The Fall of Constantinople, also known  as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of  the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453  as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun on 6  April. The city's collapse marked the end of the Middle Ages. The  attacking Ottoman Army, which significantly outnumbered Constantinople's  defenders, was commanded by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II, while the  Byzantine army was led by Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. After  conquering the city, Mehme ..read more

Special Thanks to Dan Buck of DarkTyme for appearing as a guest in today's episode! Make sure to check out DarkTyme: Stories from the Future!  http://darktyme.com/  Prohibition in the United States focused on the manufacture,  transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages;  exceptions were made  for medicinal and religious uses. Alcohol consumption was never illegal  under federal law. Nationwide Prohibition did not begin in the United  States until January 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The 18th amendment wa ..read more

We wanted to thank Kathy Joseph once again for appearing as a guest on this week's episode. We had a great time discussing with her about Michael Faraday, otherwise known to Kathy as the father of Electricity. Make sure to check out her latest book, The Lightning Tamers: True Stories of the Dreamers and Schemers Who Harnessed Electricity and Transformed Our World , amazon now!  https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Tamers-Harnessed-Electricity-Transformed/dp/B0B4KMYGP8 Short description of the book:  You flick on a light without thinking about it. But what about the  fascinating and ..read more

First of all, we wanted to thank Peter Shea for guest staring with us today! Author of In the Arena: A History of American Presidential Hopefuls, Shea and photographer Tom Maday go into the legacies and histories of the many presidential candidates that were nominated by their parties, but unable to reach the oval office. Peter Shea tells of the rise, early career, campaign and later achievements of historical giants like Aaron Burr and Henry Clay, up through modern candidates Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. A foreword by 1988 candidate Michael Dukakis gives readers more personal insight into ..read more

Queen Elizabeth died recently on the 8th of September, 2022. She was the longest living and longest reining British monarch in history. She died at the age of 96. King Charles III, her eldest son, is the new reigning monarch. He's unpopular with the British people. With the current economic struggles in Britain, it's curious to see how King Charles the III will deal with those issues. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want to discuss this further, or just want to contact us? Reach us on our socials! Twitter: @BackToThePastP1 http ..read more

The automobile was invited at the end of the 19th century by Karl Benz. Henry Ford would make it affordable to the masses with his Model T, which was made affordable by the invention of a new manufacturing method called the assembly line. Following the Great War, the way travel occurred would change forever. Cars could be seen all over. Instead of the horse buggy, this new horseless gas carriage would be moving people and products through cities and across the country. And although the world would adopt cars to move from A to B, America is especially impacted by it with its car culture and tru ..read more

Recently, on 30 August 2022, Gorbachev died at a hospital in Moscow. Gorbachev was the leader of the soviet union at the time during the 80's and 90's into the fall of the Soviet Union. His policies were game changing with his allowance of a more open and freer society, and economic freedoms unseen in any communist nation of the time period. His influence is essential in the game of the 80s that would end the Cold War. In this episode, we talk about the end of the Cold War, from significant events and people, to the tensions of the time period. Let us know if you enjoyed this type of episode ..read more

After the Second World War, the United States would never stay at home again. All around the world, the US would protect democracies, big and small, all over. Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cuba, and Latin America are just some regions in the world that the US did or attempted to get involved. Twenty years of US foreign policy before the Second World War was completely changed. US interventionism was an integral part of global history after the second world war.  Imagine a world where the United States decided to take a step back and for the most part, mind its own business in reference to ..read more

Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. (September 8, 1889 – July 31, 1953) was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the Republican Party's Taft family. Taft represented Ohio in the United States Senate, briefly served as Senate Majority Leader, and was a leader of the conservative coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats who prevented expansion of the New Deal. Often referred to as "Mr. Republican", he cosponsored the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947, which banned closed shops, created the concept of right-to-work states, and regulated other labor practices. He also emerged as a prominent no ..read more

The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between  129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict. In the final year of World War II, the Allies prepared for a costly invasion of the Japanese mainland. This undertaking was preceded by a conventional and firebombing campaign that devastated 67 Japanese cities. The war in Europe concluded when Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945, and the Allies turned thei ..read more