American Experience

n 1878, Randall accused a relative of Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield of stealing one of the McCoys’ hogs. Randall took the more affluent Hatfields to court in Kentucky but lost. A vicious, ...

The most famous family conflict in American history, the Hatfield-McCoy feud evolved into a mythic American tale of jealousy, rage and revenge.

In 1882, Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield's brother was murdered by three sons of Randolph McCoy. Within a matter of days, Devil Anse and his ad hoc militia executed the three McCoys. Despite ...

50 years ago, organizers of the historic Woodstock Music and Art Fair in upstate New York searched for someone who could handle the unprecedented challenge of running their sound system. Luckily for ...

In 1969, Joel Rosenman and his business partner John Roberts joined hands with Artie Kornfeld and Michael Lang to hold a big concert in New York. This concert would eventually become the legendary ...

In August 1969, nearly half a million people gathered at a farm in upstate New York to hear music. What happened over the next three days, however, was far more than a concert.

Max Yagur’s farm provided natural amphitheater seating for Woodstock in August. Over 400,000 people showed up for the music festival.

Hugh Romney, otherwise known as Wavy Gravy, was an American figure of the 1960s counter culture. Gravy helped establish the “Hog Farm” commune in California. In 1967 the Hog Farm began traveling ...

Get an inside look at the making of Chasing the Moon. Premieres July 8, 9/8c on PBS.

Michael Collins piloted the command module nicknamed the Columbia, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.

50 years ago, the moon became a symbol of human progress. Long before we could reach its surface, the moon held special meaning for humanity. Today, the moon continues to inspire—in the night sky ...

Most remember the space race of the 1960s as a moment of rare national unity around the cause of scientific exploration. Public opinion polls from the 1960s show that the majority of Americans ...

In 1967, the US, the UK and the Soviet Union signed a treaty that laid out the framework for law in space. Nearly fifty years later, as companies work towards commercial space travel and asteroid ...

Ed Dwight Jr. was the first African American to be trained as an astronaut. In 1962, Dwight was selected for astronaut training at the urging of the Kennedy Administration.

Valerie Hoard married William Anders in 1955. In 1968, Bill Anders was one of three astronauts aboard the Apollo 8.

In the 1930s, Wernher Von Braun’s rocket work was supported by the Nazi regime. At the end of WWII, the United States government enlisted von Braun’s expertise.. During the Cold War, his rocket ...

With other engineers, Frances “Poppy” Northcutt plotted return-to-Earth trajectories for Apollo 8. Northcutt’s team also troubleshot the Apollo 13 oxygen tank explosion emergency. She worked in ...

In the mid-20th century, a small band of high-altitude pioneers exposed themselves to the extreme forces of the space age long before NASA's acclaimed Mercury 7 would make headlines. In California, a ...

The first chapter of American Experience's Billy the Kid.

A behind the scenes interview with James Callanan, cinematographer for the documentary Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided.

An interview with David Grubin, producer of Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided.