The Original Idea

Several years ago, after one too many superlative media stories (unprecedented something, historical high/low, unlike anything), Bill Smith decided it was time to put his history background to work pointing out that no matter how hard the current culture tried to fulfill the ancient Chinese proverb of living in extraordinary times, there was almost always a historical precedent.

Rampant "presentism" in the media stems from two sources, and neither one good for an educated electorate in a democracy: lack of knowledge of history and a desire to create sensational headlines.

Before media folks get too angry, take our quick We're History modern America quiz:

Name the deadliest killing spree in U.S. history: ______________

Was your answer Columbine, Colo.? You're wrong. Even the much maligned Wikipedia would save a headline writer from this error as that belongs to the Bath School Disaster in Michigan back in 1927 (for the gruesome details, jump here)

Trick question? OK, how about True/False: The Twin Tower attack on Sept. 11, 2001, was the first assault on the U.S. financial area in Manhattan.

Easy enough, false, as of course, the Towers themselves were hit in the 1995 truck bombing of Tower One in 1993. But was that the only answer? No. On Sept. 16, 1920, an anarchist loaded up a mule trailer with explosives and barrels of nails and metal shards, setting it off at noon on Wall Street, killing 38 and injuring hundreds.

The Unabomber is a unique product of the late 20th century, with his manifesto against the modern American world, yes? How about no -- because of course we had the Weathermen in the 1960s. Keep going -- try the 1919 series of mail bombs inspired by Luigi Galleani, almost two dozen, then the coordinated eight bombs -- once again, including NYC, on June 2, 1919.

Fox News got you down as sensational and product driven? Try the newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, literally inventing sensationalism in the late 1800s.

Thus the heart of the series -- discovering the forgotten events of our past, sometimes, not so distant -- to provide a little perspective.

A U.S. Senator may have recently stood up in the State of the Union Address and called the sitting President of the United States a liar, but that's nothing compared to the caning performed on the floor of the U.S. capital. We could go on and on, but instead, how about just posting some of the past show outlines, MP3 and provide a place for background on the series.