Article looks at the devastating effect the 1967 Detroit riot had on black economic development and its entrepreneurial gem, Motown Records. It plunged the city into a four-decade economic decline that is only now beginning to turn around.
WUSTL professor Gerald Early, author of One Nation Under a Groove: Motown and American Culture, is one of the experts commenting on the events of that time.

References:

1. July 20, 2007 — The Day the Music Died in the The Wall Street Journal

On March 6, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court denied slave Dred Scott his freedom, a decision that helped push a nation inflamed over slavery closer to Civil War.
Throughout St. Louis, events are being held to mark the 150th anniversary of the ruling in the court case that began in this city, and to foster new discussions about race and equality in America.
WUSTL history and law professor David Konig comments on the legacy of the decision.
WUSTL is holding a national symposium March 1-3. It aims to provide insights into American history, culture and the struggle for equality.

References:

1. Feb. 28, 2007 — St. Louis hosts events to mark anniversary of Dred Scott ruling in the Associated Press State & Local Wire

and 8 others.

WUSTL anthropology and archaeology professors Tristram Kidder and John Kelly were featured in a History Channel show on the people who lived in Cahokia.

References:

1. Sept. 21, 2006 — Digging for the Truth in the The History Channel

News story looks at the debate over whether early humans were predators or prey.
WUSTL anthropologist Robert Sussman is co-author of a book that presents a new theory that is part of a movement to debunk a long-running scientific bias that early humans were warlike.
The researchers presented their theories in February at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in St. Louis.

References:

1. March 7, 2006 — Early Humans Were Prey, Not Predators, Experts Say in the National Geographic News online

and 19 others.

The invention of the printing press didn't just make it easier to disseminate information, it made it easier to hide it, too -- as the collection of books in a vault at WUSTL shows. The books, some more than 500 years old, chronicle the history of secret codes -- some concealed so intricately that art professor Ken Botnick regularly shows them to his students. (Link also contains the text of the longer St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on the collection.)

References:

1. Aug. 15, 2005 — University library's collection tells story of secret codes in the Associated Press
2. Aug. 14, 2005 — WU is home to rare coded books in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Photo by Joe Angeles / WUSTL Photo

Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton looks on as the Olympic torch is passed.

Download

A century after becoming the first American city to host the modern-era Olympic games, St. Louis once again held the flame. The route included a pass by Washington University's Francis Field, rededicated as the site of the track-and-field events of the sweltering 1904 Games.

References:

1. June 17, 2004 — Olympic flame returns to first American host city in the ESPN

and 81 others.

Derek Hirst, chairman of the department of history in Arts & Sciences, reviews The Curious Life of Robert Hooke, The Man Who Measured London, by Lisa Jardine. Hooke is described as a rival to Newton. His pursuits included studying the planetary orbits, inventing and building scientific instruments, and pioneering work with microscopes.

References:

1. April 25, 2004 — You're no Isaac Newton in the The New York Times

The Sacagawea Golden Dollar

Famed American Indian guide Sacagawea's near-fatal illness during the Lewis and Clark expedition may have been the result of a miscarriage, two scholars believe. History professors Peter Kastor and Conevery Bolton Valencius said the explorers' extensive journals from their 1804-06 westward expedition offer clues — through euphemisms common at the time — indicating Sacagawea may have become ill while pregnant.

References:

1. April 9, 2004 — Did Sacagawea have a miscarriage? in the MSNBC

and 39 others.