America’s Lost Funeral Trains | The Forgotten Tradition

The Free City of Danzig (German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; Kashubian: Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrounding areas. Today we discover what remains of the lost nations border marker.

8 Dec 202217min

Did you know that Chicago has a massive building with its own zip code? That's right, and in 1930, the Merchandise mart opened its doors to the world as the largest building in the world. The 4 million square foot area served such a large influx of visitors daily that it required its own L stop and connection to Chicago's now abandoned 60 miles of underground freight tunnel. Perhaps what mystifies me most is that Merchandise Mart was built above a massive train yard and that, for many decades, sub-terrain freight train delivery was possible in the heart of Chicago. This near-century-old art deco masterpiece still stands on the bank of the Chicago river and serves around 20,000 people daily in modern times.

3 Dec 202230min

In Tuckerton, NJ, a massive cement monolith sits out of place, and upon closer inspection, out of time. You see, this gigantic block was once the base of the tallest structure in North America and the second tallest in the world after the Eiffel Tower. Built in 1912, the Tuckerton tower stood at 825 feet and was the first and most potent transatlantic broadcasting tower ever, but here's the twist, although it was on US soil, it was entirely built by and belonged to Germany.

1 Dec 202216min

In early colonial times, letter writers sent their correspondence to friends, merchants, and Native Americans via foot or horseback. Most of this correspondence, however, was between the colonists and family members back home in England. In 1633, the first official notice of postal service in the colonies appeared. At the heart of the "mailing industry" is the U.S. Postal Service, which has been active for over two centuries. An explosion of mail in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century drove post offices and large-volume mailers to work together to handle mail more efficiently.

26 Nov 202222min

Immigration is not a new phenomenon. Ellis Island has been the port of entry for many people coming to the US, and sometimes immigrants would be separated from their loved ones during the process. This separation could be for several reasons: some people were considered contagious, some had evidence of communicable diseases, and sometimes families were just separated for administrative purposes. This episode will show you what happened when families were split up and how it impacted those who lived through these difficult moments.

24 Nov 202210min

As a building with a history as odd as it is tragic, the Cliff House is by far one of San Francisco's most iconic historical sites. Today on It's History, we will uncover this history and one of its strangest and most dangerous accidents. The Cliff House is a neo-classical style building perched on the headland above the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach in the Outer Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The building overlooks the site of the Sutro Baths ruins, Seal Rocks, and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, operated by the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS owns the Cliff House; the building's terrace hosts a room-sized camera obscura. For most of the Cliff House's history, since 1863, the building's main draw has been restaurants and bars where patrons could enjoy the Pacific Ocean views. Since 1977, these restaurants and bars have been run by a private operator under contract with the National Park Service. In December 2020, the 47-year operator of these amenities announced that it was closing, and it criticized the NPS for not having signed a new long-term lease with any operator since its own prior 20-year lease had expired in June 2018.] Dozens of ships have run aground on the southern shore of the Golden Gate below the Cliff House.

22 Nov 202213min

Wacker Drive is a major multilevel street in Chicago, Illinois, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River in the Loop.[2] The vast majority of the street is double-decked; the upper level is intended for local traffic, and the lower level for through traffic and trucks serving buildings on the road (and originally a dock). It is sometimes cited as a precursor to the modern freeway, though when it was built the idea was that pleasure vehicles would use the upper level. It is the only street in the city that is prefixed with all four cardinal directions, albeit on different parts of its route.[a] The drive is named for early 20th century Chicago businessman and city planner Charles H. Wacker. The upper level is normally known as Upper Wacker Drive, and the lower level is Lower Wacker Drive. A short part has a third level, sometimes called Lower Lower Wacker Drive[3] or Sub Lower Wacker Drive.

19 Nov 202216min

The Devonport Royal Dockyard currently houses thirteen nuclear-powered submarines—many of which still have their nuclear cores intact. Today on It's History, we will discover this incredible dockyard, as well as the dangers that come along with its preservation.

17 Nov 202211min