History

WWII Female Air Force Pilots Still Flying High

1:07pm January 11, 2014

by Daniel Hajek

From 1943 to 1944, the Women Airforce Service Pilots flew more than 60 million miles across the United States chartering soldiers, test-flying planes and conducting training exercises during World War II. The 1,102 female pilots were honored at the Rose Parade on Wednesday, with eight veteran pilots taking a ride atop their float.

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An overseer sits in the shade while workers collect coffee beans on a Brazilian plantation, circa 1750.

Books
Arts

How Coffee Influenced The Course Of History

3:49pm January 09, 2014

by Lydia Zuraw

Once people figured out how to roast the seeds of the Coffea plant in the 1400s, coffee took over the world. In doing so, it fueled creativity, revolutions, new business ventures, literature, music — and slavery.

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A poster advertises a stage adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, starring actor William Gillette in 1899.

Books
Arts

Sherlock's Expiring Copyright: It's Public Domain, Dear Watson

9:53am January 08, 2014

by NPR Staff

The famous sleuth has discovered that U.S copyright law is anything but elementary. A federal judge recently ruled that elements of the Sherlock Holmes characters are now both licensed property of the Doyle estate and in the public domain. The Doyle estate plans to appeal the decision.

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Early 20th century British maids worked long, hard days with little time off.

Books
Arts

Visible And Invisible: 'Servants' Looks At Life Downstairs

5:28pm January 02, 2014

Author Lucy Lethbridge explores the history of British servants through their diaries, letters and memoirs. She says, "What I found particularly fascinating was how ... butlers were so butlery"; the old caricature of the clever manservant and the silly master is one "butlers have appeared to play to the hilt."

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Mountain Gorillas, one of the first dioramas on which Fred Scherer apprenticed, completed in 1936.

Arts

In The Background: Art You May Never Notice

12:31am December 18, 2013

by Claire O'Neill

Why that unassuming museum art — which you'll find behind taxidermic bison and birds — deserves a closer look.

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William Wong (standing) poses with his parents and nephew in an old family photo. Wong's mother immigrated to the U.S. from China as his father's "sister" to bypass the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Chinese-American Descendants Uncover Forged Family Histories

12:30am December 18, 2013

by Hansi Lo Wang

The Chinese Exclusion Act, designed to prevent Chinese laborers from entering the country, prompted tens of thousands of people to use forged papers to enter the U.S. The law was repealed 70 years ago, but many Chinese-Americans are still piecing together their ancestors' true identities.

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Manischewitz-brined turkey centers the Thanksgivukkah feast, surrounded by challah-apple stuffing, sweet potato bourbon noodle kugel, horseradish-spiked mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts with pastrami and pickled onions, and latkes with cranberry applesau

Religion

Time To Mix Up The Manischewitz Turkey Brine For Thanksgivukkah

5:24pm December 16, 2013

by Deena Prichep

Jewish foodies say the flavors of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving are a culinary match made in heaven. And this Thanksgivukkah feast is especially sweet because it may not happen again for 80,000 years.

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JFK Had The Wit To Lampoon Himself

5:24pm December 16, 2013

Host Scott Simon looks back at the witticisms of President John F. Kennedy, with a little help from late night TV host and comedian Conan O'Brien.

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Blasting through powder on wooden, horsehide-bottomed skis, with a single pole for balance, an Altai skier shows off the skills and equipment his distant ancestors perfected.

Deep In China, 'Cowboys' Have Skied For Thousands Of Years

10:21am December 16, 2013

by NPR Staff

On wooden skis, the Tuvan people of Central Asia have been traversing the snow for at least 4,000 years. Travel writer Mark Jenkins went to the region for National Geographic, where he joined a group of lasso-wielding men on skis tracking elk.

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A South African boy stands in front of a mural of Nelson Mandela in Soweto, South Africa, earlier this month.

World News

South Africans Reflect On Mandela's 'Rainbow Nation'

7:39pm December 13, 2013

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Equality for all South Africans, regardless of race or color, was at the core of the struggle against apartheid. Nineteen years after Nelson Mandela was sworn in as the first black president in the country's first democratic elections, what is the status of race relations?

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