Why it was so hard for the GOP to pick a House Speaker

Plus: the AI-powered race to decode ancient Roman scrolls |

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By Made by History / Produced by Olivia B. Waxman The top stories this week continue to be Hamas’ attack on Israel and the resulting war, as well as political chaos in the House of Representatives over the GOP vote for the Speaker of the House. This week, Made By History explored new angles to help contextualize the violent conflict abroad, including how Americans have grappled with terrorism since the Reagan Administration in the 1980s. Meanwhile, Matthew Dallek, a historian at George Washington University, put the House uproar in the context of the long history of the Republican Party—and how, over the past half century, the party has intersected with ideas advanced by organizations like the John Birch Society.

HISTORY ON TIME.COM Travis King's Case Is an Active Reminder of the Diplomatic Damage of Racism By Suzanne Enzerink / Made by History So long as racism exists at home, it will hurt the U.S. in the international arena. Read More » Victor Wembanyama's Debut Isn't the First Time France Has Made NBA History By Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff / Made by History A storied French connection to U.S. basketball comes into view. Read More » History Suggests Amazon Will Need the Public on Its Side as It Faces the FTC’s Antitrust Suit By Daniel Robert / Made by History In the 1920s, electricity monopolies survived an antitrust investigation because they had won over the public. Read More » The History Behind the Right’s Effort to Take Over American Universities By Lauren Lassabe Shepherd / Made by History The right has had qualms about universities since the 1930s. Read More » Inside the AI-Powered Race to Decode Ancient Roman Scrolls By Will Henshall A college student seeking a $1 million prize used AI to decode part of a 2,000-year-old scroll buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Read More »

FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1954: Billy Graham BORIS CHALIAPIN The Oct. 25, 1954, cover of TIME “Billy Graham is the best-known, most talked-about Christian leader in the world today, barring the Pope…’I may be just a small item on the back page of heaven's newspaper,’ says Graham modestly. But on earth he has already got enough newspaper publicity to make both Hollywood and the circus envious. Five full-length movies in which he appears, a weekly radio program, broadcast on nearly 1,000 stations, and a daily newspaper column syndicated in 99 newspapers, keep a steady stream of converts ‘deciding for Christ’ every week. Tycoons listen to him respectfully, and gray-headed clerics sit at his feet. The humble send him gifts, and the great ones seek him out. Churchill invited him to Downing Street, and Eisenhower keeps one of Billy's red leather Bibles at his bedside. By all indications, that is just the beginning of a career that is making this Baptist from North Carolina one of the greatest religious influences of his time.” Read More » This week in 1990: Wynton Marsalis Ted Thai The Oct. 22, 1990, cover of TIME “Good thing Marsalis is not competitive. Otherwise, God help the competition. From the time he first appeared on a public concert stage with the New Orleans Philharmonic at age 14, Marsalis has been blowing away would-be rivals and leaving music professionals flap-jawed at his technical virtuosity. In 1984 he burst into national prominence by winning Grammys in both the classical and jazz categories, the first of eight such awards he has collected. The unmistakable sound of his horn, whose fat, breathy tone can sing, shout, growl and whisper like a human voice, has thrilled audiences from New York City to London to Tokyo. He has appeared on TV shows ranging from Johnny Carson's to Sesame Street. And he is now breaking into movies with the release next week of Tune in Tomorrow, starring Peter Falk and Barbara Hershey, for which he wrote the score and in which he played a cameo role. In short, in the 11 years since he launched his professional career, Marsalis, who turns 29 this week, has become a full-fledged superstar.” Read More » This week in 2005: Steve Jobs ART STREIBER FOR TIME The Oct. 24, 2005, cover of TIME “This is partly a story about a company called Apple Computer. It's also partly a story about a fancy new iPod that plays videos as well as music and that could dramatically change the way people entertain themselves…The new iPod's potential is so huge, it inspires even Jobs to a burst of understatement. ‘There is no market today for portable video,’ he says. ‘We're going to sell millions of these to people who want to play their music, and video is going to come along for the ride. Anyone who wants to put out video content will put it out for this. And we'll find out what happens." Yes, we will. We're all coming along for the ride, and we all know who's going to be driving.’”   Read More »

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