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­What made Peter the Great so great? What made Henry VII so bad, or Ivan so terrible? Tune into this HowStuff­Works podcast, with Sarah Dowdey and Katie Lambert, to learn the stories behind the lines of your textbooks.

Recent episodes include:

  • The Underground Railroad may have saved as many as 100,000 slaves. Learn how the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act and a secret network of abolitionists led to the creation of the Underground Railroad.

  • In most films Vikings are depicted as bloodthirsty, relatively ignorant berserkers who did little more than plunder and pillage their way across Europe. However, the story doesn't end there.

  • ­Nowadays, the Spanish Inquisition is best known as a symbol of religious intolerance and extreme cruelty. Learn more about the people and politics behind the Spanish Inquisition.

Check out all the HowStuffWorks podcasts, or visit the Blogs at HowStuffWorks.

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