King Tut’s Tomb
Sound of History: West Berlin
This episode of Sound of History focuses on West Berlin with two historic speeches from that city. The first speech was made 2 years after the Berlin Wall was built, and the second 2 years before the wall came down. These speeches are from John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Ronald Reagan in 1987.
This episode also contains a very brief summary of the history of the Berlin Wall and a 1920s recording by Benny Goodman.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport
This popular book gives young children an overview of King’s life and work
Our friend, Martin is an old animated video about Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech, given the day before he was assassinated
The Complete “I have a Dream” speech, August 28, 1963
excerpt from King’s “I have a Dream” speech
Walter Cronkite reports on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the “CBS Evening News”
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children. We recommend watching You Tube videos in full screen mode or here on My Audio School rather than directly on You Tube.
Pearl Harbor
CBS Football Broadcast War Bulletin
FDR declares war on Japan
CBS John Charles Daly Reports Pearl Harbor Attack
Original Pearl Harbor Newsreel Footage
CBS Joint Congress Session Declaration of War Proceedings
You can find more audio and video of FDR’s Fireside chats, presidential addresses and much more at The American Presidency Project. Clicking this link will take you away from My Audio School. Kids, please get permission before leaving My Audio School!
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
20th Century Radio: The Listening Years
You are There The Listening Years
This short program includes several brief You are There segments, originally put together to commemorate a CBS radio anniversary. The focus of the program is on historic 20th century events that people could hear firsthand through the advent of radio. This program is an enjoyable, quick overview of some of radio’s news highlights from the 20th Century.
The program begins with a broadcast about the surrender of the Japanese at the end of World War 2.
The next excerpt is from a horse race at the Kentucky Derby.
The third excerpt is King Edward abdicating his throne for love, December 11, 1936.
The fourth segment is about a 1930’s fire within the walls of the Ohio State Penitentiary.
The next segment highlights FDR’s first inaugural address, the Great Depression and World War 2, followed by FDR’s address to congress asking for a declaration of war.
The next segment is about the Allied landing in France on D-Day.
Next, the program highlights the Howard Hughes trial.
Finally, You are There covers a November 6, 1947 discussion in the United Nations.
The Story of Mankind by Hendrik van Loon
Read this book yourself online or on a Kindle, or read it here with accompanying illustrations.
Summary: Relates the story of western civilization from earliest times through the beginning of the twentieth century, with special emphasis on the people and events that changed the course of history. Portrays in vivid prose the achievements of mankind in the areas of art and discovery, as well as the political forces leading to the modern nation-states. Richly illustrated with drawings by the author. Winner of the first Newbery Award in 1922, The Story of Mankind has introduced generations of children to the pageant of world history. (Summary from mainlesson.com)
Running time: 13 hours
Note to parent: I am including this book on My Audio School, as it is used by Ambleside Online curriculum. They recommend it for older children (middle school through high school).
My Audio School is being used by so many children whose families hold varying perspectives on creation and evolution. I have not provided links for the first 3 chapters of this book, (30 minutes of material), which are full of evolutionary content. Should you need to refer to these chapters, you can use the links provided above for reading or downloading this book at its Internet Archive page in its entirety. I have not pre-read the majority of this book, but found evolutionary references in the two additional chapters that I listened to (The Age of Science and The New World). Please be aware there may be evolutionary content in other chapters, as well. Should you have further questions about the suitability of this book please read this review from Cathy Duffy.
Rare video of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan
This is a You Tube video. Please exercise caution with this or any other video sharing sites. We recommend watching all videos in full screen mode.
Winston Churchill
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
Winston Churchill: Do Your Worst
Winston Churchill Biography in Sound on Old Time Radio Programs
Winston Churchill’s famous 1942 speech in the U.S., “Now we are masters of our fate”
brief clip from Winston Churchill’s 1940 speech
Winston Churchill’s speech about the Iron Curtain
Winston Churchill: We Shall Fight on the Beaches
Churchill’s speech about the German surrender:
Historic footage of VE Day in London, 8th May, 1945
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
ABC News Broadcast of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
Here is another video clip, this time of Regan at the Brandenburg Gate, pleading with Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall!”
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
Click here to see a Cold War Era project pack for 7th grade and above from CurrClick. This link will take you away from My Audio School.
Ronald Reagan speaking about Assassination Attempt
Ronald Reagan speaks with Larry King about the assassination attempt on his life, March 30, 1981.
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
Panama Canal video
Here is an interesting time-lapse video showing the journey of a cruise ship through the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. In less than 2 minutes you’ll get a good understanding of the length of the canal and how a ship moves through the locks.
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
Click here to see a selection of downloadable curriculum resources from CurrClick which could be used while studying the Panama Canal. This link will take you away from My Audio School.
John F. Kennedy’s Moon speech
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
In Flanders Field by John McCrae
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor
CBS Football Broadcast War Bulletin
FDR’s Pearl Harbor address
CBS John Charles Daly Reports Pearl Harbor Attack
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
CBS Joint Congress Session Declaration of War Proceedings
You can find more audio and video of FDR’s Fireside chats, presidential addresses and much more at The American Presidency Project. Clicking this link will take you away from My Audio School. Kids, please get permission before leaving My Audio School!
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
Babe Ruth: Farewell to Baseball
Babe Ruth: Farewell to Baseball radio broadcast
Click here to see some downloadable resources from CurrClick which could be used in a unit study of baseball. This link will take you away from My Audio School.
Ernest Shackleton, radio broadcast
Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate: “Tear Down This Wall!”
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
Tiananmen Square
Parents, please do not allow your children to peruse YouTube (or any other video sharing site) alone, and preview all video content before sharing with your children.
June 4, 1989
Video of the lone protester in Tiananmen Square, who has become a symbol of courage and the desire for freedom.
First Atomic Bomb Attack on Hiroshima and Japanese Surrender
Underwater Atomic Bomb Test at Bikini Atoll
Each of these broadcasts lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes, but taken together they give a good picture of the events which ended World War 2 and brought about the surrender of Japan.
Atomic Bomb Destroys Hiroshima
BBC Report on Hiroshima Bombing
CBS’ Edward Morrow reports Russia Declares War on Japan
President Truman threatens Japan with further atomic attacks
August 12, 1945 CBS World News Today
False Initial Report of Japanese Surrender
Secretary Forrestal on Japanese Surrender
CBS Reports Truman accepts Japanese Surrender
CBS Robert Trout reports end of the war
Hiro Hito announces Japanese Surrender (in Japanese)
VJ Day report from White House
King George VI addresses the Empire
General MacArthur on Victory Over Japan
Japanese Surrender Ceremony Onboard USS Missouri
This broadcast is longer than the others (perhaps about 45 minutes long), but may be of interest to older students.
Hindenburg disaster
This is a new sound composite, produced by C. E. Price, of news footage of the Hindenburg explosion and Herb Morrison’s reporting of the event.