American history

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Dr David Clarke explains how the idea of extra-terrestrials in mysterious flying saucers developed from its origins in the Cold War to become an enduring modern myth. (Image by Getty Images)

The history and mystery of UFOs . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Japanese Americans in World War Two | Daniel James Brown podcast

Forgotten heroes: Japanese Americans in World War Two . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Anne Sebba explores the life of Ethel Rosenberg, who was executed for espionage in one of the most sensational and controversial episodes of the Cold War. (Image by Getty Images)

The trials of Ethel Rosenberg . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A drag queen applies lipstick in this 1959 photograph

Q&A Who was the first person to call themselves a ‘drag queen’?

A photograph of President John Quincy Adams

Q&A What’s the oldest photo of a US president?

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Steven Johnson explores innovations in science and public health that have led to huge increases in life expectancy.

Why are we living longer than our ancestors? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Ayanna Thompson discusses the history of blackface – a story spanning William Shakespeare, US race relations and Dartmoor Prison. (Image by Getty Images)

Blackface: a brief history . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Statue of Liberty in New York. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Quiz American history

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Mark Atwood Lawrence responds to readers’ questions about the United States’ failure to stem the advance of communism in Vietnam. (Image by Getty Images)

The Vietnam War: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Serhii Plokhy discusses the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and reveals just how close the world came to nuclear disaster. (Image by Getty Images)

How close to nuclear war did the Cuban Missile Crisis get? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Historian Timothy Hickman answers listener questions about the ban on booze in 1920s America, from speakeasies and moonshine to Al Capone’s shady dealings. (Image by Getty Images)

Prohibition: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The historical drama series Outlander, based on a series of novels by Diana Gabaldon, has become a TV phenomenon. (Image by Outlander/Starz)

Outlander: the real history that inspired the time-slip drama

Young civil rights activists sit in defiance at a ‘whites only’ lunch counter in Oklahoma City, 1958

Jim Crow in the United States: a brief guide to the racial segregation laws

A broker looks at his screens at Frankfurt's stock exchange on 15 September 2008. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/AFP/Getty Images)

The 2008 financial crisis explained

A flapper shows off her hidden bottles of alcohol

The morning after: the impact of prohibition