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PODCAST

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

Curious, funny, surprising daily history - with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll. From the invention of the Game Boy to the Mancunian beer-poisoning of 1900, from Julius Caesar"s invasion of Britain to America"s Nazi summer schools... each day we uncover an unexpected story for the ages. In just ten minutes! Best Daily Podcast (British Podcast Awards 2023 nominee). Get early access and ad-free listening at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

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All Episodes

12:56

France's Last Execution

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/09/10

The guillotine claimed its last victim on 10th September, 1977, when murderer Hamida Djandoubi was executed in Marseille, his grim end marking the closing chapter of nearly two centuries of clinical beheading, stretching back to the French Revolution. Overseen by France’s last official executioner Marcel Chevalier, the event was private and hushed - a far cry from the raucous public spectacles that had once drawn huge crowds. Witness accounts described Djandoubi drinking rum, smoking his final

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11:16

Laughter, Uncanned

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/09/09

'The Hank McCune Show' - an otherwise unremarkable footnote in American TV history - became the first single-camera sitcom to deploy a pre-recorded laugh track (aka ‘canned laughter’) on 9th September, 1950. The giggles and applause came courtesy of Charlie Douglass, who made a career of capturing audience reaction in his ‘laff box’, and then expertly sprinkling it across other shows, including Bewitched, The Munsters and The Flintstones. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look back at Red

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12:03

Making Michelangelo's David

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/09/08

Now celebrated as the most famous statue in the world, Michelangelo's David was first unveiled in Florence's Piazza della Signoria on 8th September, 1504. Originally intended for the roofline of Florence's cathedral, David’s immense size and weight—over five meters tall and weighing more than five and a half tons—was relocated to the square. But its creation had been a tale of perseverance: the marble block Michelangelo used had been rejected by other sculptors for 35 years. In this episode The

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12:16

Welcome To Bavaria, U.S.A.

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/09/05

oday, the small town of Leavenworth in Washington is known for its Bavarian-themed hotels, restaurants, shops and festivals, but when it was incorporated on 5th September, 1906, its main claim to fame was that it had a train line and a fledgling logging industry. After the train hub that had put it on the map in the first place was moved, Leavenworth went into near terminal decline, until some savvy townspeople got together in the 1960s to give it a themed makeover. “Bavarian” was the chosen theme,

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12:27

The Quiz Show That Won The Jackpot

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/09/04

On 4th September, 1998, the debut episode of the world-conquering game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? aired in the UK. Initially titled Cash Mountain, the show format had been offered to nearly all the major UK networks with no success, but eventually it found its home on ITV after a legendary pitch that has gone down in television history. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the excitement in the crowd during the recording of the very first episode; discuss how the show went

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12:37

Who Invented The Air Fryer?

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/09/03

Fred van der Weij, a Dutch electronics engineer with a craving for healthier chips, spent years tinkering in his garage to create the “frit air” - launched by Philips as the “Air Fryer” at Berlin’s IFA technology trade show on 3rd September, 2010.The inventor’s prototypes were made from wood and chicken wire - and produced fries that were burnt on the outside and frozen in the middle. But, by the time its “Rapid Air Technology” had been perfected, this mini convection oven took over the world. In

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11:06

Queen Of The Cuban Sea

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/09/02

Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad was 64 years old when she became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage for protection on 2nd September, 2013. Nyad completed the 110-mile swim from Havana to Key West in approximately 53 hours. It was her fifth attempt to swim through the jellyfish-and shark-infested waters of the Straits of Florida. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Nyad used music and recall to keep her focus; review the conspiracy theories

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11:34

Why Japan Loves Baseball

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/09/01

How come baseball, that most American of games, is even more popular in Japan than in its home country? It’s a story with roots into the nineteenth century, as Arion, Olly and Rebecca discover while they investigate the events of September 1st, 1964, when the San Francisco Giants introduced their newest player, Masanori Murakami, during a game against the New York Mets: the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball. His remarkable composure earned him a standing ovation at Shea Stadium

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11:44

The Last Of His Tribe

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/29

Ishi, a native American man who was widely acclaimed as the “last wild Indian” emerged from the wilderness on 29th August, 1911.His arrival came as a huge surprise to the people of Oroville, California, who had thought that his entire tribe had become extinct a good 40 years earlier. He was immediately taken to a jail cell and locked up, not because he had committed a crime but because authorities simply had no idea what to do with him. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore the

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12:36

The First Gay Games

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/28

Over 1,300 athletes from 12 countries gathered at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco for the first-ever Gay Games, on 28th August, 1982. Intended as the “Gay Olympics,” the event had to change its name at the last minute after the US Olympic Committee sued. But the opening ceremony was electric, with none other than Tina Turner performing at a pivotal moment in her career - a bold and unprecedented move for a superstar at a gay event in the early ‘80s. The brainchild of Olympic decathlete Tom

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13:43

The 38 Minute War

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/27

The shortest war in history began at 09:02 on 27th August, 1896 - and was over 38 minutes later - when The British Empire, at the peak of its power, flexed its military might over the African island of Zanzibar.The drama began when the pro-British Sultan Hamad suddenly died, and his cousin Khalid bin Barghash decided to seize the throne without British approval. The British, who technically managed Zanzibar as a protectorate, issued an ultimatum: leave the palace or face the consequences. Khalid,

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11:41

Colin The Caterpillar - A Cultural Odyssey

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/26

Equally beloved at office boardrooms and toddler birthday parties, Colin the Caterpillar - a £7 swiss roll cake with white and milk chocolate and buttercream - was launched at an unsuspecting public by Marks and Spencer on 26th August, 1990. At the product development stage, he was going to be a fish - even though fishcake is a TOTALLY different foodstuff. Luckily, the Colin we know and love made it to M&S shelves, where he has since sold more than 15 million units, and spawned dozens of high

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12:26

Beavers on the Moon

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/25

The ‘Great Moon Hoax’ was published by the New York Sun on 25th August, 1835, claiming over six instalments that renowned English astronomer John Herschel had spotted bat-men, unicorns, and bipedal beavers on the lunar surface. Despite the absurdity of the claims, the tale was so wild and well-written that many readers bought into it. The mastermind behind the hoax, Richard Adam Locke, later tried to justify his actions by claiming it was a satire meant to expose the ridiculousness of some

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11:37

Leaving Devil's Island

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/22

Established in 1852, Devil’s Island, one of six penal colonies in French Guiana, was finally closed on 22nd August, 1953. Nicknamed the ‘Green Hell’ and the ‘Dry Guillotine’, it earned a reputation as ‘The Alcatraz of South America’: the world’s most brutal prison. Established by Emperor Napoleon III to remove political opponents and jumpstart France’s programme of colonisation, the horrors of the islands became more understood in France following the publication of memoirs by René Belbenoît and

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12:44

Cat Bin Lady, Internet Villain

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/21

CCTV footage captured middle-aged bank worker Mary Bale dropping friendly tabby cat Lola into a Coventry wheelie bin on 21st August, 2010. The video went viral, and Bale was disgraced on the front page of The Sun. Despite her initially nonchalant response, Bale faced the full force of internet mob mentality, not to mention a court trial for animal cruelty. One tantalising, unanswered question remained: WHY DID SHE PUT THE CAT IN THE BIN? In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether

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13:30

The Rolling Stones' Biggest Hit

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/20

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction was released in Britain on 20th August, 1965 - having already reached No. 1 for four weeks Stateside. With its distorted guitar riff, raw energy, and thinly veiled sexual frustration, it became the Rolling Stones’ biggest global hit - but initially could only be heard on pirate radio stations in the UK, thanks to the band’s label wanting the Stones back from their US tour to promote it in person; and it was banned by the BBC from mainstream airplay for being too

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11:12

The Surprising Start of Vietnemese Nail Bars

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/19

Tippi Hedren, star of Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ and ‘Marnie’, was already known for her activism - primarily rescuing big cats - when, on 19th August, 1975 she visited a Vietnamese refugee camp in Sacramento, California Her nail art dazzled many of the women she met - so she set about helping them retrain as Hollywood manicurists, disrupting an industry which had previously been seen as a Beverly Hills luxury. Today, over half of nail technicians in the USA are of Vietnemese descent. In this

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11:43

Apartheid and the Olympics

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/18

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned South Africa from competing in the upcoming Tokyo Games on 18th August, 1964, after the nation had signalled its intention to send only white athletes to the competition. South Africa attempted to make concessions - such as proposing to hold team trials abroad or including a token number of black athletes - but these were rejected as insufficient, especially with newly independent African nations and the Soviet Union pushing for a boycott,

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12:33

The Real Macbeth

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/15

Immortalised by Shakespeare, Scottish king Macbeth was killed in battle near Lumphanan, Aberdeenshire on 15th August 1057; a demise that brought significant changes to Scotland's monarchy. But the real Macbeth, contrary to his portrayal in the play, ruled for 17 relatively peaceful years and displayed generosity toward the church. That said, his relationship with the real Lady Macbeth - Gruogh, widow of Gilear, the previous king - was, let’s agree, rather complicated. In this episode, Arion,

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12:41

Capturing Carlos The Jackal

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2025/08/14

A decades-long manhunt closed in on international terrorist Illich Ramirez Sanchez, aka Carlos the Jackal, on 14th August, 1994 - when he was sedated and kidnapped by French intelligence agents in Khartoum, Sudan, following a tip-off by the CIA.Affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Organization for Armed Arab Struggle, and the Japanese Red Army, the Venezuelan militant had been responsible for a slew of major terrorist attacks in the 1970s and 80s, notably the

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1,124 results

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