On July 9, 1868, the last of the 28 states needed to approve the Fourteenth Amendment acted, and Secretary of State William Henry Seward formally announced the ratification on July 28. It was a momentous event, a change to our constitutional system so fundamental that historians have put it on a par with the ratification of the original Constitution itself. In many ways, it gave Americans a new constitution.Written by Michael Les Benedict. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Victoria Paige, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Justin Troyer, and Hannah Keller. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/july-2018-150-years-fourteenth-amendment.This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu. 

On July 11, 1804, former TreasurySecretary Alexander Hamilton and Vice President Aaron Burr faced off in the most infamous duel in American history. Burr fatally wounded Hamilton, who died the next day. Hamilton’s premature death transformed him from one of the last stalwarts of the fading Federalist Party to an American martyr, the namesake of towns across the country, and the face of theten-dollar bill. Written by Josh Wood, basedon the excellent work by Joanne B. Freeman, The Field of Blood:Violence in Congress and the Road to the Civil War (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018) and Affairsof Honor: National Politics in the New Republic (Yale University Press,2002). Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video productionby Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. A transcript isavailable at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/july-2019-hamilton-burr-duel This is a production of Origins: CurrentEvents in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department ofHistory at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at MiamiUniversity. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about ourvideos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events inHistorical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.   

In the early 1900s, Mary Mallon, a cook, was unknowingly ahealthy carrier of Typhoid fever.Written by Claudia Jansen, Morgan Metz, and Marian MoserJones. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Hannah Keller. A transcript is available athttps://origins.osu.edu/read/who-was-typhoid-mary. This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.Learn More:·        Ashurst, John V., Justina Truong, and Blair Woodbury. “Typhoid Fever (Salmonella Typhi),” StatPearls [online book] Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan–. PMID: 30085544.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519002/·        Bourdain, Anthony. Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical.  United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010.·        Hasian, M.A. Power, Medical Knowledge, and theRhetorical Invention of “Typhoid Mary”. Journal of Medical Humanities 21, 123–139 (2000).  https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009074619421·        “Individual who tested positive for COVID-19being held in Spokane County Jail after refusing to self-isolate,” NBC Right Now (Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA), July 2, 2020, https://www.nbcrightnow.com/regional/individual-who-tested-positive-for-covid-19-being-held-in-spokane-county-jail-after-refusing/article_ee6606ca-a4b2-5dec-824c-c0d4f184d1e9.html·        Leavitt, Judith Waltzer. Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public’s Health (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996), pp. 16-18, 27-29, 45-46, 71. “Spokane health officer issues order to jail COVID-19 positive man who refused to self-isolate,” Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), July 2, 2020.  https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jul/02/spokane-health-officer-issues-order-to-jail-covid·        Teicher A. Typhoid Mary Was Not a Super-Spreader(and Super-Spreaders Are Not "Typhoid Marys"). Am J PublicHealth. 2023 Dec;113(12):1249-1253. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2023.307434. Epub 2023 Oct 12. PMID: 37824810; PMCID: PMC10632844,  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37824810/·        “Tuberculosis patient in Washington who wasarrested for refusing treatment is finally cured,”  NBC News, July 23, 2024,  https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/washington-tuberculosis-patient-cured-arrested-refusing-treatment-rcna163302.

The Battle of Bosworth Field was one of the last majorbattles of the Wars of the Roses, a decades-long conflict between the House of York and the House of Lancaster over claims to the English throne. Written and narrated by Hannah Keller. Video production byHannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/battle-bosworth-field. Learn More: Carpenter, Christine. The Wars of the Roses: Politics and the Constitution in England, c. 1437-1509. Cambridge University Press, 1997.Foard, Glenn and Anne Curry. Bosworth 1485: A Battlefield Rediscovered. Oxbow Books, 2013.Hicks, Michael. The Wars of the Roses. Yale University Press, 2010.Jones, Dan. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors. Penguin Books, 2015.Jones, Michael. Bosworth 1485: Psychology of a Battle. Tempus, 2002.Langley, Philippa. The Princes in the Tower: How History’s Greatest Cold Case Was Solved. Pegasus Books, 2023.Pollard, A.J. The Wars of the Roses. Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.This is a production of Origins: Current Events inHistorical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.

When a Simi Valley jury announced the “not guilty” verdictsin the case of four police officers charged in the beating of African American motorist Rodney King on April 29, 1992, Los Angeles erupted in a firestorm of anti-police protest.Written by Max Felker-Kantor. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B.Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/may-2017-1992-los-angeles-rebellion-no-justice-no-peace.Learn more about the L.A. Riots:Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Race, Space, and Riots in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007)Cannon, Lou. Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD (Boulder: WestviewPress, 1999)Davis, Mike. “Who Killed Los Angeles? A Political Autopsy.” New Left Review 197 (1993): 3–28.Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, “Report of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department,” (Los Angeles: The Commission, 1991)Stevenson, Brenda. The Contested Murder of LatashaHarlins: Justice, Gender, and the Origins of the LA Riots (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).Webster, William H., and Hubert Williams. “The City in Crisis: A Report by the Special Advisor to the Board of Police Commissioners on the Civil Disorder in Los Angeles.” Los Angeles, October 21, 1992.This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.

President James A. Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881, byCharles Guiteau, a disgruntled political hopeful. Months later, Garfield died from an infection which ravaged Garfield’s body for two and half months. Who was responsible and what was their motivation?  Written by Lisa Zevorich Susner. Narration by Dr. NicholasB. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Hannah Keller. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/july-2016-assassination-president-garfield-135-years-ago.This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.

Percival Lowell was a prominent astronomer of the late 19thand early 20th centuries who believed in the existence of a planet beyond Neptune, which he called “Planet X.”Written by Kevin Schindler. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B.Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/discovering-pluto.This is a production of Origins: Current Events inHistorical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.Learn More:Pluto and Lowell Observatory: A History of Discovery atFlagstaff. Kevin Schindler & Will Grundy. 2018. The History Press. Discovering Pluto: Exploration at the Edge of the SolarSystem. Dale Cruikshank & William Sheehan. 2018. University of Arizona Press. The Pluto System After New Horizons. Alan Stern, Jeffrey Moore, William Grundy, Leslie Young, Richard Binzel (editors). 2021. University of Arizona Press.Planets X and Pluto. William Hoyt. 1980. University of Arizona Press. Clyde Tombaugh: Discoverer of Planet Pluto. David Levy. 2007. Sky Publishing.

The World Series has been played annually since 1903 (withtwo exceptions in 1904 and 1994). Here, Origins offers ten 20th Century World Series contests that are landmark moments in baseball’s evolution as a commercial enterprise and its adaptation to the significant social and culturalchanges of modern America. Written by Russell Field. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Hannah Keller. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/connecting-history/top-ten-origins-world-series.This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at the Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos andpodcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.

Gwangju, a major city in southwestern South Korea, has beenwidely recognized as a center of civil resistance since May 1980, when a brutal military crackdown targeted citizens protesting against dictatorship.  Written by Hieyoon Kim. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B.Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/gwangju-isnt-over.This is a production of Origins: Current Events inHistorical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu. Learn More About Gwangju:  Human Acts by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536652/human-acts-by-han-kang/ Mirror Nation by Don Mee Choi https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/violence-repeated-on-don-mee-chois-mirror-nation/Gwangju uprising: the rebellion for democracy inSouth Korea. Edited by Hwang Sok-yong, Lee Jae-eui, and Jeon Yong-ho, compiled by the Gwangju Democratization Movement Commemoration Committee, translated bySlin Jung. https://www.versobooks.com/products/932-gwangju-uprising?srsltid=AfmBOoo0LMGm_zCFYHSL6b91jzhNjyukxd2OSC0lHfpyiC4iSlHBvc_m

Headquartered at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, OH, Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force’s investigation into UFOs, ran for 12 years beginning in March of 1952.Written by Paul McAllister. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Hannah Keller. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/air-force-investigation-ufos.This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University.Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.Learn More: The Man Who Introduced the World to Flying Saucers https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/the-man-who-introduced-the-world-to-flying-saucers/372732/ 1947: The Year of the Flying Saucer https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/1947-year-flying-saucerPublic Interest in UFOs Persists 50 years After Project BlueBook Termination https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/project-blue-book-50th-anniversaryProject Blue Book Part 1 (UFO Reports) https://www.osi.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/2302429/project-blue-book-part-1-ufo-reports/50 Years Ago: Government Stops Investigating UFOs https://archivesfoundation.org/documents/50-years-ago-government-stops-investigating-ufos/Unidentified Flying Objects and Air Force Project Blue Book https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104590/unidentified-flying-objects-and-air-force-project-blue-book/https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/UFOsandUAPs/proj_b1.pdf?ver=2017-05-22-113513-837The CIA’s Role in the Study of UFOs https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/cia-role-study-UFOs.pdfUFO Study: Condon Group Finds No Evidence ofVisits from Outer Space https://www.jstor.org/stable/1725090ColdWar