And their skepticism resulted in the first policies requiring sex testing. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Tested: Questions of a Physical Nature

Listen · 34:03
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1216507600/1255707502" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 2

B.A. Parker at Somerset Place plantation as a child. Courtesy of B.A. Parker hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of B.A. Parker

Code Switch

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 2

Every summer B.A. Parker returns to Creswell, North Carolina, where her family still has a farm. But she's mostly avoided actually going to the nearby site where her ancestors were enslaved. This week, we revisit the second of two episodes, where Parker and her mom decide to go back to the plantation.

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 2

Listen · 34:19
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197958205/1255759445" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Sunday

A would-be assassin targets Trump. What it could mean for America.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Analysis

Consider This from NPR

A would-be assassin targets Trump. What it could mean for America.

Shortly after 6pm on Saturday, a would-be assassin took aim at former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

A would-be assassin targets Trump. What it could mean for America.

Listen · 12:00
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198912902/1255676167" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Introducing Tested from NPR and CBC
Illustration by Luke Medina/NPR; Photo/Getty Images

Embedded

Introducing Tested from NPR and CBC

Who gets to compete? Since the beginning of women's sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women's category. Tested follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race as women, because of their biology. As the Olympics approach, they face hard choices: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entirely, or fight. To understand how we got here, we trace the surprising, 100-year history of sex testing. Tested is a new 6-part series from NPR's Embedded and CBC. Hosted by journalist Rose Eveleth, it launches July 15, ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games. Embedded+ supporters enjoy early and ad-free access.

Listen.

Listen · 2:58
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1253921751/1255526790" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

President Joe Biden pauses while speaking during a NATO 75th anniversary celebratory event at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium on July 9 in Washington, D.C. NATO leaders convene in Washington this week for its annual summit to discuss their future strategies and commitments, and marking the 75th anniversary of the alliance's founding.

President Joe Biden pauses while speaking during a NATO 75th anniversary celebratory event at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium on July 9 in Washington, D.C. NATO leaders convene in Washington this week for its annual summit to discuss their future strategies and commitments, and marking the 75th anniversary of the alliance's founding. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Politics

Biden confronts his own LBJ’s choice

Biden's Democratic critics have compared his achievements to that of President Lyndon B. Johnson, while noting LBJ had bowed out in the best interests of the party and the country and provided a model for others.

The Roots of Poverty in America
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Analysis

Throughline

The Roots of Poverty in America

The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet over 10 percent of people – nearly 40 million – live in poverty. It's something we see, say, if we live near a tent encampment. And it's also something we feel. More than a third of people in the U.S. say they're worried about being able to pay their rent or mortgage. Medical bills and layoffs can change a family's economic status almost overnight.

The Roots of Poverty in America

Listen · 49:53
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198908997/1255488278" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Within a brown rectangular photo frame is an old black-and-white daguerreotype of Dolley Madison, who appears from the waist up in a dark dress with a shawl over her shoulders. She is wearing a head covering made from a light-colored cloth.

This circa 1846 daguerreotype of Dolley Madison, made by John Plumbe Jr., was purchased for $456,000 at auction in June. Sotheby's hide caption

toggle caption
Sotheby's

This portrait of Dolley Madison might be the first photo of a first lady

The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., acquired the circa 1846 daguerreotype, which depicts Dolley Madison in her later years, at some point in her 70s.

The Smithsonian acquires the earliest known portrait of an American first lady

Listen · 2:08
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5034050/nx-s1-7737dfe4-e795-475a-bcce-c0230c22ae47" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript