Amazing Tales About History

The Catastrophic Night When Not One, But Two Dams Gave Way

It was a horrific disaster. Two earthen dams, built in the 1800s, collapsed. It sent 140 million gallons of water barreling down into Danbury, Connecticut. The tragic deaths and mind-numbing property damage that it caused devastated the city - and worried reservoir managers nationwide about the safety of relatively new earthen dams.

The Show Must Go On - Even Outdoors

Outdoor theater. Beautiful for the audience. Challenges galore for the staff. One operation has been at it for 37 straight summers. The actors and director share their tales about the challenges, mishaps, and pure satisfaction of outdoor theater.

Keeping The Grange Alive in the 21st Century

They're an institution. Grange Halls are where agricultural communities gather to socialize and swap farming tips. As farming continues to cease in the northeast, the future of The Grange faces challenges. Their evolution into providing broad community support may be the key to their future.

The World is His Oyster

It's been a primary U.S. food source for centuries. Native Americans cultivated the Eastern Oyster from Long Island Sound. European settlers did the same. New Haven, Connecticut was once the Oyster Capital of the World. Today, oyster harvesting is challenged by pollution, but aqua-culture is making inroads.

She Put the Alice in Alice’s Restaurant

Arlo Guthrie's ballad Alice's Restaurant. The anti-Vietnam War folk song focused on a Massachusetts restaurant owner named Alice, and the arrest of Guthrie and a friend for littering after throwing debris from her house in a ravine on Thanksgiving Day. In this episode, an interview with the late Alice Brock.

Hippies, Zealots or Entrepreneurs - The Odd Sandemanian Religion

The Sandemanian religious order was active for 200 years in Europe and the U.S., before going extinct. Congregants were known as “kissites” for their nearly hippie-like practices at services. Yet, they produced many successful businessmen during the 1700-1800s.

The Gruesome Woodchipper Murder Case

It was one of the most gruesome murder stories in history. The movie Fargo based its notorious murder scene on the case. A Connecticut man murdered his wife and then placed her body through a wood chipper. The case was solved with meticulous forensic work and a dedicated private eye.

PART 2: A Trail Like No Other - It Brought Us Freedom

French Commander Rochambeau marched 680 miles from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia with his 5,000-troop army to help America win its revolution. Along the way, George Washington had to make an unbelievably important military decision – without sufficient information – that literally changed the course of history.

PART 1: A Trail Like No Other - It Brought Us Freedom

It’s called The Rochambeau Trail. 680 miles from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia. French General Rochambeau marched his 5,000 troops to help George Washington's Patriot Army beat the British in the Revolutionary War. The logistics of this march were complex, as were France's reasons for helping America.

The Mad Hatters and Their Major Supreme Court Case

Monopolies. Under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, they're supposed to be illegal. What about unions? Do they monopolize the labor they represent? This novel legal argument went to the Supreme Court in the early 1900s. A hat factory owner said he should be able to sue the union for damages.