The usual rules of fate do not apply': Race car driver-turned-ace WWI fighter pilot survives being lost at sea

What do you know about WWI's only Black fighter pilot?

This in-depth article follows the life of Eugene Bullard, a Black American nicknamed the "Black Swallow of Death" for his work in WWI. Though much of Bullard's life is known, some pieces, like what happened to Bullard's brother who vanished in the Jim Crow South, continue to escape historical record.

Six stories of survivors who fell from the sky

Rarely are there survivors when airplanes explode in air or crash due to the extreme speeds and elevation of the craft. Sometimes, though, people survive. Here are six stories of people who defied the odds and lived after falling from a plane.

Hear the story of the daring Doolittle Raid, America’s first strike back at Japan

This podcast recounts the 1942 Doolittle Raid, when US airmen launched a risky bombing mission over Japan just months after Pearl Harbor. The episode also highlights Jimmy Doolittle’s leadership, piloting skills, and his lifelong impact on aviation.

Watch how engineers salvaged almost every sunken ship at Pearl Harbor

This four-part video series explains the massive effort to raise, repair, and refloat the Pacific Fleet—detailing the engineering challenges, diving operations, and months of around-the-clock work that restored all but three damaged ships to active service.

An Irish soldier recounts the horrors of fighting in World War I

Jack Campbell, who died in 1992, at age 97, served in the British army during World War I with four of his older brothers. Ireland's last "Old Contemptible," Campbell was gassed during the course of the war, and he shares this and other memories on Ireland's 'The Late Late Show' in this 11-minute video.

John Riddell’s first helmet was adopted by college football teams in 1939

The early days of football were violent and there was little protection for players, especially their heads. When deaths became commonplace, John Riddell set out to invent a better way to protect football players. Eventually, the technology from Riddell’s helmets ended up on WWII battlefields.

One of Henry Ford's early vehicle prototypes broke an all-time speed record and got him the money to start Ford Motor Company

In 1904, Henry Ford raced the "999" across a frozen lake and reached an average speed of more than 90 miles per hour, beating the then-record for fastest land speed. Ford's success attracted the eyes of the earliest investors in the Henry Ford Company, Ford's company before he started Ford Motor Company.

How Seabiscuit's DNA made him a winner

Seabiscuit's sudden success in the sport has been framed as a classic against-the-odds sports story. One Binghamton University molecular physiologist wanted to go a bit deeper, though, to see how much genetics played a role in the horse's legendary career. Using the horse's silvered hooves, his research team discovered that Seabiscuit's genotype was typically associated with late bloomers, a finding confirmed by the horse's track record.

One US Marine fighter squadron made their own ice cream during World War II

To boost his squad’s morale during World War II, squadron commander J. Hunter Reinburg developed a method for making ice cream on the fly: Empty ammo cans filled with ingredients were flown at altitudes high enough for them to freeze.

With no textbooks or antibiotics, this WWI surgeon pioneered facial reconstruction

New Zealand surgeon Dr. Harold Gillies made extraordinary advances in the field of reconstructive surgery during World War I and after. This 36-minute NPR podcast interviews historian Lindsey Fitzharris, author of Gillie's biography, The Facemaker, charting how the good doctor reconstructed the faces of numerous soldiers in an age before antibiotics and plastic surgery as we know it today.

Radar saved the British Royal Air Force from Nazi air assaults

Radar technology—particularly the Chain Home early-warning system—enabled the RAF to detect incoming Luftwaffe raids up to 80 miles out, coordinate fighter deployments through the Dowding System, and achieve interception rates over 90%. This technological edge was pivotal in winning the Battle of Britain and halting Germany's air campaign.

A pet turtle survived a fatal barrel plunge over the falls

In 1930, George Stathakis died attempting a barrel stunt over the falls—but his 150-year-old pet turtle "Sonny" survived 24 hours trapped behind the cascade.

Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post created an idealized American life

The Saturday Evening Post’s circulation exploded in the early 20th century, due in no small part to Rockwell’s iconic cover illustrations, which often portrayed idyllic portraits of American life from the not-so-distant past. This documentary explores how Rockwell’s covers played on national nostalgia, creating a vision of the country that grew to be associated with the American Dream.

'Unfortunately, many people do not consider fun an important item on their daily agenda. For me, that was always a high priority in whatever I was doing.'

-Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier (1923-2020)

Hear about the rivalries and unlikely figures that defined the space race

American History Tellers explores the space race across four episodes, tracing stories from Wernher von Braun's push to turn missiles into rockets to the intrigue surrounding Apollo 11 and the moon landing that symbolized the race's end.

'Heroes always have their scars. Some you can see, some you read about later on.'

- Boxer George Foreman (1949 - 2025)

Vince Lombardi: the coach who put Green Bay on the map

Vince Lombardi experienced a legendary rise from his Brooklyn youth to the sidelines of Lambeau Field. His final years of life included a three-peat with the Green Bay Packers, his brief tenure as head coach in Washington, and a sudden, tragic death from cancer.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Washington's military acumen and political judgment were crucial to the Continental Army's success

In this podcast, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson argues that Washington's endurance, strategic communication, political judgment, and ability to elevate capable subordinates proved decisive, in sharp contrast to the failures of British leadership during the war.

A deep dive into the lives of Guinness World Record addicts

Most people don't hold any world records. Then, there's this group of adventurers, who are racing to own the most. A look at the ambitious world record pursuers racking up hundreds of accomplishments.

Spielberg improvised most of the iconic D-Day scene from 'Saving Private Ryan'

Although action sequences are often tightly choreographed, one of cinema's most famous war scenes was mostly shot on the fly. Spielberg wrote seven pages (or approximately seven minutes of screen time) for the scene, though the final cut of the sequence was 25 minutes long.

Why TikTok loves Rainer Maria Rilke

It seems like an odd fit: A social media app known for bite-sized videos and a long-dead Austrian poet. Despite the odds, Rilke, especially his famous "Letters to a Young Poet," has become an unexpected trend on TikTok, where influencers share his wisdom on creativity and self-discovery.

A lost Jack Kerouac story was discovered in the belongings of a gunned-down mob boss

The unpublished "The Holy, Beat, and Crazy Next Thing" was found in the belongings of Paul Castellano, who was murdered in 1985. It's unclear why Castellano had it, though an heir says it was originally in the collection of a "noted San Francisco-based poet...who received it directly from the author."

How the Great Depression and end of WWI paved the way for Hitler’s rise to power

The end of WWI was triggered by an armistice that blamed the conflict on Germany and required the financially struggling country to pay reparations. This outraged nationalists and ignited conspiracies that Hitler was able to capitalize on, according to this six-minute video. It was during this financial strain that the Great Depression hit.

Roosevelt left a White House dinner to fly over Washington with Amelia Earhart

In April 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart flew on a round trip from Washington to Baltimore in their evening gowns. Roosevelt, who had a long-standing interest in flying, had recently earned her student pilot's license.

Warren Buffett retired at the age of 95

Buffett said that he would pull back from his day-to-day role leading Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025. This long-form retrospective on his career paints him as an increasingly unique American role model.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.