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10 Days That
Unexpectedly
Changed
America
The remarkable untold
stories behind 10 largely
forgotten days and how they
collectively shaped America’s
cultural identity
Author: Steven M. Gillon
Three Rivers Press
Trade Paperback
270 pages
ISBN: 0-307-33934-3
On sale: April 4, 2006
In 2004, a group of distinguished
historians met with The History Channel®
to discuss days that unexpectedly
changed the history of America. The goal,
which everyone agreed on, was to select
ten days that weren’t obvious and were
seemingly undervalued in their influence
in shaping America’s national and cultural
identity.
Unexpectedly
Changed
America
The remarkable untold
stories behind 10 largely
forgotten days and how they
collectively shaped America’s
cultural identity
Author: Steven M. Gillon
Three Rivers Press
Trade Paperback
270 pages
ISBN: 0-307-33934-3
On sale: April 4, 2006
In 2004, a group of distinguished
historians met with The History Channel®
to discuss days that unexpectedly
changed the history of America. The goal,
which everyone agreed on, was to select
ten days that weren’t obvious and were
seemingly undervalued in their influence
in shaping America’s national and cultural
identity.
The History Channel® then selected a group of highly creative,
independent award-winning filmmakers to join the project (see list
overleaf) and asked Steven M. Gillon, a professor of history at the
University of Oklahoma and resident historian and host of The History
Channel program HistoryCENTER, to write a companion book. The result
is 10 DAYS THAT UNEXPECTEDLY CHANGED AMERICA, a remarkable look at
ten days, some familiar and some lesser known, that together illustrate
the path the U.S. has taken.
Here are the days that will be featured in both the book and in the 10
hour documentary special event that will have its premiere on The
History Channel® April 9 through April 13:
• Elvis Presley’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (September 9,
1956)—hotly anticipated since the medium of TV was new, Presley’s
performance that evening reached a new youth that transformed culture
and politics in postwar America;
• Einstein’s influence in the creation of the nuclear bomb (July 16, 1939)—
the story behind Einstein’s letter to Franklin Roosevelt;
• The post-Revolutionary War rebellion led by Daniel Shays (January 25,
1878)—how this helped inspire the drafting of the Constitution and Bill of
Rights;
• The day gold was discovered in California (January 24, 1848)—the Gold
Rush and how this impacted America’s westward expansion and the
development of California;
• The murder of three civil rights workers by white racists (June 21, 1964)
—how this murder in Mississippi helped spur Congress to pass the
Voting Rights Act of 1965;
• Massacre at Mystic River (May 26, 1637)—a gripping retelling of the
Pequot War and the significance of this being the first clash between the
English and Native Americans;
• End of the John Scopes Trial (July 21, 1925)—this trial revealed the
enduring power of religious faith in America and the beginning of an
ongoing culture war between evolutionists and Christian
fundamentalists that would shape American politics and culture up to
today;
• The Battle of Antietam in the American Civil War (September 17, 1862)
—the bloodiest day in American history (partly caused by the innovation
of new bullets) led to a Union victory, swaying President Lincoln to
announce his Emancipation Proclamation, ultimately ending slavery in
the South;
• The Homestead strike at Andrew Carnegie’s steel mill (July 6, 1892)—
how this deadly showdown between striking workers and armed guards
catalyzed a devastating effect on the U.S. labor movement;
• President McKinley’s assassination (September 6, 1901)—how the
shooting by a young anarchist ushered the way for the rise or Theodore
Roosevelt and paved the way for a new age of American politics;
Gillon recreates each event vividly. From the days leading up to it to
analyses of the aftermath of each event, he offers an engrossing series
of adventure and character-driven suspense stories, fascinating and
historically accurate little-known facts from each day.
The book and television series brings the excitement of our history to life
in a way you’ve never read before and explores the events that have
been necessary building blocks in how the U.S. came to be what it is
today.
independent award-winning filmmakers to join the project (see list
overleaf) and asked Steven M. Gillon, a professor of history at the
University of Oklahoma and resident historian and host of The History
Channel program HistoryCENTER, to write a companion book. The result
is 10 DAYS THAT UNEXPECTEDLY CHANGED AMERICA, a remarkable look at
ten days, some familiar and some lesser known, that together illustrate
the path the U.S. has taken.
Here are the days that will be featured in both the book and in the 10
hour documentary special event that will have its premiere on The
History Channel® April 9 through April 13:
• Elvis Presley’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (September 9,
1956)—hotly anticipated since the medium of TV was new, Presley’s
performance that evening reached a new youth that transformed culture
and politics in postwar America;
• Einstein’s influence in the creation of the nuclear bomb (July 16, 1939)—
the story behind Einstein’s letter to Franklin Roosevelt;
• The post-Revolutionary War rebellion led by Daniel Shays (January 25,
1878)—how this helped inspire the drafting of the Constitution and Bill of
Rights;
• The day gold was discovered in California (January 24, 1848)—the Gold
Rush and how this impacted America’s westward expansion and the
development of California;
• The murder of three civil rights workers by white racists (June 21, 1964)
—how this murder in Mississippi helped spur Congress to pass the
Voting Rights Act of 1965;
• Massacre at Mystic River (May 26, 1637)—a gripping retelling of the
Pequot War and the significance of this being the first clash between the
English and Native Americans;
• End of the John Scopes Trial (July 21, 1925)—this trial revealed the
enduring power of religious faith in America and the beginning of an
ongoing culture war between evolutionists and Christian
fundamentalists that would shape American politics and culture up to
today;
• The Battle of Antietam in the American Civil War (September 17, 1862)
—the bloodiest day in American history (partly caused by the innovation
of new bullets) led to a Union victory, swaying President Lincoln to
announce his Emancipation Proclamation, ultimately ending slavery in
the South;
• The Homestead strike at Andrew Carnegie’s steel mill (July 6, 1892)—
how this deadly showdown between striking workers and armed guards
catalyzed a devastating effect on the U.S. labor movement;
• President McKinley’s assassination (September 6, 1901)—how the
shooting by a young anarchist ushered the way for the rise or Theodore
Roosevelt and paved the way for a new age of American politics;
Gillon recreates each event vividly. From the days leading up to it to
analyses of the aftermath of each event, he offers an engrossing series
of adventure and character-driven suspense stories, fascinating and
historically accurate little-known facts from each day.
The book and television series brings the excitement of our history to life
in a way you’ve never read before and explores the events that have
been necessary building blocks in how the U.S. came to be what it is
today.