Unsolved Histories by KSL Podcasts

On History Daily, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to relive pivotal moments that shaped history. In this special teaser, Graham revisits the tragic events of January 28, 1986, when the space shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds after liftoff, claiming the lives of all seven astronauts on board.

We also explore March 23, 1806, when Lewis and Clark, having completed the first U.S. overland expedition to the Pacific Ocean, begin their long journey back to St. Louis, Missouri.

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An informal network of volunteers, most of whom are military veterans, is working behind the scenes and out of the limelight to help find missing military aircraft and crewmembers. The search for MEAL-88 began this way, but has grown to include the not-for-profit organization Project Recover. Still, as plans are refined to search for the bomber in this fourth and final part, the heart of the mission remains finding the lost, and bringing them home to their loved ones.

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The B-52, the model of plane that disappeared in February 1968, is a remarkable and enduring aircraft. More than seven decades after the eight-engine bomber first flew, dozens are still in service for the United States Air Force. The origins of the design are part of the mythology of The Boeing Company, and the iconic bomber – nicknamed the “BUFF” – has carved a niche in American pop culture, from music to food to classic film.

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American Criminal dives deep into the lives and misdeeds of some of history’s most notorious criminals, exploring the dark side of the American Dream. Today, we bring you a clip from Episode 1 of American Criminal’s “Serial Killers, Serial Liars” the story of two killers who claimed to be the most prolific murderers America has ever seen. Listen to all seasons now wherever you get your podcasts.

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The story of the missing B-52 is about Cold War readiness and the sacrifices that families make. MEAL-88 is on a night-time exercise, practicing evasion of enemy radar and simulating bombing runs when the plane and crew disappear. A search by the Air Force and Coast Guard comes up empty. Then, a crew member’s wife scours the waters and beaches of the Texas gulf coast and makes an incredible discovery.

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On February 28, 1968, a B-52 bomber carrying eight members of the U.S. Air Force crashes while on a training flight near Matagorda Island, Texas. There is no distress call, and no one ejects from the eight-engine, jet-powered bomber before it disappears beneath the waves of the Gulf of Mexico.

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Season One of Unsolved Histories: What Happened to Flight 293? has inspired Congress to close a loophole that meant the Department of Defense turned its back on the families of hundreds of active-duty servicemembers missing after non-combat military plane crashes.

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A lumber strike in a blue-collar town on Puget Sound attracts members of the IWW – the Industrial Workers of the World or “Wobblies” – from nearby Seattle to join in the labor action. Violence escalates, and in the culminating battle, seven men are killed. More than a century later, the history, and the places where it happened, are disappearing.

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A giant airship sets out on a cross-country tour, testing the viability of lighter-than-air travel for the U.S. Navy. In the skies above Ohio, something goes wrong and the SHENANDOAH breaks apart. A century later, a few artifacts and dedicated historians help keep the story alive.

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The richest man in America sends a team by sailing ship to the Oregon Country for a share of the fur trade. Before they can land, they must cross the hazardous waters at the mouth of the Columbia River. Then, their tyrannical sea captain sails north, setting the stage for deadly disaster.

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A survivor recounts the final minutes aboard a Boeing 707 before it becomes the only jetliner ever to crash in Boeing’s home state of Washington. The next day, a man visits the crash scene with a camera, only to pack away his rare photos for decades.

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In 1850, five Indigenous men are charged in the death of missionary Marcus Whitman in the old Oregon Country. The men are convicted and hanged in Oregon City, 250 miles from the Cayuse homeland. What happens to the bodies of The Cayuse Five after the execution remains a mystery 170 years later.

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When the captain of a passenger steamer misses a critical right turn on a dark January night, it sets in motion a tragedy that still haunts the Pacific Northwest.

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After Flight 293 disappeared and the US military turned its back on the families of the lost, a community of tragedy forms by those left behind. Decades later, led by Greg Barrowman, they find a way to gather, mourn and ultimately celebrate their loved ones and formally, permanently commemorate their loss.

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Since the Revolutionary War, the US military has promised active duty members that, wounded or dead, they’ll never be left behind. Having a body to mourn and bury can bring comfort to loved ones. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year to search for and bring home the missing and to take care of the families of the fallen. But why not for Flight 293?

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Pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, gate agents and other airline employees form tight networks many of them describe as a “family.” When a plane goes down, news quickly spreads within this family. Sometimes the information shared is accurate. Other times, it leaves the door open to conspiracies.

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Less than a year before Flight 293 vanished, an identical airliner on the exact same route – with, incredibly, the exact same flight number – loses an engine midway through the trip and goes down in the waters off the coast of Alaska. This time, everyone survives.

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Captain Albert Olsen has thousands of hours as a commercial and military pilot. He’s exactly the kind of skilled, experienced aviator you’d want in the cockpit if a problem came up miles from any airport and thousands of feet in the sky. Somewhere over the Gulf of Alaska, that’s exactly what happens.

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When Susan, a teenager in Texas, sees her best friend Jody walking toward her one afternoon in June, she doesn't quite know what to think. Jody shouldn’t be here. She and her family just left town, headed to Alaska on Flight 293.

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In the Gulf of Alaska, Coast Guard ships from the US and Canada search for any sign of the missing airliner, which sent no distress call. What they find – and what they don’t – will frustrate researchers and historians, and torment families and friends of the passengers and crew for decades.

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