Over six weekends in the summer of 1969, nearly 300,000 Black people gathered in Harlem’s Mount Morris Park for the Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts celebrating Black music. A star-studded roster of artists appeared, representing Black sounds from West Africa to Motown and beyond. These performances are documented in the Oscar-winning 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.Written by Charles L. Hughes. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Justin Troyer, and Victoria Paige. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/black-woodstock-1969-harlem-cultural-festival.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 August 6, 1962, the island of Jamaica became an independent nation, making it the first sovereign English-speaking country in the Caribbean. The tremendous victory of this likkle but tallawah island (“small but mighty” in Jamaican) was one triumph in the long history of Black sovereignty and nationalism that led to the disintegration of the British empire in the Caribbean.Written by Dr. Alexandria Miller. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Justin Troyer, and Victoria Paige. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/read/jamaican-independence. 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.

The Greco-Turkish war erupted on May 15, 1919. The war resulted in the largest compulsory population exchange in history up to that time (2 million people) and helped define the concept of ethnic conflict. The war also brought about the Turkish Republic and its severity indelibly shaped modern Greece and Turkey to this day.Written by Christopher Kinley. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Justin Troyer, and Victoria Paige. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/may-2019-greco-turkish-war-smyrna-sakarya-kemal-ottoman. 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 February 6, New Zealanders will mark Waitangi Day on the 180th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Following the treaty, the British Crown claimed sovereignty over the country, citing what it claimed was the free consent of over 500 rangatira (chiefs) and the tribal communities they represented.Written by Michael Belgrave. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Justin Troyer, and Victoria Paige. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/treaty-waitangi-new-zealand-maori. 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 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.