Not Your Century

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A daily celebration of the news—and the news media—of years gone by. From front page stories to colorful tales from the back pages, Not Your Century from the San Francisco Chronicle takes you on a quick tour of the Bay Area and the world as it used to be, which often colors the world of your century…

San Francisco Chronicle

  • Mar 18, 2020 LATEST EPISODE
  • monthly NEW EPISODES
  • 7m AVG DURATION
  • 254 EPISODES


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Latest episodes from Not Your Century

2020: Not Your Century Goes on Hiatus

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2020 2:27


With the San Francisco Chronicle focusing its editorial resources on the coronavirus pandemic and its effects, Not Your Century is going on hiatus. Listen to Fifth & Mission and become a member at SFChronicle.com to stay up to date on the crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1959: The Dalai Lama Escapes

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2020 6:29


The 23-year-old religious and spiritual leader of Tibet gets an invitation from the occupying Chinese to come to a dance performance. Without bodyguards. Sensing a trap, he flees on foot over the Himalayas to India, where he remains in exile. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1922: Fatty Arbuckle's Third Trial

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2020 7:54


He's a giant of silent comedies, in more ways than one. Hollywood's first million-dollar star is a baby-faced man-mountain with the grace of a dancer. But a sensational rape and manslaughter case has derailed his life and career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1918: The Flu Pandemic

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2020 7:00


A century before the COVID-19 coronavirus, the United States, like all combatants in the Great War, wants to keep the exploding flu crisis quiet to protect morale and prevent the enemy from seeing weakness. Sound familiar? | (Correction: An earlier version of this episode contained an error. Some 675,000 AIDS deaths occurred in the United States.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1964: The Palace Hotel Protest Leader

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2020 18:14


As an 18-year-old, Tracy Sims was the leader of civil rights protests that forced San Francisco hotels to end hiring discrimination. Now Tamam Tracy Moncur, the retired schoolteacher remembers a time when "the whole country was on fire for civil rights." | See also: 1964: Civil Rights at the Palace Hotel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1981: Walter Cronkite Signs Off

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2020 8:05


"That's the way it is," says the Most Trusted Man in America — for the last time, as he retires from anchoring the CBS Evening News. It's like a presidential changeover. | Get unlimited Chronicle access. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1946: Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2020 5:57


In a college gym in small-town Missouri, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill tries to shake Americans out of their postwar bliss by saying their old ally "Uncle Joe" Stalin has dropped an "Iron Curtain" across Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1991: The Rodney King Beating

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2020 6:39


When a commotion outside his apartment woke George Holliday up at 1 a.m., the plumber grabbed his new camcorder and went out to his balcony. He saw a police beating, and within a few days, everyone would see it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1991: Murder in Porn's First Family

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2020 6:40


The Mitchell Brothers, Jim and "Party Artie," revolutionized the adult entertainment business, first with their O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, then with movies like "Behind the Green Door." They were close. Then Jim killed Artie. Why?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1965: Malcolm X Suspect Arrested

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2020 6:20


In the wake of the Fusion and Netflix series "Who Killed Malcolm X?" the New York D.A. has reopened the case of Muhammad Abdul Aziz, then known as Norman 3X Butler, who served 20 years for the murder despite multiple alibi witnesses.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1945: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2020 7:24


AP Photographer Joe Rosenthal had one chance to get what would become one of the most iconic pictures in history. He didn't miss. After the war, he spent 35 years at the San Francisco Chronicle. | See a trove of Rosenthal's Chronicle photos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1972: Nixon Arrives in China

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2020 5:11


The lifelong anti-Communist shocks the world by initiating the first high-level contact with the People's Republic in more than 20 years. Even after he's driven from office, it would remain a signature achievement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1963: A Great City Forced to Drink Swill

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2020 11:00


Total SF host Peter Hartlaub joins King Kaufman to talk about the most infamous headline in San Francisco history and the man behind it, Scott Newhall, the mad genius of the Chronicle's mid-century rise. | Related: 1962: Crusading Against Animal Nudity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1937: Golden Gate Bridge Disaster

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2020 6:03


Chief engineer Joseph Strauss' massive safety net had saved 12 construction workers who'd fallen during construction. They called themselves the Halfway to Hell Club. Then a broken bolt turned the net into a killer. | See how Hollywood hates the Golden Gate Bridge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1929: St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2020 6:09


In the most famous hit in American mob history, seven members of Bugs Moran's North Side Gang are gunned down, cementing control of Chicago for Al Capone's South Side Gang. | Related: 1934: Alcatraz Opens for Business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1999: Impeachment Acquittal

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2020 6:37


Despite a GOP majority in the Senate, President Bill Clinton is easily acquitted on both articles of impeachment stemming from his lies about an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1967: The Pill and the Puritan Ethic

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2020 5:55


Sparks fly at a San Francisco panel on changing sexual mores as anthropologist Margaret Mead suggests a new kind of marriage and promotes access to birth control for 16-year-old girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1986: Steve Jobs Buys Pixar

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2020 6:05


The big Bay Area business news of the day is Wells Fargo buying Crocker Bank. Nobody knew the computer graphics division of Lucasfilms would become a $7 billion company. Related: The Golden Spike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1956: Integration Fail at Alabama

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2020 6:53


Seven years before Gov. George Wallace's Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, Autherine Lucy integrates the University of Alabama. But she's expelled after two days — "for her own protection." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1997: Vallejo Courthouse Bombing

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2020 6:12


They were the gang that couldn't bomb straight. Their plan to blow up court records was dumb, they didn't know anything about dynamite, and they talked too much. | Get unlimited Chronicle access. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1865: 13th Amendment Passes House

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2020 6:17


As the Union nears victory in the Civil War, a constitutional amendment that would ban slavery wins a close vote. All that's needed now is ratification by three-quarters of the states. But do states at war with the U.S. count? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1977: "Roots" Is a Sensation

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2020 6:25


An 8-part miniseries about slavery told from the point of view of the slaves? ABC acted like it was afraid its adaptation of Alex Haley's novel was going to flop. It became the biggest hit in TV history.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1971: Charles Manson Convicted

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2020 6:34


After a circus of a trial, the leader of a murderous "family" and three female followers are guilty on all charges in the Tate-Labianca Murders, which claimed the lives of Sharon Tate and six others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1972: Japan Holdout Soldier Found

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2020 6:21


When Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi of the Imperial Japanese Army is captured on Guam, the first thing he asks is whether FDR has died yet. Well, yes, 27 years earlier, just before the end of World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1901: Queen Victoria Dies

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2020 6:57


Britain mourns its longest-reigning monarch, who dies after nearly 64 years on the throne. Her screw-up, playboy son Bertie is about to be crowned King Edward VII — and all he'll do is save the monarchy. | Related: Edward VII Dies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1954: The Moskovitz Kidnapping

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2020 8:01


It's one of the most dramatic capers in San Francisco history, and San Francisco has no idea it's going on. The media agrees to clam up so the bad guys won't know the cops are on the case. Related: Patty Hearst Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1865: The First Chronicle

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2020 6:15


Teenage founders Charles and Michael de Young have big ambitions for the daily theater program and newspaper they've founded with $20 borrowed from their landlord. In the first edition, they're already itching for a fight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1919: Boston Molasses Flood

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2020 6:58


Nothing so sweet — and so ridiculous-sounding — has ever been so deadly. A storage tank bursts, sending a 15-foot wave of the sticky stuff through the streets of the North End at 35 mph, killing 21.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1929: Death of Wyatt Earp

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2020 7:28


When he died, the old Wild West lawman wasn't yet the legend of "Tombstone" or "Gunfight at the OK Corral." He was a guy who'd fixed a famous boxing match in San Francisco. The mythmaking kicked in later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1901: The Spindletop Oil Gusher

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2020 5:41


It's a strike that will transform Texas and pave the way for the industrial and transportation revolutions of the 20th century. Four million gallons a day shoot 200 feet into the air for nine days, and the oil industry is born. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1978: Harvey Milk Sworn In

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2020 7:07


With his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders, the first gay elected official in California leads a parade of supporters to City Hall to start his historic, and tragically short, term on the Board of Supervisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1994: Nancy Kerrigan Attacked

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2020 7:16


America's top female figure skater is whacked on the knee at the Olympic Trials in Detroit. Rival Tonya Harding is implicated. The story consumes the sports and tabloid worlds — and supercharges figure skating's popularity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: Climate Change and Coit Tower

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2020 12:05


Serious business at two conferences: One on climate change, the other on humor. Plus: Old firefighters shed a tear for Lily Hitchcock Coit at the dedication of Coit Tower. First published June 27 and Oct. 8. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: Dark and Bright Times

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2020 12:33


Near the end of a shocking (but not surprising) FBI spying operation on the gay community, Air Force Technical Sgt. Leonard Matlovich becomes the face of the gay rights movement in America. First published Sept. 20 and Oct. 22. Related: Don't Ask, Don't Tell | Randy Shilts | Shilts biographer Andrew E. Stoner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: The Future Is Here

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2019 11:51


Twenty years ago, the San Francisco Chronicle published a special section on what life would be like in the Bay Area ... in 20 years. So now that the future is here, how'd they do? Mark Lundgren, who edited that section, talks about it. First published Nov. 14 and 15. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: NFL and an Escape

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 27, 2019 12:43


Some businessmen sit on running boards of cars in a Canton, Ohio, car dealership and talk about a crazy idea: A national football league. Plus: One of the Great Train Robbers escapes from prison. First published Sept. 17 and Aug. 12. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: S.F. History Trivia, Part 2

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 25, 2019 28:06


More fun at the Betabrand Podcast Studio as audience members learn about San Francisco history and occasionally get trivia questions correct. Recorded Aug. 22, first published Aug. 30.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: S.F. History Trivia, Part 1

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2019 16:16


Live from the Betabrand Podcast Studio, audience members vie for valuable* prizes and learn some of the wild details of San Francisco history. Recorded Aug. 22, first published Aug. 27. *Not that valuable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: Patty and Squeaky

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2019 12:38


A couple of female-centered true crime stories from the 1970s. Patty Hearst was a kidnap victim, and then was she a bank robber, or a brainwash victim? And: Manson Family member Squeaky Fromme took a shot at President Ford. The gun didn't fire. First published Sept. 18 and Sept. 5. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: Martians and the Mona Lisa

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2019 15:02


Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast sends America into a panic! Didn't it? And the reason the Mona Lisa is so famous is that a guy tucked it under his arm and walked out of the Louvre in 1911. First published Oct. 30 and Aug. 21, 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best of NYC: Free Speech Battles

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2019 13:37


Lawrence Ferlinghetti is acquitted on obscenity charges in San Francisco for publishing Allen Ginsberg's "Howl." A few years later in Berkeley, the Free Speech Movement gets its start in a stranded cop car. First published Oct. 4 and Oct. 1, 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1941: San Francisco Blackouts

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2019 6:11


A week after Pearl Harbor, a jittery San Francisco struggles to prepare for what seems like an inevitable Japanese air raid. The Presidio commander suggests such an attack might be a good idea — to convince stragglers of the need to be ready. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1989: Queen of Mean Sentenced

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2019 5:24


After a trial in which a household maid quoted her as saying "We don't pay taxes — only the little people pay taxes," Leona Helmsley, the real estate mogul who was a tabloid favorite, is sentenced to prison for tax evasion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1978: The Lufthansa Heist

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2019 5:57


JFK airport was easy pickings for robbers, but this job stood out. The robbers — who would be immortalized in "Goodfellas" — were incredibly efficient. Their only mistake: They thought they were stealing $2 million, not $6 million.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1963: Frankie Safe!

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2019 7:00


Frank Sinatra's 19-year-old son is kidnapped before a gig in Lake Tahoe. Is it a publicity stunt? No. It's real. Ol' Blue Eyes offers $1 million ransom. The kidnappers' counteroffer: $240,000. Wait, what? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1968: The Mother of All Demos

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2019 5:47


He introduced the mouse. He introduced videoconferencing. He introduced copy and paste! Douglas Engelbart sat in front of an audience of computer professionals at Civic Auditorium and blew their minds by showing them the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1969: The '60s End at Altamont

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2019 6:54


It started as a West Coast answer to Woodstock: A free concert in Golden Gate Park with the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane. It ended in violence and death at Altamont Raceway in Tracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2019 6:38


Montgomery's black community, led by 26-year-old Martin Luther King Jr., launches a one-day protest against the arrest of Rosa Parks. The boycott lasts more than a year, and sets the tone for civil rights protests in the next decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1993: Polly Klaas Found

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2019 6:42


The search for the kidnapped 12-year-old from Petaluma had captivated the nation, but now, after 65 days, came the worst possible news: A confession, and a grisly discovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1967: First Human Heart Transplant

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2019 5:58


Everyone thought Stanford's Norman Shumway would be first to transplant a human heart, but a tragic drunk-driving crash gave South African Dr. Christiaan Barnard, who had worked with Shumway, his chance at worldwide fame.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1997: Warriors Star Chokes Coach

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2019 6:09


The Golden State Warriors thought they'd hit rock bottom when they lost 13 of their first 14 games. Then star player Latrell Sprewell choked coach P.J. Carlesimo, leaving a three-inch scratch on his neck.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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