The shot heard ‘round the world'; the start of the American Revolution. An event that would have profound consequences for world history, especially western democracy. Who’d have thought that something of such magnitude would begin in a small settlement with as many cows as people living in it?

Don Wildman hops across the Atlantic from American History Hit to Echoes of History to help Matt Lewis understand how two tiny towns became the spark that lit the fire of the American War of Independence.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Tim Arstall

Produced by: Matt Lewis, Sophie Gee, Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Coordinator: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

Main Menu Theme by Lorne Balfe

Burial Mound by Lorne Balfe

The Convoy by Lorne Balfe

Fort Attack by Lorne Balfe

Deadly Performance by Lorne Balfe

When fossils were discovered in the US during the 19th Century, it altered American understandings of science, religion, race and more. So what was the Hadrosaurus Foulkii, and why did it have such an enormous effect?

Caroline Winterer, William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University, joins Don for this episode. Caroline's book on this topic is 'How the New World Became Old: The Deep Time Revolution in America'.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Nick Thomson. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

What makes the ideal gangster hunter? In the 1930s, outlaws like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Bonnie & Clyde were the scourge on the justice system of the United States.

To bring them in, the lawmakers needed to try something new. And that something new was the FBI.

Don is joined by John Oller for this episode to find out how the FBI's powers were expanded over the years, the problems that they faced, and the influence of J. Edgar Hoover on the process.

John is a journalist and author, his book on this subject is 'Gangster Hunters: How Hoover's G-Men Vanquished America's Deadliest Public Enemies'.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Matthew Peaty. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.