Hourly History

At one point, the Japanese Empire was one of the largest the world had ever seen, governing almost 20 percent of the total population of the Earth. One of the most striking features of this empire was the rapidity with which it grew....

President Franklin D. Roosevelt described December 7, 1941, the date when the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the United States while the two countries were still officially at peace, as a day that would live in infamy....

D-Day, June 6, is one of the most significant dates in the calendar. The 20th century's fate hung in the balance as Nazi Germany had marched across Europe....

The Battle of Okinawa was the deadliest campaign of the Pacific during World War II. The Americans had come back from the demoralizing defeat at Pearl Harbor to mount a ferocious attack against the Japanese....

Sean Connery is still well remembered for his role in the epic James Bond series. Although we often picture him as a smooth, daring, and debonair agent, surviving all manner of incredible stunts, Sean Connery was more than just James Bond....

The legendary French designer Coco Chanel was born in 1883. She changed the way women thought about fashion and themselves; her dresses were meant to free women of the corset and allow them to move freely and elegantly....

The Hundred Years War was a series of conflicts waged between England and France between 1337 and 1453. The war involved several generations of kings on both sides and was fought over a single issue: whether the English had the right to rule the kingdom of France....

The Great Famine which afflicted Ireland from 1845 to 1849 was one of the most catastrophic events in Europe during the 19th century. More than one-quarter of the population of Ireland died of starvation or associated disease, or were forced to emigrate....

The archetypal starving artist, Vincent van Gogh died at 37 by his own hand, poor, isolated, and, in his eyes, a failure. Yet, in Vincent’s life story we can see the evolution of a boy becoming a man becoming a great artist, whether his contemporaries could see it at the time or not....

Few military conquests lead to truly lasting cultural, political, religious, or societal change. Countries are often occupied by stronger nations, but as those inevitably decline, independence is reasserted and the country usually resumes its previous form....

The most notorious man in history, Adolf Hitler, is best known for having perpetrated crimes against humanity over the six-year course of World War II....

Thomas Edison passed on many decades ago, but his inventions still echo loudly through time. If you watch TV, listen to your favorite songs, or simply click on the lamp next to your bed, it was Thomas Edison who brought all of these innovations into the world....

William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, permanently changing the landscape of the English countryside and the course of English history. No one debates his importance; whether the influence was good or bad is a much more involved conversation....

As the heir to the Spanish Empire of his father Charles V, Philip II came into this world with some rather big shoes to fill. Eventually, Philip would prove himself in his own right even though he turned out to be a much different ruler than his father....

James I of England and VI of Scotland was the first king to rule both countries. He was faced with division between his realms and caught between the religious wars of the Reformation....

What would become the Russian Empire began in the ninth century. In 1682, a new tsar took over the nation that had become known as Russia. Peter I, remembered as Peter the Great, transformed the country, and in 1721, he adopted the title of emperor....

Steve Jobs is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic innovators and entrepreneurs of modern times. A great thinker, his tremendous vision was able to help fashion much of the world in which we live....

Anaïs Nin was an influential and acclaimed writer best known for her diaries that cover six decades from the 1910s to the 1970s. In addition to her famous journals, her works include novels, essays, poetry, studies, and erotica - many of which remain popular to this day....

For such a destructive war, the Thirty Years’ War is not well-known, and yet it changed the geopolitical face of Europe as well as the role of religion and nation-states in society. This audiobook tells the compelling story of the Thirty Years’ War....

Henry VII was not destined to be the well-known (or perhaps better described as infamous) king that his son was after him, but his place in history remains important....