NPR Topics: Story of the Day Podcast

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the bombing of the Baptist church in Birmingham, Ala. Set by white supremacists, the blast killed four girls and shocked the nation. But there was also a fifth victim who survived the attack. Often forgotten, she's now seeking recognition.

While Chicago and Detroit are struggling to control rising murder rates, New York City hit a record low number of homicides in 2012. The police commissioner has often pointed to several controversial policing tactics for falling crime, but some analysts say there are many potential explanations.

Almost three months after Superstorm Sandy, parts of lower Manhattan are limping along to recovery. More than 20 large buildings are without power, and many businesses remain closed and boarded up. Even businesses that are open are struggling without the old foot traffic.

Abortion foes say the U.S. Supreme Court's aggressive decision set the issue on the path toward becoming intractable. Others say factors besides the landmark case — including doctors, lawyers, President Nixon and the Catholic Church — more strongly influenced the state of today's debate.

If the voters in Louisa, Ky., had their wish, Mitt Romney would have taken the oath of office Monday. The local coal-fired power plant is due to close amid a push for cleaner-burning plants. Local residents blame Obama for the pending job losses.

The Smithsonian recently uncovered the menu from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural ball, and it provides an interesting look at how different the celebrations were just 148 years ago.

Almost the entire country has signed onto the Common Core Standards Initiative. The standards incorporate more nonfiction texts across all subjects to improve reading scores. But some fear the push for nonfiction reading could lead students away from passionate engagement with literature.

The National Institutes of Health owns or supports almost 700 chimps. But the question of where they go when no longer needed for research is a thorny one: NIH money to support retired chimps in sanctuaries has been limited by Congress.

New technology is getting us closer and closer to the point where cars will drive themselves. Automakers are testing and refining systems that will make this happen. But our love for control may keep us from riding in these cars anytime soon.

Land that isn't in good enough condition to grow crops could be used to produce substantial amounts of liquid biofuels, a new study claims. But there are many concerns about the study, and about the future of advanced biofuels in the U.S. and abroad.

One-fifth of Americans are religiously unaffiliated, and those younger than 30 especially seem to be drifting from organized religion. Six young adults — some with Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Seventh-day Adventist backgrounds — explore their struggle with faith and religion.

On Jan. 14, 1963, Alabama Gov. George Wallace delivered an inauguration speech destined to go down in the history books. That now infamous line, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever," embodied a moment in U.S. history that changed the political landscape forever.

The Army Corps of Engineers is working hard to deepen the Mississippi River's shipping channel. With water levels forecast to remain high enough only through January to float loaded barges, some say the only way to keep the river open next month will be to release water from the Missouri River.

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans presents a range of real-life scenarios that give visitors a sense of the ethical — and often dangerous — decisions soldiers and civilians were forced to make during the war.

The biggest attraction at the annual Farm Show in Harrisburg, Pa., is always a giant, 1,000-pound sculpture crafted from butter. Once this year's show wraps up, all that beautiful butter will go right into a manure pit to become methane gas.