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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

9:55

Handel's Biggest Hit

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/23

Hallelujah! Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is one of the cornerstones of Western classical music. But when it had its London premiere at Covent Garden on 23rd March 1743, it was billed as “a new sacred oratorio”, lest the real title of the show seem blasphemous.To further mitigate the problem of performing religious work in a secular playhouse, librettist Charles Jennens ensured that no one singer could be said to be ‘playing’ the role of Christ, and profits from the show were donated to charity.In this

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10:36

The Elephant That Inspired 'Dumbo'

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/22

Jumbo, one of the largest elephants ever seen, departed London Zoo for Barnum & Bailey’s Circus in New York on March 9th, 1882. Nationally beloved as the ‘pet’ to Queen Victoria’s children, for 16 years he’d given thousands of rides around Regent’s Park, but was sold off for $10,000 once he started exhibiting trauma - and getting erections.P.T. Barnum then embarked upon a promotional blitz, leveraging the controversy caused by his latest acquisition, and selling Jumbo’s image to numerous commercial

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10:15

The Most Expensive Divorce Ever

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/21

Medieval power couple King Louis VII of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine, seemingly unable to produce a male heir, had a messy breakup. Their annulment on 21st March 1152 was granted by the Pope on the grounds of consanguinity - meaning they were too closely related by blood. And yet both parties went on to marry people to whom they were even more closely related.Henry of Anjou was Eleanor’s next husband - a move which made her the only woman in history to have been both Queen of France AND Queen of

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10:35

Stealing the World Cup

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/20

The Jules Rimet, trophy of the FIFA World Cup, was stolen from a stamp exhibition in Westminster Central Hall on March 20th, 1966 - the year England was hosting (and went on to win) the tournament. The theft sparked a massive Police investigation and multiple offers of rewards for its recovery.Astonishingly, the trophy had not been heavily guarded or alarmed, so the thieves stole it with bolt cutters. In a twist straight out of Enid Blyton, the cup was eventually discovered not by the boys in blue -

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10:07

Parading for St Paddy

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/17

The first ever St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland, as many people might expect, but in Spanish Florida, on March 17, 1601. It wasn’t until about 100 years later that the world famous parades got going in Boston and New York City.Historian J. Michael Francis made the discovery of this unexpectedly early celebration of Ireland’s patron saint while investigating the Spanish imperial history of the Floridian city of St. Augustine.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why for

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10:24

Murder at the Masked Ball

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/16

Gustav III was shot, in the back and at close range, at Stockholm’s Royal Opera House on 16th March, 1792. But he didn’t die for another two weeks. Which made things rather difficult for the conspirators who had assassinated him.During his two decades on the throne, Sweden’s ‘Culture King’ had increased religious freedom, widened opportunities for ordinary citizens and built the very opera house in which he was attacked. But his popularity with the people did not spare him the wrath of the nobility

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10:09

Give Me Your Blood

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/15

The world's first blood bank opened on March 15, 1937 at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, revolutionising the way blood transfusions were performed.Dr. Bernard Fantus, the man behind the blood bank, had originally wanted to call his innovation the Blood Preservation Laboratory – but then his daughter came up with a rather less ghoulish name.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the discovery of blood typing was a crucial step towards the creation of blood banks; reveal why Dr. Fantus

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10:01

Making The Mikado

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/14

The Mikado opened on March 14, 1885 to immediate acclaim, and went on to become W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s most famous and best-loved operetta, despite its tortured genesis.Due to growing creative tensions and their previous show flopping, Gilbert and Sullivan’s partnership was on the rocks, so The Mikado’s success took both completely by surprise.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look at why the setting of The Mikado is really Japan in name only; discuss how Gilbert found

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10:27

Mata Hari: Showgirl, Seductress, Spy

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/13

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known to the world as Mata Hari, set the Paris stage ablaze on March 13, 1905, with a scandalous dance routine that turned her into an overnight success.Sporting a gold jeweled breastplate and bracelets, Mata Hari’s performance was a striptease that left little to the imagination. But even the wildest imagination couldn’t envisage what lay ahead for the exotic dancer, courtesan, traitor and spy whose name became synonymous with the femme fatale.In this episode,

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10:12

The Foreigners Fighting For France

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/10

The infamous French Foreign Legion was formed by King Louis Philippe on March 10, 1831, to help the French control Algeria using mercenaries who were more expendable than native young Frenchmen.To this day a magnet for men who want a clean break from their past, the Legion famously did not ask many questions about where their recruits came from - or if they had a criminal record.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover if they could meet the tests to join this notorious fighting force;

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10:27

Write E For Eunuch

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/09

India’s Hijra community – who for centuries held a significant cultural, political and spiritual role in Indian society – were officially recognised on 9th March, 2005, when a new option appeared on passport forms, allowing applicants to select M for Male, F for Female, or ‘write E for Eunuch’.Although being labelled as a ‘third sex’ was considered by some to be stigmatising, it also reflected an understanding of the Hijra (a group including trans women, intersex people and castrates) as ‘eunuchs’,

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10:24

Return of the Zodiac Killer

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/08

Copycat murderer Heriberto Seda began his spree of violence in New York City on March 8, 1990, when he attempted to kill a middle-aged man with a homemade gun. He claimed he was the famous ‘Zodiac’ killer, who had terrorized the West Coast in the 1960s.The NYPD began to take his crimes seriously when he shot two more people, killing one - and leaving behind a note marked with a circle with a cross through it, and the Zodiac signs of each of his previous victims.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and

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9:46

Abducting Ellen Turner

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/07

Kidnapped from her prestigious Liverpool boarding school on March 7, 1827, 15-year-old Ellen Turner was led to believe her family would be financially ruined if she didn’t marry her 30 year-old abductor, Edward Gibbon Wakefield.Before she was able to deduce that his story was a sham, Turner was whisked off to Gretna Green and inadvertently passed over the keys to her father’s estate, Shrigley, to her assailant - until an intervention from the House of Lords, and a trial that captured Britain’s

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10:39

The Real Captain Birdseye

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/06

Birdseye Frosted Foods launched its first range of flash-frozen foods at a ‘test kitchen’ in Springfield, Massachusetts on 6th March, 1930 - and at the helm was Clarence ‘Bob’ Birdseye, an American entrepreneur of great ambition and insight.Like Captain Birdseye, the bearded, fictional mascot of the brand dreamt up for the British market, Bob had scoured the seven seas looking for innovative approaches to food preservation - a search that led him to the Inuit people of Labrador, Canada and their

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10:28

Comstock's War On Obscenity

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/03

Sending rude mail was dealt a devastating blow on 3rd March, 1873, when the campaign against pornography, reproductive health, birth control, and abortion led by self-appointed ‘Special Agent’ of the US Postal Service Anthony Comstock went all the way to Washington.After the ‘Comstock Act’ became law, books were banned, ‘obscene’ pamphlets were destroyed, and, in Comstock’s home state of Connecticut, birth control was banned - even within a marriage.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover

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10:31

How Not To Invade Ethiopia

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/02

The Victory of Adwa on 2nd March, 1896 marked a milestone in the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’ - because, whilst so much of the continent had been colonised by European nations, Abysinnia successfully defended their country from the invading Italians.Rome had underestimated the Ethiopians’ weaponry, motivation and strategy, and turned up with bad maps, demoralized troops - and orders to march on.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how a tricksy treaty was used to justify the

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10:07

Kidnapping The Eaglet

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/03/01

Aviator Charles Lindbergh (‘The Lone Eagle’) was a household name when his 20 month-old son, Charlie Jr (dubbed ‘The Eaglet’) vanished from his nursery on 1st March, 1932, sparking a nationwide media frenzy.The kidnappers left a ransom note demanding $50,000. After a further 12 exchanges of correspondence, the Lindberghs were told their son was onboard a boat called Nellie: a boat which was never found. At his sensational trial, immigrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann pleaded not guilty, but was convicted

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10:32

The Double Helix Quartet

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/02/28

Deciphering the structure of DNA was as complex as the double helix itself. On 28th February, 1953, Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick rushed to the pub and announced to their fellow drinkers in The Eagle, Cambridge that they had just found “the secret of life”.But their work would not have been possible without the uncredited contribution of Dr. Rosalind Franklin - whose photographs of the X-ray diffraction pattern of DNA were the first to reveal its three-dimensional structure. And it was her

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10:41

Pokémon Hegemon

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/02/27

The first Pokémon videogames, ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ were launched in Japan on 27th February, 1996. The franchise went on to be the most successful ever video game to TV adaptation, and the highest selling trading card game in history of cards.Created by Satoshi Tajiri, the gameplay recalled his childhood obsession for bug-hunting, and made use of Nintendo’s new GameBoy connection cable to enable players to swap and collect monsters. But it wasn’t until the card-trading game went viral in playgrounds

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10:20

Hello Francis, this is God

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2023/02/24

Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone - now better known as St Francis of Assisi - attended Mass on 24th February, 1208, and heard the Gospel According to Matthew. From that day on, the former soldier and playboy removed his shoes, put on a rough tunic, and embarked fully into a monastic lifestyle.The process would lead him to meet the Pope and become officially recognised by the Church - but alienate him from his wealthy father, who had shelled out ransom money to return him from a battlefield prison.In

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1,257 results

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