GPS Pioneer Dr. Gladys West Dies at 95 Dr. Gladys West, the brilliant mathematician whose groundbreaking work made modern GPS technology possible, died January 17, 2026, at age 95. Born on a Virginia tobacco farm in 1930 during Jim Crow segregation, West became valedictorian, earned mathematics degrees, and in 1956 became the second Black woman hired at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. For 42 years, she developed complex algorithms using the IBM 7030 supercomputer to create precise geodetic mod

Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts: in this clip from our American Holiday show, learn the history of Labor Day with Dave! West Virginia is coal mining country. After the railroad companies started carving routes through the Appalachian Mountains, coal mining really took off in the state between 1880 and 1900. New communities popped up throughout the region as immigrants from Europe and African Americans from the South poured into West Virginia for jobs and better lives for their families. The