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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

11:02

The Day Nero Died

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/06/09

Nero, the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, killed himself on 9th June AD 68. Having fled Rome to a suburban villa after being declared a ‘public enemy’ by the Senate, he stabbed himself through the throat. Probably.Within months of his death, rumours began that Nero still lived and would return in glory to reclaim his empire. Instead, the historians of the era - albeit never averse to embellishment to make an artistic point - documented the horrors of his reign, including his forced

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9:31

The Hawaiian Pizza - A Legacy

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/06/08

Rerun. Sam Panopoulos, creator of the Hawaiian pizza, died on 8th June, 2017 at the age of 83. Originally Greek, he moved to Ontario, Canada at the age of 20 and opened a restaurant where he experimented with toppings far beyond the typical ‘60s triumvirate of mushroom/bacon/pepperoni.Alongside a Chinese-American chef, he kick-started an international appetite for ham and pineapple that grows to this day - the Hawaiian becoming America’s favourite delivery pizza topping in 2021.In this episode,

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11:02

My Name Isn't Prince

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/06/07

When Prince announced he would no longer go by his birth name on June 7th, 1993, it took the public and his record label, Warner Brothers, by surprise. Henceforth he wanted to be known, he explained, as an unpronounceable ‘Love Symbol’; a bespoke mash-up of the Mars and Venus gender signs which wasn’t even available in font libraries.The dispute centred on the fact that ‘The Artist’ had 500 unreleased songs in his studio vault at Paisley Park, but Warner believed to put them out too quickly would

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11:14

Digging Up Josef Mengele

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/06/06

Notorious Nazi doctor, ‘Angel of Death’ Josef Mengele, spent the last twenty years of his life on the run. His remains were recovered in São Paulo on 6th June, 1985, when Brazilian Police dug up the grave of a man named “Wolfgang Gerhard” - later proven to be Mengele, who’d drowned at a beach resort at the age of 68.Mengele, responsible for sending up to 400,000 Jews to their deaths at Auschwitz, was able to escape to Argentina via Italy after the War, even living freely under his real name for a

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11:07

So I Acquitted An Axe Murderer

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/06/05

Lizzie Borden’s murder trial began on June 5, 1893 in New Bedford Courthouse, Massachusetts. The 32 year-old was accused of killing her father, wealthy magnate Andrew Borden, and his wife Abby, her stepmother, who had been crushed by the blows of a hatchet - 11 and 19 times, respectively.In attendance were three judges, Borden’s high-powered defense team (paid for from her late father’s estate), and reporters and onlookers keen to parse the lurid details of the shocking deaths in the Borden

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10:37

Who Invented The Telephone?

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/06/02

Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson made an important discovery, by accident, on June 2, 1875. While working on their ‘harmonic telegraph’. Watson inadvertently plucked a reed that had been tightly wound around the pole of its electromagnet, producing a twang that Bell heard on a second device next door.Meanwhile, Elisha Gray, co-founder of Western Electric Company, was working on, as his patent put it, “Transmitting Vocal Sounds Telegraphically.” Gray had been using liquid transmitters in his

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10:14

Heimlich’s Big Maneuver

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/06/01

‘Cafe coronaries’ were a fact of life until The Journal of Emergency Medicine published details of The Heimlich Manoeuvre on June 1, 1974.In so doing, they made a household name of thoracic surgeon Henry Heimlich, and saved countless diners from choking in restaurants.In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca examine whether Heimlich’s notoriety was truly deserved; explain how his Hollywood connections helped him spread the word of his achievements; and revisit his misguided pursuit of malariotherapy

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10:51

When Psy Broke The Internet

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/31

Viral megahit ‘Gangnam Style’, by South Korean pop star Psy, became the first video to reach 2 billion plays on YouTube, on May 31st, 2014.The EDM/K-Pop banger, released in 2012 as the lead single from Psy’s sixth studio album, parodied the nouveau riche lifestyles associated with the Gangnam region of Seoul. But it was the video, with its iconic horse dance, that became a cultural phenomenon, with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailing it as a force for world peace.In this episode,

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11:40

The Peasants Are Revolting

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/30

The most significant rebellion of the Medieval era, the so-called Peasant’s Revolt, kicked off in Brentwood, Essex on 30th May, 1381, when tax collector John Bampton attempted to collect unpaid poll tax.The protest triggered a violent confrontation, rapidly spreading across the south-east of the country. Within a month, the rebels were marching towards London, massacring merchants and razing the palace of the king’s uncle, John of Gaunt.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether the

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10:57

When Australia Said Sorry

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/26

A coalition of Australian community groups came together on May 26th, 1998 for the country’s first “National Sorry Day”, an annual day of atonement for the social-engineering policy that ripped an estimated 50,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families between 1910 and the 1970s.The first Sorry Day was marked with 300 events around the nation, and more than 1,000 people attended a ceremony in Parliament House, Canberra, but it took Australia’s government another decade to

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10:13

Shakespeare Unbanned

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/25

Rerun. Chinese citizens were once again able to read and perform the works of William Shakespeare on 25th May, 1977.Chiang Ching, Chairman Mao’s wife, had instituted the ban eleven years earlier - amidst concerns that the Bard’s works could be reinterpreted to undermine the Party’s rule and ideology.In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion ask why British Literature has enjoyed a reversal of fortune under President Xi; reveal how Shakespeare’s childhood home is connected to The Venetian, Las Vegas;

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9:47

Sugar, Sugar and the Cartoon Band

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/24

The biggest hit of 1969, bubblegum pop song “Sugar, Sugar” was released on 24th May. The songwriters, Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, had a strong pedigree in penning 60s anthems. But the band itself was fictional - simply studio musicians providing a soundtrack to the Saturday morning TV cartoon ‘The Archie Show’, inspired by the Archie Comics.The brainchild of promoter Don Kirshner, creator of the Monkees, the concept of establishing a band based on cartoon characters meant he could better control his

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10:35

Captain Kidd: Pirate or Privateer?

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/23

Hanged for piracy and murder, sea captain William Kidd was executed in Wapping on 23rd May, 1701. From the gallows he proclaimed to the large assembled crowd that he was innocent of the crimes, as he was a licensed privateer.The vessel he’d captured, the Quedagh Merchant, was indeed sailing under a ‘French pass’ - though the documents that prove this lay unearthed until the 20th century. His trial was used by the governing Tory party as a political opportunity to embarrass his Whig sponsors, and he

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10:39

Introducing Pac-Man

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/22

Namco’s ground-breaking arcade game Pac-Man had its first focus test in a Tokyo cinema foyer on May 22nd, 1980. Created by 24 year-old Toru Iwatani, it was originally called ‘Puck-Man’ and designed to appeal to women as well as men.Each of the ghosts - Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde - was programmed to have its own personality using AI routines, creating a sense of ‘character’ despite the pixelated rendering. Atari declined the opportunity to distribute the game in the U.S. - where, in just a year,

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4:52

We Want YOU 🫵 to Support Our Podcast!

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/20

It’s our birthday 🥳! Our show is now TWO years old, with over 600 episodes in the bank - but we want to keep making even more. And we need your help to do that.If you enjoy our daily, independent podcast, please please support the show and help us keep the lights on! For as little as £1 per week, you can sustain our showbiz careers, skip the ads AND nab yourself some tasty exclusives.Just join our fanclub, 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴, on Patreon or Apple Podcasts, and you can access:•An exclusive

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10:41

Fox's 'Glee' Gambit

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/19

Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s musical comedy-drama ‘Glee’ was first screened on Fox on May 19th, 2009. In a strategy to whip up excitement before the season premiere in the Autumn, the network showed the pilot in a plum post-‘American Idol’ slot, and then besieged websites and social networks with advertisements over the Summer.The strategy worked - justifying ‘Glee’s enormous budget, relatively unknown cast, and complex musical rights negotiations - and by the end of 2009 the show had generated 25

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10:10

Dracula! Live on Stage!

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/18

Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first introduced to the world NOT via his canonical novel, but rather in the pages of a seldom-performed - and by all accounts appalling - play-reading at London's Lyceum Theatre on 18th May, 1897.The stage version was not intended to reach a mass audience; but was rather a clever wheeze of Stoker’s to ensure he was recognised as the creator of his iconic characters - as the script needed to be rubber-stamped by the Lord Chamberlain's office prior to performance.In this

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10:43

Louie, Louie and the FBI

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/17

The supposedly pornographic lyrics of garageband classic “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen were, improbably, thoroughly investigated by the FBI, who reached a conclusion on May 17th, 1965, when the FBI Laboratory declared the lyrics to be “officially unintelligible”.The FBI had spent two years analyzing the song, consulting outraged parents, and playing it at different speeds to uncover hidden obscenities.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the controversy helped cement the reputation

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11:30

Beau Brummell: Dandy on the Run

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/16

Socialite, wit and fashion influencer Beau Brummell fled to France on 16th May, 1816, in order to escape his creditors, from whom he had racked up around £600,000 of gambling debts.Staying at Dessin’s Hotel, he entertained in his apartments while learning French and writing his memoirs, biding his time until his bestie George IV appointed him to the British consul in nearby Caen. But the position lasted only two years, and eventually he was jailed for his mounting debts in France.In this episode,

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10:45

Launch of the Sky Girls

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/05/15

Ellen Church became the first ever airline stewardess on May 15th, 1930 - when she took to the skies with a Boeing Air Transport flight from Oakland, California to Chicago.A licensed airplane pilot, she’d approached the airline to inquire about flying planes, but, when she was told that in fact they didn’t employ women at all, she suggested that they put registered nurses like herself aboard to care for the passengers - and was hired to recruit and train seven additional women for the role

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1,250 results

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